§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if he will make a statement on the causes of the boredom suffered by British secondary school pupils in the classroom. [79436]
§ Mr. MilibandThere are various factors which can lead to boredom in secondary school classrooms, including: lessons which are not challenging enough;724W lessons that do not cater for pupils with special educational needs; lessons that recover old ground; lack of progress on transition to secondary school; pupils' lack of awareness of their learning goals; and perceived lack of relevance of the curriculum to pupils' personal goals.
We believe good teaching and a good curriculum are the best ways to engage and motivate pupils. We have introduced a wide range of strategies to improve teaching and learning, including our widely-acclaimed Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. Since September 2001 we have been implementing our new strategy to improve the attainment of 14 year olds (the Key Stage 3 Strategy). There have already been major improvements: OFSTED now rate nearly 70 per cent. of lessons as good compared with 40 per cent. five years ago.