Intervening early to help pupils who are struggling at primary level can dramatically improve their education thereafter. Pupils who leave primary at Level 3 attainment only have a 10-14% chance of obtaining five A-C GCSEs whereas those at Level 4 have a far higher success rate. We visit three schools to see how each boosts both those needing special help and also whole school attainment. At Calverton School in Newham we follow a lively Communication Language and Literacy Development Year 1 group who are making excellent progress with phonics. We also see how a Class 5 withdrawal group are encouraged to improve their use of descriptive words by commenting on the taste of sweets. At Southbury Primary in Enfield, where 80% of the pupils have English as an additional language, we see how a Talk to Learn project has lifted attainment. Finally, we visit Preston Park Primary in Brent where the maths teacher has had 8,500 hits on her Maths Forum help page for her Class 5 and 6.

Video Series: Intervention Strategies
Release Date 2009