Curriculum co-ordination and the small primary school

This research concerns small primary schools and the workloads taken on by the teaching staff compared with those in larger schools. The study concentrates on teachers' responsibilities within primary schools with particular reference to curriculum co-ordination and much use was made of the work done in the PRISMS Project (Galton 1990). A survey of 50 primary schools in a local authority was used for analysis of staffing structures, general and curriculum responsibilities allocated to teaching staff by schools and comparisons between small and large schools in terms of
workloads on teachers. The research also looks at the allocation of responsibility points given by governors to the teaching staff in the schools. A case study was also
undertaken with four teachers who had moved between schools of different sizes to gain an insight into their views of the workloads in small and large schools, again with
particular reference to curriculum co-ordination.
It was concluded that there was an urgent need for specific release time to be set aside for co-ordinators in primary schools, especially in small schools where teachers took
responsibility for more than one area of the curriculum. The provision of specific time would involve funding small schools to allow for such provision so that teachers could concentrate on the subject expertise that the National Curriculum demanded of them. Finally, very few co-ordinators felt that they were able to be effective at the present time and OFSTED reports support their views.

A thesis submitted to Middlesex University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy