Teach-Primary-Issue-19.4

16 | www.teachwire.net assessment review, these SATs week experiences would soon be consigned to history. We had hoped that the opinions of those who know children best – teachers and parents – would finally be listened to. That’s why last autumn, along with hundreds of teachers, headteachers, education experts, teaching unions and other teaching bodies, we submitted reams of evidence to the newly launched Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR), calling for substantial reform of the current primary assessment system. Like you, we believe in high quality and high standards in education. We’re not against teacher-led tests, moderated assessments, or national sampling and we’re not against holding schools to account. However, with the recent publication of the review’s interim report, and the subsequent pronouncement by Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson that “Primary school exams are here to stay,” our S ATs week is just around the corner, which means the pressure on teachers and pupils will be reaching fever pitch. In most schools, the time Year 6 children spend on history, geography, art, PE, drama and other subjects will have dwindled over the last few weeks – even months – as teachers feel obliged to spend hours instead on practice papers and preparing for SATs. You will, no doubt, be comforting anxious children and watching the confidence of some of them spiral downwards, whilst being aware that their own and their peers’ performance during SATs week will have big implications for the school as a whole. Parents of Year 6s will be dealing with the fallout of all this stress at home, with some children feeling bored and frustrated and others struggling to sleep or not wanting to go into school at all. At More Than a Score, we had high hopes that with a new government and the launch of the curriculum and hope for meaningful reform has turned to disappointment. For now, at least, the CAR panel and the government are refusing to take on board the views of the majority of primary school leaders, teachers and parents. In our most recent research, when asked which statutory tests they would like to see removed, 70 per cent of school leaders said SATs. Three-quarters of parents say getting rid of SATs would either improve or make no difference to their children’s education. And half of all secondary schools re-test at the start of Year 7 because they don’t trust SATs data. The tests are particularly damaging to pupils who are most disadvantaged. Last year, just 22 per cent of children with SEND reached the expected standard, compared to 72 per cent of those without SEND. And only 46 per cent of disadvantaged pupils reached the expected standard, versus 67 percent of non-disadvantaged pupils. Taken together, these groups make up the bulk of the 40 per cent of children who were sent off to secondary school labelled as ‘failures’. As teachers point out, being told you have failed at the age of 10 or 11 is a damaging and unpleasant experience. It’s certainly no way to encourage or engage children in their future learning. Surely, the best way to prioritise the high and rising standards that everyone wants, is to do away with reliance on a system that has been proven to do more harm than good. We hope that parents, school leaders and teachers will come together as a matter of urgency to make it clear that more work needs to be done before the final report is published. That’s why we’ve launched a campaign asking everyone to email Bridget Phillipson and the review board, calling on the government to change its position. We need to send a strong reminder that the current system negatively affects the whole school community. Simply go to tinyurl.com/ tp-MoreThanAScore and fill in your details on the form provided. It will take you no more than a minute using our suggested wording, though if you can spare the time, a more personalised email would be even stronger! It’s time for the government and the review to listen to the views of those who are working within the primary system on a daily basis. The cost of inaction is too great. TP Jess Edwards is a primary teacher in Lambeth, and a member of the More Than a Score coalition. Jess Edwards Enough is enough. Why are we still dealing with SATs? tinyurl.com/tp-MoreThanAScore VO I C E S Now, more than ever, the government needs to listen to us about these damaging assessments