Under the National Curriculum in England for Key Stages 1 and 2, teachers must set high expectations for all pupils; from those who are already high performing, to those who have low levels of prior achievement. Teachers should be conscious of the strong impact expectations can have on pupil motivation and eventual attainment and be particularly conscious of the expectations they set for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.⁴⁴

Ofsted inspectors consider how :

• assessment information is used to identify pupils who require additional support and challenge high achieving pupils⁴⁵
• Pupil Premium funding is spent to help pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds; more than a quarter of pupils receiving Free School Meals (FSM) enter secondary school below the expected level, which affects their chances of progression and achievement later in education.⁴⁶⁴⁷

Additional information to be aware of:

• Research shows certain groups can be under-marked by teachers, who should be aware of this and try to ensure their judgements are as objective as possible.⁴⁸
• There is evidence that teacher anxiety in mathematics is linked to pupil anxiety, and this may be especially the case between female teachers and students.⁴⁹ This may impact on a pupil’s attitude towards the subject, making the development of teacher confidence in all subjects vital (see T4).

Table 1 shows that in 2013, pupils who were eligible for free school meals, had a first language other than English, were disadvantaged or had special education needs were less likely than average to achieve level 4 or above in maths at Key Stage 2.⁵¹

According to the data below, more than a quarter of pupils receiving free school meals enter secondary school below the expected level. This can impact on their progression and achievement later in education.

Your school will get its own data to use for comparison from RAISEOnline and the FFT.

The Department for Education provides access to data on the percentage of pupils in state-funded schools in England achieving level 4 or above and achieving level 5 or above in both Key Stage 2 tests and teacher assessments.⁵²

Table 2 shows that boys are more likely than girls to achieve at higher levels (level 5 or above) in maths, but not in science.

Chart 3 and Chart 4 below show that in the 2012 science national sampling tests, boys also slightly outperformed girls at higher levels (level 5 or above).

Governors

You can encourage your school to use the FFT School self-evaluation tool to get a full picture of acheivement in the school.

School leaders

School leaders should consider the individual circumstances of all pupils on the roll of the school to identify any groups which require additional support. Information on how teachers may assess their pupils can be found in Q1.

Teachers

All teachers should understand how unconscious bias can affect children’s developing views of themselves and their ambitions. Teachers should be trained in how to address unconscious bias and counter any emerging stereotypes – particularly those relating to the expectations for boys and girls in specific subjects.

There is a range of information for teachers to support the teaching of particular groups of pupils:

• The Primary Science Teaching Trust provides online continuing professional development (CPD), including resources on teaching primary science to pupils with English as an additional language.⁵⁴
• The National Science Learning Centre offers CPD on providing differentiation for all pupils in teaching, including training on the new code of practice in SEN and recommendations on the use of pupil premium.⁵⁵
• The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics produced a series of microsites, covering topics including ‘High Attaining Pupils in Primary Schools’ and ‘Special Educational Needs Mathematics Teachers’.⁵⁶
• The Education Endowment Foundation toolkit is an evidence based tool to with guidance on raising the achievement of disadvantaged pupils.