The Primary Coordinator and OFSTED Re-Inspection

Mr Phil Gadsby, Phil Gadsby, Mr Mike Harrison, Mike Harrison

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781135712402
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Specifically designed for busy teachers who have responsibility for coordinating a subject area within their primary school. Each volume in the series conforms to a concise style, while providing a wealth of tips, case studies and photocopiable material that teachers can use immediately. subject they are called on to co-ordinate, these books provide guidance and examples to tackle the job.; There are special volumes dedicated to dealing with OFSTED, creating whole school policy and the demands of co-ordinating several subjects within a small school.; The entire set of 16 volumes is available.

Your role as subject coordinator

Chapter 1

The development of the role and the inspection framework

Chapter 2

Your role in your school

Chapter 3

The primary coordinator as middle manager

The development of the role and the inspection framework

A great deal of enthusiasm and expertise in specific curriculum areas has been locked into individual classrooms. It is only when we share knowledge and skills that the true potential of the professional teacher is realised.

Harrison and Theaker (1989)

If you look at actual OFSTED inspection reports, which are now freely available and published via the Internet, you can gain a flavour of what the inspection process is about as far as subject reports are concerned. The following extract from a report shows you what you would be hoping to achieve for your subject or area of responsibility.

Leadership of the subject (science) is good, There is an effective whole school policy that was developed in collaboration with the rest of the staff. A well-structured long-term plan provides a framework for class teachers’ mid- and short-term planning. The curriculum fully meets the statutory requirements. There are regular meetings with staff from the secondary school receiving the majority of pupils. Staff from the feeder infant school are also consulted. This ensures effective planning for progression across the key stages. Long-term planning is done by the coordinator and discussed with staff at curriculum meetings. The coordinator organises and contributes to staff development activities although there is no opportunity for the coordinator to work alongside of her members of staff.

Extract from OFSTED report: junior shools, 1996

By contrast, you would not like to receive the following:

This subject (English) is insufficiently managed or monitored to support teaching, raise standards and identify resource needs.

Large primary school, 1997

We can see that the role of the subject coordinator has come to be regarded as central to the development and management of the curriculum and how it is taught; to the realisation of the school’s aims and policies; to the quality of the pupils’ learning and the standards they achieve.

The development of the role

The role of the subject coordinator in the primary school has not, of course, been invented by OFSTED. It has been a significant focus in education policy for some years. Back in 1978 the primary survey Primary Education in England: A Survey by HM Inspectors of Schools (DES, 1978) carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and published by the Department for Education and Science (DES) was saying:

Effectiveness can be considerably enhanced if individual teachers are given responsibility within the school for both the planning and oversight of the work in relation to particular aspects of the curriculum.

(paragraph 4.1)

The report was clear and specific about the kinds of things these holders of posts of special responsibility might do:

It is important that teachers with special responsibility for say, mathematics, should in consultation with the head, other members of staff and teachers in neighbouring schools, draw up schemes of work to be implemented in the school; give guidance and support to other members of staff; assist in teaching mathematics to other classes when necessary; and be responsible for the procurement, within the funds made available, of the resources necessary for teaching the subject. They should develop acceptable means of assessing the effectiveness of the guidance and the resources they provide, and this may involve visiting other classes in the school to see the work in progress.

(paragraph 8.46)

More recently Primary Matters: A Discussion on Teaching and Learning in Primary Schools, (OFSTED, 1994a) concentrated again on the subject coordinator:

Teachers who are subject managers for the whole school (‘coordinator’ is too limited a description) can be expected (a) to develop a clear view of the nature of their subject and its contribution to the wider curriculum of the school; (b) to provide advice and documentation to help teachers to teach the subject and interrelate its constituent elements; and (c) to play a major part in organising the teaching and the resources of the subject so statutory requirements can be covered.

(p. 9)

Subject coordinators (or subject managers in the terminology of Primary Matters) are seen as assuming delegated responsibility for subject management from the headteacher, (who has overall responsibility for managing the curriculum), which involves three clear strands: coordination, monitoring and evaluation. It is worth quoting the full list of responsibilities for each strand. Wh...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of figures
• Series editor’s preface
• Introduction
• Part one Your role as subject coordinator
• Part two How the inspection process works
• Part three Developing quality in your subject
• Part four Monitoring your subject or area
• Bibliography
• Index