In 2022, the government announced a commitment to improve literacy education as part of its levelling up agenda. The ambition to eradicate issues by 2030 has seen a tight focus on literacy skills and mandated curriculums – which neglect to acknowledge the local and individualised contexts in which teachers teach. A lack of resources, funding and access to training has compounded problems within mainstream, local authority schools, leaving budgets stretched and children at a disadvantage. In this article, Rebecca Simpson Hargreaves discusses the need for reflective practice and a dialogue for change.

• Educational policy makers should remove the formal phonics screening check assessment and use teacher assessments that take into account all aspects of reading.
• The increased focus on teaching phonics skills creates a non-balanced approach to literacy skills – with data showing that more children are not taking pleasure in reading.
• Schools lack the funding to expand on their collection of children’s literature and this includes a limited range of inclusive and representative books.

Early Reading

Performance in reading tests, particularly in early reading, has been scrutinised since the introduction of the Phonics Screening Check in 2012. Children between 5 and 6 years old are asked to read a selection of real and nonsense words as measure of their reading ability. Simply put, it tests whether they can recall grapheme phoneme correspondences (how letters are written and their related sounds) to read a word. It is worth noting that these words are not placed in the context of a story, with no reading for meaning skills needed. If the children do not meet the pass rate then they have ‘failed’ and have to re-sit the test the following year. It is not an inclusive approach; it does not differentiate between children who are fluent readers who understand what they read from those who have gained high marks because of their recall skills. The success in the screening check does not transfer seamlessly into end of Key Stage statutory results, with reading test attainment reduced. The phonics screening check is a stressful, time-consuming test and should be replaced by teacher assessment, which provides a truer reflection of children’s reading ability.

In 2021 the Department for Education’s phonics teaching validation programme came into play which saw additional prescriptive measures that schools now needed to follow. Schools had to choose from a list of providers (a costly endeavour) and ensure that the books used to support early reading had to be fully decodable (the children could sound out each word). The proposed purpose for the change was to ensure that all children had secure foundations on which to build, with desired result that they could become active engaged readers who would read for pleasure.

In recently published results from The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), (a study that is valued by the government), we see an improvement in children’s ability to read and comprehend different texts. England has moved from 6th place to 4th, seeming to indicate that the policy change has been a success. However digging deeper into the data and making comparisons with England’s own performance in the previous 2016 study, it shows that we are on a downward trajectory, with more children not taking pleasure in reading and feeling less confident in reading as a whole. PIRLS 2021 international findings show a direct correlation between higher average reading achievements with those who find reading pleasurable. With only 29% of English pupils saying that they enjoy reading, it prompts the question of where does the problem lie and how can we affect change to ensure happy and knowledgeable readers?

Schools, resources, and reading for pleasure

Early years education policy makers need to ensure that children have access to quality literature, wide ranging and full of variety. The National Literacy Trust (2021) findings indicate that schools are often the place in which children are able to discover how joyful and valuable reading can be, yet 40% of schools do not have a dedicated budget for a school library. Whilst the National Curriculum sets out that there should be library facilities, there is no government provided budget to ensure this. Combine this with 1 in 5 children between the ages of 5 and 8 not having a book of their own at home and local libraries are closing, the results are gravely concerning.

Access to books that empower and inspire should not be down to a postcode or school lottery. The Great School Libraries Campaign (2023) identified that independent schools have more than double the number of resources than local authority-maintained schools. To secure a positive reading future for children, schools should be able to replenish and refresh their stock to include all representations of families, communities and wider society, both in digital and hardcopy forms.

Reading and inclusivity

Schools also lack the funding to expand on their collection of children’s literature and this includes a limited range of inclusive and representative books. In addition, the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education’s Reflecting Realities Report found that only 9% of children’s books published in 2022 include a main character from a minority ethnic background. Children are growing up in an ever-increasing multilingual world, but a focus on linguistic correctness can result in ‘home language stigma and shame’.

Policy Recommendations

• Government needs to acknowledge the funnelling effect of a focus on teaching phonics skills through fully decodable texts as the foreground of early reading. Early years primary school education policy should move to include a broader approach which removes the phonics screening check and uses teacher assessment to take into account reading for meaning and context.
• Schools need secure funding with co-ordination between local authorities and central government. They need provision to expand; to review and reflect on their current children’s literature provision and to enable them to expand on their stock, including the requirement of inclusive and representative books, recognising the value in multilingualism, texts in different home languages and cultural opportunities as vehicles for learning.
• Finally, education policy should recognise and promote the importance of reading for pleasure through ring-fenced funding to enable all schools to have access to high quality children’s literature within a dedicated library space. Council funding could be used to re-establish defunct School Library Services.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently announced a proposal to ensure that all students continue to study maths to 18, a plan aiming to ‘boost low numeracy rates’, and to leave future school-leavers better equipped for ‘data-intensive jobs’ and managing their finances as adults. In this article, Professor Maria Pampaka, Professor Laura Black and Professor Julian Williams analyse the implications of this proposal, and make policy and practice recommendations linking back to maths to 18.

• Some groups experience negative socio-emotional outcomes (e.g. low mathematics dispositions, and/or high mathematics anxiety) towards mathematics. The evidence points particularly to gender, but other characteristics, like social and ethnic background, are equally important.
• Teaching practices in mathematics are largely perceived to be transmissionist (‘traditional’, teaching to the test, as contrasted to those where ‘connectionist’ – more student-centred and interactive approaches are preferred) by students and teachers. This teaching practice has been found to be negatively associated with students’ dispositions to engage with mathematics in the future.
• Teaching mathematics post 16 is particularly demanding and will require an expansion of the pool of confident, well qualified, and motivated teachers (at a time when the profession is currently losing people).
• A transformation of the curriculum, teaching methods and assessment is required: one that values engagement, enjoyment, confidence and inclusion as much as, or more than attainment. This is important for both learners and teachers.

Transmissionist teaching and negative outcomes

Transmissionist teaching in mathematics is a consequence of increased pressure on teachers, schools and students to perform in high stakes assessments – driven by desire to compete in performance tables both nationally and internationally such as PISA – the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment. PISA measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges.

In the UK,  and in the lead up to GCSEs, where girls outperform (though slightly) boys in teacher assessments and standardised mathematics tests, our findings show that girls  are more likely to develop negative emotional relationships with mathematics or demonstrate less interest in the subject.

Gender, maths and inequality

Gender and other inequalities are reproduced at every level – individual, family, community, classroom and school, regionally and nationally. These inequalities shape children’s’ attitudes towards mathematics and their aspirations for future participation. There is a wealth of literature on gender and access to and participation in mathematics. This reveals that differences in students’ attitudes and aspirations are about gender identity. For example, some cultural forms of gender identity (masculinity/femininity) can be either valued and legitimised or undermined in mathematics (both in classrooms and in popular culture). For example, we see this in popular culture where toys, films, books construct mathematicians as white, male, heterosexual ‘geeks’.

There is now widespread recognition (including in schools) that gender can no longer be defined or understood as a binary male/female. We know that emotions and stereotypes related to mathematics emerge very early in the child’s life and school career, therefore it is crucial to observe children’s developing relationships with mathematics early enough to understand and potentially side-track trajectories of disengagement from learning.

We argue that research and policy now needs to explore how socio-emotional outcomes are associated with diverse gender identities, particularly with the intersections with other cultural constructs, (e.g. ethnicity, socioeconomic status etc), that we also know shape perceptions of mathematics. Our current gender and STEM education project seeks to develop better ways to conceptualise and operationalise gender for this purpose.

Policy pathways

Equitable policy and practice, which does not solely focus on standards and attainment but promotes positive attitudes for all groups – whether gendered, ethnic, or other, can improve engagement of all learners and teachers in mathematics.

A transformation of the curriculum, pedagogy and assessment is required: one that values engagement, enjoyment, confidence and inclusion as much as or more than attainment. We say ‘more than’ because we know that engagement is the only sure means to raise attainment, and attitudes link closely with disengagement and drop out.

Education policymakers should seek to build home-school interventions that both connect school maths to the everyday lives of families – and address parents’ negative beliefs/identities around maths. Funding should be made available for knowledge transfer work and further research focusing specifically on early years.

The culture of performativity, associated pressures and transmissionist pedagogies with an emphasis on attainment to the detriment of enjoyment disadvantages and causes negative emotions for many. Policymakers examining and establishing the maths to 18 plans, such as the Department for Education and the new advisory group who will collaborate on the maths to 18 plans should focus on affective outcomes. They should be taking socio-emotional outcomes as seriously as attainment with a renewed emphasis on social inclusivity, formative assessment and connectionist learning/teaching for understanding.

Maths teachers – too many problems

Teachers – like nurses and other public service staff – are abandoning their profession for a variety of reasons, but are citing that this is not just about pay, but also conditions in the workplace and the kind of pressures that Ofsted impose. These are best exemplified in our work by teachers who say “I don’t want to teach like this but…” and reference exams, tests and performance.

The problem with teaching to students up to age 18 who wanted to drop maths is obvious: teachers who can make a good job of this will be in short supply: like hen’s teeth. The profession will need an expanded workforce of confident, well-motivated and well-qualified teachers to meet this demand.

We conclude that decades of education policy focussed on raising attainment has been most successful in discouraging engagement with mathematics learning and teaching. Increasing mathematics education for all, especially to age 18, will require policymakers to pay renewed attention to emotional aspects, i.e. the joys of mathematics.

The number of young children experiencing poor emotional wellbeing is increasing rapidly, most acutely for vulnerable children, such as those with special educational needs (SEND), experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), in receipt of Pupil Premium Funding (PPF) and have been or are at risk of being excluded and/or suspended. In this article, Dr Charlotte Bagnall explores how for these vulnerable children, primary-secondary school transitions can be especially difficult, and outlines some key recommendations for policy and practice on how we can support vulnerable children through this period of transition.

• Knowledge of how best to support vulnerable children has the potential to improve the mental health and educational trajectories of children across the life course, reducing long-term inequalities.
• Education policymakers should encourage implementation of a sensitive transition curriculum, running until the end of Year 7, with targeted support for children’s emotional wellbeing at the forefront.
• A tool being developed by Dr Charlotte Bagnall and her research team at The University of Manchester, will provide the first step within a transition curriculum by building capacity for educational practitioners and researchers to identify and support children’s emotional wellbeing during this time.

Vulnerable children – risks and outcomes

Children with SEND are especially vulnerable to poor experiences of primary-secondary school transitions, shown to report lower levels of wellbeing, experience feelings of rejection, face greater emotional and behavioural difficulties and show poorer academic performance than children without these difficulties. Children with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) difficulties and without an education, health and care plan (EHCP) are also disproportionately more likely to be excluded and/or suspended during this time. Research shows that this can have significant negative implications for children’s self-conception, emotional wellbeing and school belonging in the short term and could impact academic attainment and life chances in the long-term.

Children with SEMH difficulties negotiate significant and unanticipated structural changes in support and standards over primary-secondary school transitions differently to their peers. This leads to children and their parents/guardians reporting feeling emotionally unsettled and unsafe. Poor adjustment during this time can exacerbate existing social inequalities and lead to poor mental health and reduced life chances.

One recommendation to manage this period more effectively for children with SEND, and especially SEMH (whom are at greater risk of exclusion and/or suspension during this time), is to improve collaboration and communication channels across systems and stakeholders. From the primary school the child is moving from and the secondary school they are moving to, it is important that parents/carers and children are included within discussions, with a key member of staff at each school for the family. This could be facilitated at the Local Authority level and would ensure that our most vulnerable children and their parents/guardians receive continuity in standards and support adjusted to meet their individual needs. It would also support short-and long-term emotional wellbeing and help children feel safe and feel a sense of control of their transition, which is shown to be paramount during this time.

Children who receive Pupil Premium Funding (PPF)

Children from low socioeconomic status backgrounds, who are in receipt of Pupil Premium Funding (a UK government grant given to schools to support disadvantaged pupils), continue to be reported as having lower academic attainment and poorer wellbeing than their peers. They are also at greater risk of being excluded from secondary school.

This can result in children in receipt of Pupil Premium Funding making less progress, widening attainment gaps in the first three years of secondary education, and this is reported to have increased further following the Covid-19 pandemic. Our recent qualitative interview research conducted with Year 6 children in receipt of this funding, has shown that these children report greater ambivalence about transition than more affluent peers, with many looking forward to transition, but simultaneously worrying about it.

Children who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

For children who have experienced ACEs, primary-secondary school transitions can be especially difficult as many of these children experience poor emotion management and regulation. Supporting the development of children’s emotional literacy in the lead up to primary-secondary school transitions and then continuing this support into secondary school can be especially protective for all children’s emotional wellbeing, but especially for these most vulnerable children.

Recommendations

A transition curriculum

An early-intervention, gradual and sensitive primary-secondary school transition curriculum, from the beginning of Year 5 to the end of Year 7 has been recently piloted. Support for this as a “promising school-based intervention” has been referenced in recent NICE and Health Policy Scotland guidelines following my 2020 research.

The Department for Education and Local Authorities should work with educators to further develop and implement this transition curriculum more widely. As part of this transition, curriculum lessons should focus on developing children’s awareness, knowledge and ability to cope with the multiple changes experienced over primary-secondary school transition, by practicing skills, asking questions and discussing their feelings. This can help children feel prepared, but not overwhelmed by their next chapter, which has been shown within qualitative research to be a fine balancing act.

Transition provision to continue into secondary school

A systemic approach to primary-secondary school transitions provision is needed, with emotional wellbeing central to this. It is recommended that both universal and targeted support for children’s emotional wellbeing should be at the forefront of transition provision, and this should not end as children leave primary school. This support should help children to recognise, understand and manage their emotions.

Further support – P-S WELLS

It is also worth noting, that some children, and especially vulnerable children, may need further targeted support beyond this. Early detection of children who are vulnerable to poor transition and providing them with additional support tailored to their individual needs is paramount. As a first step in doing, our research team are developing a scale to measure children’s emotional wellbeing in the context of primary-secondary school transitions. This novel instrument will be named Primary-Secondary School Transitions Emotional Wellbeing Scale (P-S WELLS). It will add distinct value at a community level by developing a tool and manual to build capacity for educational practitioners to obtain immediate insight into the universal support their class needs and identification of specific children who need additional support. Education policymakers and local authorities should engage with the development and rollout of this instrument and advocate to embed this into a transition curriculum.