Primary school

Primary education for children aged 5 to 11 aims to combine excellence in teaching with enjoyment in learning, through provision of an inclusive, balanced and broadly based curriculum that promotes spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development, and prepares children for the opportunities and responsibilities of secondary education and later life.

Context

By law, children are required to receive full-time education once they are of compulsory school age, which is between the ages of 5 and 16. A child must start school in the term following his or her fifth birthday, unless a child is educated outside school, for example at home (known as 'education otherwise'). In practice, most children begin school at the start of the academic year or term in which they will reach age 5.

Primary education is provided through infant schools for children aged five to seven, junior schools for those aged between seven and 11 or through primary schools for children aged five to 11.

Some primary schools also have a nursery class attached, which provides nursery education for children aged three or four.

Most pupils transfer from primary to secondary school at age 11. However, a system of middle schools also exists in some areas: pupils transfer from primary school to middle school at age eight or nine, and on to secondary school at age 12 or 13.

Under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, there are three categories of maintained school: community, foundation and voluntary (voluntary aided and voluntary controlled). However, all receive funding from the local authority (LA) and all have to deliver the National Curriculum.

In January 2004, there were 17,762 primary schools in England, with an average of 239 pupils per school. The average class size taught by one teacher in maintained primary schools at Key Stage 1 was 25.7. The average class size at Key Stage 2 was 27.2.

From September 2001, the Schools Standards and Frameworks Act placed a duty on local authorities and schools to limit the size of infant classes for five, six and seven year olds taught by one teacher to 30 or fewer pupils.

Who works there?

The staffing structure in primary schools is likely to vary depending on the size of the school. The headteacher has overall responsibility for the leadership and management of the school; the deputy headteacher also plays a major role in managing the school and is often responsible for specific aspects of management. They may also have teaching commitments. Some larger primary schools may also appoint an assistant headteacher to support the head and deputy head. Many schools have Key Stage leaders or coordinators, who will usually have a teaching commitment with class responsibility.

Subject leaders are responsible for the leadership and management of a particular curriculum subject. This may be carried out by class teachers as part of their normal professional duties.

As well as teachers, there may be a wide range of support staff including teaching and classroom assistants and administrative staff.  Many primary schools have a midday supervisor who will oversee a team of welfare assistants.

Schools also receive support from other visiting professionals, such as specialist support teachers, educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, and local authority advisers.

What do they do?

Local authorities in partnership with schools have responsibility for providing and funding education for school-age children within their designated areas. During the years of statutory schooling, schools and local authorities must ensure that children receive full-time education that is suited to their age, ability, aptitude and special educational needs.

If a child does not attend school, then the local authority must be satisfied that other appropriate provision is being made.

The two broad aims for the school curriculum are reflected in section 351 of the Education Act 1996. This requires all maintained schools to provide a balanced and broadly based curriculum that:

• Promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society
• Prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life

The act also requires the Secretary of State, local authorities, school governing bodies and headteachers to take active steps to achieve these requirements. In doing so, schools must have regard to the wishes of parents and conform to the teaching guidelines laid down in the National Curriculum.

The National Curriculum (first introduced by the Education Reform Act 1988) is designed to raise teaching standards and give a consistent level of education across all schools. The National Curriculum sets out a full statutory entitlement for all pupils, sets attainment targets for learning and determines how performance will be assessed and reported.

The National Curriculum established four Key Stages. In the primary phase:

• Key Stage 1 provides for children aged between five and seven
• Key Stage 2 provides for children aged seven to 11

Pupils are assessed by National Curriculum tests at the end of each Key Stage. Key Stage 1 assessments are taken at age seven; Key Stage 2 assessments at age 11. Subjects covered in Key Stages 1 and 2 are English, mathematics, science, design and technology, information and communication technology, history, geography, art, music, and physical education.

All primary schools have a wide range of other duties and responsibilities. For example, schools must:

• Make available the school and national results of National Curriculum assessments in the core subjects at Key Stages 1 and 2
• Maintain an attendance register, which distinguishes between authorised and unauthorised absences
• Draw up, in consultation with parents, a home-school agreement explaining the school's aims and values, the school's responsibilities towards pupils, the responsibilities of parents, and what the school expects of pupils

Equality

Schools have a general duty to ensure that education is provided without sexual or racial discrimination; schools must pay full regard to pupils' age, gender, ethnic background, aptitude, and any special educational needs or disability.

Schools have a general duty to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups. They also have specific duties to prepare and maintain a race equality policy, including having arrangements in place to assess its impact on pupil attainment.

Special educational needs

The Education Act 1996 places a duty on schools and LAs to identify, assess and make provision for children's special educational needs. Those needs should be met within mainstream schools wherever possible.

Governing bodies must determine and publish their school's SEN policy; in doing so, they must have regard to the Framework for Inclusion as well as the SEN Code of Practice. Schools must appoint a special educational needs coordinator, responsible for day-to-day operation of the school's SEN policy and for coordinating provision for pupils.

Disability

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (2001), amended the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 from September 2002, creating important new duties for schools and local authorities. Schools and early years settings must take "reasonable steps" to ensure that disabled pupils are not placed at a substantial disadvantage in relation to the education and other services they provide.

This means they must plan ahead, identify barriers to learning and, as far as possible, take action to remove them; schools are also required to draw up accessibility plans.

Child protection

Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 (which came into force in 2004) introduced for the first time an explicit duty on local authorities and governing bodies of maintained schools to make arrangements to ensure that they exercise their functions with a view to safeguarding children.

New guidance on safeguarding children was issued to schools and local authorities in September 2004. It requires all schools to appoint a designated senior person for child protection (not necessarily a teacher) to take lead responsibility for child protection issues and liaise with other agencies.

School year

Schools must open for 380 half-day sessions (190 days) in each school year. The local authority is responsible for setting holiday and term dates in the case of community and voluntary controlled schools. The term dates for foundation and voluntary aided schools are decided by their governing bodies.

For most primary schools, the school year starts during the first week in September. Pupils may be given annual and short-term targets around this time, especially in English, maths and science. Schools may hold a parents' meeting around October or November time.

Pupils' targets are often reviewed at the beginning of the spring term in January, and schools may well hold a parents meeting before the end of term at Easter.

In the summer term, children in Year 2 take the Key Stage 1 national tests, and pupils in Year 6 take the Key Stage 2 tests. The results are reported to the local authority and the DfES, and are used for reporting to parents, planning future work, to inform school inspections and for national league tables.

Year 6 pupils usually visit their new secondary school before the end of term. Schools generally close for the summer holidays in mid to late July.