At Erdington Hall School in Birmingham a newly-appointed headteacher believes that the key to taking her school out of the OFSTED underachieving category is effective foundation stage literacy. The school is fairly socially deprived, 50% take free meals, 70% have English as an additional language. Far from battening down the hatches, the school decides to change its foundation stage approach, making play central. A new foundation stage leader is appointed and we see her in her nursery. We follow two new reception teachers with both literacy and PSHE activities. Pivotally, the school use performance data to track the children's weaknesses and the impact of the changes they are making. We look at the school's phonics initiative and hear that the children are remembering sounds and letters more effectively with this approach. Finally we learn that the school is re-inspected, comes out of the category and has its foundation stage teaching graded as both good and outstanding.

Video Series: Literacy - The Whole Story
Release Date 2006