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Literacy levels in Britain are lower than in any other English speaking country. Modern ways of teaching that could improve the reading skills of children are examined in detail.

In Aug 2001 there are 4,600 unfilled vacancies in British state schools in England and Wales. Schools are finding it difficult to recruit teachers in time for the start of the school year in Sep 2001.

Parents whose children are not doing as well at school as expected should start helping by trying to find out the cause. At the age of 7-8 learning difficulties may become apparent. Other causes could be bullying by other children, lack of stimulation, and emotional problems. Problems can also show up when children transfer to secondary school, when they are no longer able to mask problems. Solutions might include reviving motivation with a holiday project, a home computer or a study skills course, or even a holiday from school.

Those beginning school in Sep 1992 are the first to follow the National Curriculum completely throughout their school lives. Each subject consists of attainment targets which comprise levels of attainment according to age. Statements of attainment are vague to give teachers leeway in what to teach. Teachers have Curriculum Folders which give examples of classroom practice for each statement. Tests are held at the end of each key stage, at age seven, 11, 14 and 16 when it is the GCSE.

The headaster of Saffron Waldon County High School, Essex, UK, a grant-maintained comprehensive school, David Boatman, has launched an able students initiative to ensure that brighter children are stretched to potential. The initiative is aimed at ensuring that brighter children continue to apply for admission to the school to maintain standards, and to avoid losing students to local schools which are selective. A grant-maintained school in Bishop's Stortford had wanted to raise selection to half of intake, which made Boatman take the initiative.

Royal School, Windsor, introduced in early 1996 a Quiet Policy, requiring staff and children to speak quietly without shouting, which has created an ambience of calm in the school. The policy only applies inside the school buildings, but the lack of noise has spread out of doors too. According to Peter Brock, the headmaster, the atmosphere is more conducive to listening, and this is becoming more and more obvious. According to a nine-year-old pupil, Ceri Griffith-Swain, the quietness makes it easier to work, and children are less often in trouble.

The UK government has given secondary school permission to expand to enable parents to send their children to the school of their choice, and will make capital grants available, but schools do not always have space for expansion, and it is impossible to construct new buildings quickly. It will be some years before the effect of the government's ruling can take effect. At Cedars Upper School, Leighton Buzzard, UK, there are twenty mobile classrooms, a converted storeroom houses the office and the school shop, and the headteacher has to move out of his office for an examination because of pressure on space.

League tables providing data on a school's examination results often present a confused picture, since the tables do not reflect the progress of students. Schools in disadvantaged areas often have students who have made amazing progress compared to schools in advantaged areas, but since league tables provide information on student performance rather than school performance this information can be misleading. Assessment of school performance should be judged on such issues and student behavior, attitudes to school, attendance and learning.

UK government education reforms have made teaching more traditional, as more is by subject and directed at the whole class. Prime minister John Major stated that fashionable progressive theories had 'had their day.' Professor of the history of education at Leeds University Peter Gosden says that education has cycles of traditional and progressive methods. Topic work began in the 1850s when the object box encouraged children to discover for themselves. H E Armstrong of King's College London recommended discovery methods in 1902, but after World War I this theory was unpopular, although it stimulates more interest in the subject.

In 1993 the third set of educational reforms are creating increasing interest in state schooling. R A Butler's 1944 Education Act did not guarantee a minimum educational entitlement for all children as the national curriculum does. Its national standards should provide consistency and permanence in what children are taught, bringing equality of opportunity. There is more diversity as schools choose to be more technological, musical or academic.