If objectives are not expressed.....

A very recent Ofsted study of 26 state schools, 17 secondary and 9 primary, they report a very worrying weakness. (The sample had been chosen because they been told to improve provision for gifted pupils.)

The conclusion is that in the sample there was a failure to challenge the most able to produce their best. Some these students reported that they had to ask teachers for more or advanced work, and also complained that they had to spend some of their week in helping less able fellow pupils.

The explanation seems to be two-fold.

1) There is a reluctance on the part of individual teachers to do this, either for ideological reasons or because they thought that giving more attention to the very able might mean less time for the less able. In some cases they refused to give extra attention to the brightest because they feared they would promote elitism.

2) Head teachers excused themselves on the grounds that they had not received sufficient signals from Whitehall.

I am not sure which is the weaker of the two.

If it is the individual teacher disobeying the government, and by top-down decision the local educational authority and head teacher, then it is a serious matter. We cannot have anarchy, with the individual teacher deciding which pupils to encourage and which not, even if there are resource constraints. All pupils deserve to be helped to develop their potential to the full.

On the head teachers, it is frightening that they are apparently not aware of statements by the government.

If either is or both is the explanation of what has been picked up by Ofsted, then there needs to be immediate action. We not only have the less able barely literate or numerate, with the number of year 6 SATS satisfactory "passes" declining this year. We also have a deficit as far as the very able are concerned. These latter will later find jobs in situations where there is intense global competition and our nation depends on their contribution. We cannot afford to be second best.