Teachers not making the grade in spelling…This analysis comes from 280 schools inspected by Ofsted over the past few years and graded ‘inadequate’ for teaching.

School inspectors have recently highlighted how many teachers are struggling with spelling, numeracy and even the basics of their subjects…many words are left either not corrected or corrected wrongly which leaves pupils confused and the majority of mistakes are being made in primary education when pupils should be learning the basics of spelling and literacy.

But where does the fault lie and how does it arise? I believe that government rushes training and is so desperate to employ staff in schools, who are seriously often understaffed, that many new teachers are being rushed through the system without the correct level of education to begin with.

The report blames poor education of the teachers themselves when they were at school…I think that’s passing the buck! Chris McGovern, of the campaign for Real Education, said, ‘Many teachers too were failed by their schooling. They are incapable of providing the next generation with basic skills and core knowledge.’ I say those people shouldn’t be teachers in the first place and the fact that they are indicates a failure in the government’s own recruitment and training policies and schemes where in recent years the government has been ‘panic’ recruiting to staff schools which have been left seriously under resourced because of so many skilled and long-term teachers leaving the profession.

In response, School standards minister Nick Gibb said, ‘We are confident in the quality of our teachers and their teaching. As part of initial teacher training, all teachers must pass tests in numeracy and literacy to achieve qualified teacher status.’

What do you think? What have your own experiences been? Either way please comment below and if you have any questions about literacy or anything related to primary or secondary education please contact me.

Elisa x