Thursday 12 December 2013

Ofsted (!) : "...not enough encouragement to read widely for pleasure".

“Pupils don’t receive enough encouragement to read widely for pleasure. Time needs to be set aside in lessons for the reading, sharing, recommending and discussion of texts. Schools can be distracted by national tests and examinations, which do not always assess pupils’ wider reading skills well.”

OFSTED Annual Report 2013 Some key challenges for raising standards in English

Note: I agree with the sentiment - of course - but it's ironic that it comes from Ofsted, the institution which puts the most pressure on schools to teach to the test and not have the freedom to encourage all pupils to read widely for pleasure. So: right idea but coming from the wrong place.