Experts call for an end to statutory testing in primaries

TESTS in primary schools should be replaced with a system that prioritises children’s learning over league tables, a report published by an independent commission on primary assessment has recommended.

Reception baseline, phonics screening check, key stage 1 SATs and the multiplication tables check should be removed now and replaced by teacher assessment.

Year 6 SATs should be phased out.

Head teachers, teachers, and researchers are among the commissioners, who have based their findings on years of research, two new surveys of parents and educators, and their own expertise.

Most educators surveyed (93 per cent) and parents (82 per cent) were unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with the system of statutory assessment, while more than three-quarters of both teachers and parents agreed that there should be no government tests in primary schools.

Co-chair of the commission Professor Alice Bradbury, a former primary school teacher who is based at IOE, UCL’s

Faculty of Education and Society, said the commission’s research showed the need to move away from high pressure tests that only tell teachers how a child performs on a specific day.

She added that implementing more flexible assessments by teachers would showcase a child’s successes and identify areas in which they need help.

At the report’s launch in Parliament, NEU joint general secretary Mary Bousted said: “Putting children through a Victorian curriculum in the 21st century is not productive. We took a wrong turn and we need to correct it. The time has come for us to look seriously at how assessment is dominating teaching and learning in primary schools.”

Report’s main recommendations

• Year 6 SATs should be phased out. The other high stakes assessments (Reception baseline, phonics screening check, key stage 1 SATs and the multiplication tables check) should be removed immediately and replaced by more emphasis on teacher assessment.

• The performance of the school system over time should be evaluated through the use of a new system of nationally representative sampling of pupils, meaning only a small number of children will sit Government tests.

• Proof of children’s learning and attainment across their primary education would be demonstrated by a profile of evidence that draws on a variety of assessment methods and reflects pupils’ wider achievements, as well as their performance in key subjects.

• Children in Year 1 and again in Year 4 would be assessed to provide information allow educators to identify gaps in learning and allow for improvements. These assessments would take place at times throughout the school year, suitable to the individual needs of each child. Teachers would use these assessments, designed at national level, to support a child’s learning and not to measure schools, as is currently the case. The assessments would be designed in consultation with teachers, school leaders and subject experts.

To read the report go to icape.org.uk

Campaign for universal free school meals for primary pupils is launched

THE union and The Mirror newspaper have launched a campaign calling for the Government to extend free school meal provision (FSM) to every primary school pupil in England.

FSM are available for all primary school children until the end of year 2, but from year 3 onwards, millions of children miss out on a meal at school.

In a letter to former Prime Minister Liz Truss, signed by over 100 MPs, faith groups, charities and celebrities including former footballer Gary Lineker and chef Tom Kerridge, the NEU wrote:

“We are living through the greatest cost-of-living crisis in a generation, and too many families with young children are being pulled into poverty.

“Teachers and support staff see the difference a healthy school dinner makes. When children are hungry, they can’t learn. It’s hard for them to concentrate and harder for them to reach their potential. free school meals for all would mean every child can learn and succeed.”

England is already well behind in supporting children living below the poverty line. In 2020, Scotland pledged to extend FSM for every child in primary education, and this year Wales did the same. In its letter, the NEU has made it clear that “it is time for England to catch up”.

To sign the letter demanding the Government commit to extending FSM to every child in primary school, visit: nochildleftbehind.org.uk

New Education Secretary appointed

NEU joint general secretary Mary Bousted welcomed the appointment last month of Gillian Keegan, the fifth Education Secretary in four months. “We look forward to meeting Gillian Keegan to discuss and resolve the pressing issues facing an education system that her predecessors have run into the ground,” she said.

Afro hair guidance

PUPILS should not be stopped from wearing natural Afro hair styles at school, the Equality and Human Rights Commission says in new guidance for schools. It has produced resources to help school leaders ensure hair and hairstyle policies are not unlawfully discriminatory. The resources include a decisionmaking tool to help school leaders draft and review their policies.

equalityhumanrights.com/en/ advice-and-guidance/ preventing-hair-discriminationschools-decision-making-tool