Trainee teachers who graduate from combined primary and secondary courses are starting work without sufficient knowledge of the primary curriculum, inspectors said today, writes Jon Slater.
Limited opportunities to teach literacy and numeracy during training leave new teachers with less experience than their peers when they start work, according to an Office for Standards in Education report.
David Bell, chief inspector, said: “This report is not a criticism of the trainees, but of the course. As it stands it does not provide them with the level and type of experience in the classroom they need, especially if they hope to teach in primary schools.”
Comparing Standards: Teaching the Teachers is available from Politeia, 22 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0QP, price pound;10. Inspection of the key stage 2 training element of key stage 23 courses: 2002-4 is available from www.ofsted.gov.uk
