This week has been a difficult one for many people working in primary schools: Sats week.
As a secondary headteacher, I’m relatively untouched by this - and yet Sats are important for secondary schools, too. The data we get from them gives us information about where children are at when they reach us. And while test results never provide the full picture, they are certainly a helpful starting point.
It’s also a reminder of the connection between these two phases of education. Visiting a primary school is part of initial teacher training for most secondary teachers. But how often do we do it, following that?
I believe that the more secondary teachers can do to understand their primary colleagues - and vice versa - the better for teaching and learning.
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That’s why, on a cold February morning earlier this year, I took the time to visit three primary schools, all in Oxfordshire. The first was a small village school with four mixed-age classes; the second was a large, town-centre school with a broad intake; and the last was a new-build school on the outskirts of town, in the process of expanding.
What secondary school teachers can learn from primary
I spent an hour in each, and when I sat down to reflect on my morning, I concluded that I’d learned four important lessons.
1. The changing profile of need
Leaders across all three schools described the increasing prevalence and complexity of pupil needs, manifesting through increasing numbers of pupils with high needs, challenges for families, more persistent absence and social difficulties experienced by some children.
The schools were finding creative ways to fill the gaps left by declining public services and insufficient funding. They had found tranquil spaces for those children for whom school is sometimes overwhelming, employed skilled staff to work with the families most in need and offered targeted learning support for those most affected by the pandemic.
The overall impression I had was that the game had changed. Each school showed remarkable adaptability, innovation and pragmatism in putting the needs of its community front and centre.
2. Phase expertise is key to success
In secondary, we notice age most when we teach Year 13s followed by Year 7s, as this requires a big shift in practice. However, visiting early years foundation stage (EYFS) and Year 6 classes that morning, I realised that the difference for our primary colleagues is immense.
It reminded me that child development must be at the heart of progression at primary level. In EYFS, children asked me to do their coats up for playtime. Minutes later, in Year 6 pupils were demonstrating an understanding of history that would surpass some of my Year 8 students.
In primary, the expertise of the teacher and teaching assistant is paramount in each phase. Weak practice is often buried in secondary schools: if one in 10 of your teachers is below par, it can easily fly under the radar. But in primary schools, the adult’s expertise and their ability to sustain quality teaching are critical to individual children.
To maximise this, we need to invest more into primary staff, whether that be in workload reduction or high-quality professional development.
3. Go to where the child is
In EYFS, the teacher or teaching assistant goes to where the child is in their learning rather than expecting the child to come to them (which we, as secondary teachers, are inclined to do).
In Year 1, when a pupil asked the teaching assistant for a rubber when writing, they refused. My instinct would have been to pass the rubber to the child, but fortunately the TA knew better. Instead, they initiated learning through specific questions, which enabled the pupil to accurately identify the error and correct their work.
I saw this principle in practice again and again across year groups and schools. It’s responsive teaching in action, and it was magical to watch.
4. Holding the attention of young children
In secondary teaching, there is an art to holding students’ attention. But at primary level it is a superpower.
Young children are full of wonder, and their eyes bounce around the room. Achieving a state of sustained attention - directed wonder - is key to success. To do this, one teacher allowed quiet to settle over the class and avoided interrupting to issue or repeat instructions. Where needed, she used gestures and a whispered voice to keep pupils’ attention on the task.
The visits reminded me what special places primary schools are, and how much we can learn from them as secondary teachers. As a result, I will be making a couple of changes to my own school.
In my own practice, I will try harder to “go to where the child is” by building on what they already know. I’d then like my Year 7 teachers to conduct visits to see what Year 6 pupils are capable of, both in terms of the standard of their work and the quiet focus on a task that can be achieved.
We cannot underestimate what pupils can do when they transition to secondary school thanks to the foundational work done by our primary colleagues - and Sats alone don’t give us the full picture here.
Matthew Evans is a secondary headteacher in Gloucestershire. He visited Buckland Church of England Primary School, The Elms Primary School and Folly View Primary School in Oxfordshire
