Commons Education Committee to investigate primary SATs tests

From the TES LINK

MPs are to investigate how this year's new tougher Sats tests have affected primary schools.
This was the first year that ten and 11-year-olds took the new tougher tests in reading, maths and spelling, grammar and punctuation. Pupils were also assessed in writing by their teachers according to a new controversial national framework.

Now the Commons Education Committee has launched an inquiry into primary assessment – looking at the implementation of the new system, its impact on teaching and learning schools and the wider issue of what primary assessment is for.

“This summer saw the introduction of arguably the biggest reforms in primary assessment since external assessment was introduced 25 years ago,” said Neil Carmichael, chair of the committee. “In this inquiry we want to look at the impact of the new national curriculum assessment (Sats) and how the current system affects teaching and learning."

Just 53 per cent of ten and 11-year-olds reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths this year.

The introduction of the new Sats, taken by more than 500,000 pupils, has been described as “chaotic” by unions. The NAHT, ATL and NUT have said that urgent changes are needed or they will consider a boycott in 2017.

The government has already put on hold plans to introduce multiplication tables tests next year and has said that proposed Year 7 resits will not begin in this academic year.
The committee inquiry will look into what should happen now the reforms have been made.
Other areas to be covered are:

• The purpose of primary assessment and how well the current system meets this;
• The advantages and disadvantages of assessing pupils at primary school;
• How the most recent reforms have affected teaching and learning;
• Logistics and delivery of the SATs;
• Training and support needed for teachers and senior leaders to design and implement effective assessment systems;

"News of Sats boycotts in certain parts of the country and data showing almost half of pupils in England failed to meet the new tough standards in reading, writing and maths point to unresolved issues in the way we prepare our children for secondary school and help them reach their potential," Mr Carmichael said.

The deadline for written evidence is Friday 28 October. The public evidence sessions for this inquiry are due to begin in November.

In pursuit of joy: what should we value in primary schools?

Guest blog by Emma Bishton, first published on her blog emmabishton.wordpress.com and by the Local Schools Network LINK

 
It's been a busy couple of weeks. No I don't mean trying to keep up with the headlines or the fallout from the headlines, though I can't say that isn't also a challenge. I mean domestically. It's the end of term, so there has been a procession of concerts and (intentionally) dramatic events to attend, a street fair, a fete, end of term assemblies and so on. This year is different because it's my daughter's last at primary school. Which means, of course, that she leaves not only with a set of wonderful memories and burgeoning opportunities, but with a set of SATS results.

A week or so ago we had our school summer concert (which I help with, as I'm involved with music at school). This was the 8th of these annual events, and quite possibly the best yet. They always follow the same format: choirs, ukulele group and recorder group have a standing slot, and most of the rest of the programme is given over to pupil performances - anything from solo songs to dance routines. Pupils audition for a slot in the programme, for which they devise and rehearse their own pieces. Variety is more important than perfection - over the years we've had all sorts from Mozart on the horn to solo renditions of Take That songs. This year, one of the highlights for me was the 'Kingfisher boys' -  a group of year 3 boys (complete with baseball caps), one singer in the middle of five dancers - including some rather skilful breakdancing. It wasn't note-perfect or movement-perfect. But it was exuberant, entertaining, and above all joyful. Like a lot else in the summer concert, it was impossible to watch without smiling.

The other thing that happened that day was that their school reports came out. These, for those lucky children in year 6, included their SATS results.  In an attempt to explain the reporting of SATS results, the headteacher usefully included a flyer  written for parents by the government Standards and Testing Agency. It goes on about the government's desire to raise standards, and includes statements which of course presage an intentionally higher number of 'failures' than previously:  "As the new standard is higher than the old one, fewer children have met the new expected standard than the previous standard", and then goes on to suggest that parents go online to find out how their child's results compare with the national average (which smacks rather of trying to generate fear of failure in parents as well as pupils, rather than drawing on the more positive effects of competition). The leaflet also suggests that tests and teacher assessments help teachers in secondary school to target extra help. Well my daughter's test results didn't tell us anything we didn't already know about her or anything she didn't already know about herself. Nor, more importantly, did they tell her teacher anything she didn't already know and couldn't already communicate to the secondary school in a teacher assessment.  So what, you might wonder, was the point of all that anguish back in May?

The leaflet appears to suggest that more children failing the tests will result in them having a better "mastery of the basics" (I'm really not sure that 'fronted adverbials' are basic, but that's another matter).  But whilst it's made clear that the SATS system has been specifically engineered to create more  'failures' than 'successes', for this year at least, the leaflet doesn't explain how 'failing' might actually help a child learn.  (I can of course see how such engineering will help the government claim to have  improved standards in a couple of years time, but that's another matter also.)  It doesn't explain it because it can't explain it. Back in May, my daughter feared the tests, though in the event she did fine. That fear wasn't productive, it was just a waste of emotional energy.  And generating fear of failure in parents by frequent use of words like 'mastery' and 'expected standard' is simply unacceptable, as well as being unlikely to result in pupils actually doing better.

In our summer concerts, on the other hand, there are no failures. In eight years of summer concerts, I have never seen a child crumble on stage. True, some enjoy performing more than others, some are more engaging than others, some have practised more or display more talent than others -  but they all get up on the stage and take pleasure in having done so. Those Kingfisher Boys applied themselves to the task, thought creatively and worked collaboratively, listened to advice and put it into practice (and rose to the challenge of performing in front of at least 200 people). All rather useful skills for life, let alone for learning.  But SATS tests don't value any of those attributes at all. Instead they have tested whether my daughter and her peers can produce a piece of writing in time and remember various facts and processes. I'm not seeking to denigrate the value of learning these things in themselves (except much of the content of the SPaG test, of course). But I question their value for our children's overall emotional and cognitive development. Children find joy in things that they value and that they get satisfaction from learning - whether that's on stage, on the cricket pitch or indeed, with a skilled teacher, in a classroom. And that joy spurs them on. Testing for the sake of testing, on the other hand, eviscerates joy.  I am heartily relieved, as my daughter prepares for secondary school, that she has been at a school which values the creative antics of boys in year 3 as highly as a few test results.

Headteacher: We must act together to make sure SATs pain does not happen again

This plea from a primary headteacher appeared on Facebook about 12 hours ago and has received much attention. The Green Party has a long-standing policy in favour of the abolition of SATs and opposition has strengthened amongst parent groups and teachers.  
 

I am a primary head teacher and have taught in primary schools for the past 26 years. I started teaching when SATs were first introduced and have never thought they were a good idea but this year has been a disaster from start to finish. Before I explain why that is I want to apologise. I want to say sorry to my staff and my children. I am sorry that I didn’t act sooner, that I wasn’t brave enough to stand up at the start of the year and say no. We all knew it was going to be bad but I really couldn’t have imagined it would be this bad.

The year has been chaotic from start to finish. The testing regime being just one part of that. From the Key Stage 1 SPAG test published on line for several months without the DfE noticing, to the terrible Year 6 tests which have left nearly half of our Year 6 pupils being told they are not good enough.

So to those young people moving on to secondary school I say to you well done for working hard and trying your best. Your school and your teachers have not failed you – this government has.

Over the past few days I have heard some terrible stories – head teachers sent home and told not to return, Year 6 teachers blamed for the results and told they can no longer teach in Year 6 – these are people’s lives, people’s livelihoods – teachers went in to the profession to make a difference – we have a system set on destroying them.

To my staff and my children – again I am sorry – you are amazing – each and every one of you – you are individual, you are unique and no child should ever have to be tested on a standardised test because you are not standard. No teacher should be made to feel they have failed when all they have done is work as hard as they can - often too hard to implement something which shouldn’t have been implemented.

So now a request to all of you – parents, teachers, head teachers, school staff. If you agree that these tests are wrong and should go. If you really believe as I have heard many of you say that this year must be the last year that we put our children through this then please do not allow the 6 week holiday to numb your pain. Please remember what this has done to our schools and our children and please do something – write to anyone and everyone, put pressure on politicians and let us all together build a campaign to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Our children should leave primary school confident learners who are looking forward to secondary school, keen to learn and develop their skills but also people who have respect and understanding for those around them and who will grow in to well-grounded young people who can contribute positively to our society.

I for one cannot do this again I hope others join me to say enough is enough. Our children deserve so much more.

Teachers' commitment to children & determination to challenge government policies shines through on Tuesday's march

NUT: We must say 'never again' to SATS car crash

Kevin Courney, Acting General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers made this statement on Facebook earlier this morning:

On comparing SATs results and Morgan's failure.

This year 47% of children will be told they haven't reached the "expected" standard in at least one of their SAT papers.

Last year this figure was only 15%.

It is really important that we reassure parents and children. These children haven't failed. Nicky Morgan has failed.

She and Nick Gibb have consistently ignored advice - even pleas - from educationalists and teachers.
It was clear to many teachers that these tests were going to be a car crash.

The material was too hard, the curriculum wasn't in place, the tests were badly designed.
NUT called for this year's tests to be cancelled - but Morgan wouldn't listen.

We must reassure children and parents now. It's not their failure - it's Nicky Morgan's failure.
But we must also say "never again".

Next year's year 6 mustn't be put through this experience

SATS plunge is not children's or teachers' failure - it is the Government's responsibility

Nicky Morgan cried crocodile tears this morning over children losing a day's education because of the NUT strike.  What the SATs results proved, when they were released this morning, is that she has wasted a whole year of thousands of children's education in which teachers have had to sacrifice real learning to 'teaching for the test'.  Tests which are based on a hastily and poorly revised curriculum with no evidence base, lambasted by expert educationalists and far too difficult for the majority of children.

With local reports of reading results down as much as 30% it is no wonder that Morgan quickly moved to say that the results were not comparable to last year.  She had to escape blame for the sudden drop in pupils' performance and instead congratulate herself and the government on their 'higher expectations'.

On top of the stress children and teachers suffered in the Gradgrind weeks before the tests and the stress of the tests themselves which saw many children reduced to tears, I now hear of children feeling deeply distressed and despondent because they 'haven't reached the required level' - some have gone weeping to their headteachers seeking comfort.

Eleven year olds seeing themselves as failures was something that happened in my childhood as a result of the 11+ examination - now Morgan and the Tories have introduced it to a new generation. That sense of failure can carry on throughout life.

At the same time Year 6 teachers and teaching assistants, headteachers and deputies, will also be feeling that they have somehow failed - although they know the demands were unrealistic, the preparation time inadequate, and the educational justification for the tests non-existent.

Worse some will be feeling guilty about the pressure they exerted on children in order to try and get them through the tests, knowing that it was unreasonable and unjustifiable in terms of their own professional integrity. They will feel that they colluded in something that damaged children even though they tried their hardest to protect them.

Then there are the parents left trying to comfort their child, persuade them that there is more to life that SATs, and perhaps worrying that somehow their child is just not capable of making the grade.

Today's strike was officially about funding, pay and conditions, and workload. Teachers cannot legally strike about the curriculum or the heartless ill treatment of children, but that was clearly a concern demonstrated in the many placards carried by the marchers today.

The long-term impact of Morgan and Gove's education policies will take years to emerge but I am right behind teachers, headteachers, governors and parents who are working together to ensure that the next cohort of pupils will not have to go through a process that amounts to mental cruelty.

Now is is time in the last weeks of term to pick up the pieces and rebuild children's confidence so that they do not start secondary school with low self-esteem and an expectation of further failure.

Greens back campaign against over-testing

Revolting childfen and parents yesterday

Vix Lowthian is the Green Party's spokesperson on education. She posted this on her blog on Monday LINK

 Thousands of parents of six and seven year olds will be keeping their children at home on Tuesday May 3^rd as a protest against the government national SATS exams.

The Green Party are very clear on this – we would abolish external SATS, and trust the professional judgement of teachers to assess their pupils in a much less pressurized environment. As Green Party national spokesperson for Education – and also a parent of 3 primary-aged boys and a working teacher – I have every sympathy with parents making the tough decision to withdraw their children from school.

Education at primary school level must be about a broad, child-centred curriculum with a wide variety of experiences and opportunities which will engender a love of learning and equip them for life. This over-emphasis on external testing is zapping the creativity out of our teaching and learning, thereby stifling the inquisitive nature of our children and limiting their future prospects.

The Let Our Kids Be Kids campaign has led the strike, saying that English children are ‘over-tested, over-worked and in a school system that places more importance of test results and league tables than children’s happiness and joy of learning’. It is a clear message to education secretary Nicky Morgan and her department that enough is enough, and we should not put our children through such a narrow and high-stake learning experience.

I fully support families getting behind our main teaching unions who have repeatedly called for an end to the over testing in our schools. Even the head of the usually moderate NAHT (Headteachers’ union) Russell Hobby has criticised the tests: “Testing has a role to play in the assessment of children, but the poorly designed tests and last-minute changes we have seen this year do not add value to teaching.”

I back the campaign against over testing of our seven year olds. I know that those children out of school on May 3^rd will have a happy and enriching experience away from mock tests and box ticking.
The government needs to listen.

Green Party support for today's 'Let Kids Be Kids' strikes

Today's action by parents who are keeping their children off school for a day of 'fun learning'  in protest against a school curriculum dominated by SAT tests has been supported on Twitter by the Green Party.  Green Party policy is to abolish external SATs tests.

These are the first major children's strikes since those of 1911. HERE

See more from the Green Party's Education Spokesperson HERE

Some images from elsewhere on Twitter:

May 3rd Children's Strike: Open Letter to Nicky Morgan from Let Our Kids Be Kids

Reprinted from Let Our Kids Be Kids website LINK

Open Letter from Let Our Kids Be Kids – the voice of tens of thousands of parents who want an end to SAT testing NOW.

Dear Nicky Morgan,

We are aware that you’ve been flooded with open letters recently but this one is a bit different. We’re writing from everybody. We represent the voice of parents across the country. Parents are everybody. They are teachers, they are junior doctors, they are steel workers, they are speech therapists, neuro scientists, academics, small business owners, stay at home mums. Parents aren’t people you can dismiss into a single box; parents are everybody that you were voted in to serve.

• Children as young as 6 are labelling themselves failures and crying about going to school. We know this because we are parents.

• The capacity for children of this age to actually learn the concepts you have asked them to learn is questionable. We know this because parents are also neuro scientists.

• Children’s mental health is at risk because of the increased pressure they face through primary school testing. We know this because parents are also mental health nurses.

• By the time these children reach secondary school they are turned off education. We know this because parents are also secondary teachers

• Children who have been taught in a system obsessed with passing tests rather than learning for learning’s sake enter the world of work unprepared. We know this because parents are also business owners.

• By the time children who have been through this exam factory end up at university they have to be re taught how to learn in a curious way. We know this because parents are also academics.

The other interesting thing about parents is that they aren’t employed or paid by you. You can’t dismiss our concerns as being about pay or holidays or pension plans… our priority is the happiness and wellbeing of our children.

You’ve said some interesting things about parents but rest assured that we are parents who would most definitely discuss the issue of education with you if you were to turn up on our doorsteps. We are parents who do feel that elections can be won or lost on educational matters. There are tens of thousands of us and we have reached the point when it is time for us to speak. We need you to listen.
We’re not convinced, based on your track record, that you’ll listen to just words so, to make it very clear how strongly we feel, we are also planning a day of action with a Kids’ Strike on 3rd May  (#KidsStrike3rdMay) which will see thousands of primary school children staying off school IN SUPPORT of teachers and schools and in protest at the DfE’s testing policies. We want an end to SATs NOW. Not in 2017, not in the future. NOW.

Perhaps the government hoped that this mass parental revolt would be extinguished following the shambolic cancellation of KS1 SPaG test? This has simply added fuel to the fire. It merely demonstrates how little thought goes into your decisions and shows that you do think teacher assessment is a good enough tool to use.

You have dismissed the concerns of pupil stress and anxiety caused by the SATs by blaming our wonderful teachers for not administering tests in an appropriate manner. We say to you that this is utter nonsense. Teachers would be insane to allow our children to face these tests unprepared. The new curriculum related to these tests demands that teachers teach a dulled down, test driven curriculum to our children for months in advance. Since you and your inspectors put so much emphasis on test scores for your league tables can you blame schools for trying to get the best out of our children? We don’t blame them. We blame you and your government’s ridiculous testing regime.

A marvellous quote was posted to our campaign page:

“Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he is not interested, it is like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it eating.”

Your government has effectively spent millions of pounds of tax payers’ money chucking marshmallows at our children’s heads. You’ve had some wonderful teachers trying their hardest to chuck these marshmallows about but no matter how hard they try they are still missing… because these children are in the vast majority of cases simply not mentally ready to learn the material you have placed in front of them. It’s a bit like teaching an 8 year old to drive a sports car or a 6 month old to walk… it’s not going to happen.

You have got it wrong. We give you a score of zero for this. You have failed. Please resit your submission for devising an appropriate testing system. Or you could just leave it to the experts in the field, the trained teachers, next time.

Conspiracies abound that this is all part of the enforced academies plan. Making SATs so hard that schools inevitably fail means that your academy business leaders can come in and rescue ‘failing’ schools… leaving them completely unaccountable to parents. You will never have to listen to us again! It’s good to have a plan… just not a plan which leaves millions of children as assets and the education of our children as a commodity… that would in fact be a truly awful plan.

Please take a long, hard look at this. Do you want your legacy to be the confident cancellation of unneeded and unnecessary SATS, showing you are listening to your electorate and the teachers you claim to support… or the overseeing of a shambolic testing regime desperately unwanted by millions of people to the point that this country saw it’s first open parent revolt?

You have the power to stop these tests. NOW. Our children, our teachers and our schools deserve better than this.

With sincere hope that you are listening, on behalf of the tens of thousands of supporters of ‘Let Our Kids Be Kids’.

'Parent Power' campaign to withdraw children from school on May 3rd for a day of 'fun learning' gathers support

Let Kids be Kids is a social media campaign by parents who intend to withdraw their children from  school on May 3rd in protest against the SATs and the impact that the new tests are having on their children, as well as a more general protest against the government's White Paper on education.

At this point it is impossible to say how much support the strike call will have but it is certainly a concern shared by many parents as well as teachers.

22,000 have signed their petition to Nicky Morgan LINK

We want an end to SATs... we want our kids to be kids again.
We're encouraging parents to show Parent Power by keeping their children off school IN SUPPORT of a SATs boycott on TUESDAY 3RD MAY.

Why is this important?

We're a group of Year 2 parents who've had enough... enough of endless testing, enough of teachers not being trusted to teach, enough of an Ofsted driven, dull, dry curriculum aimed solely at passing National Curriculum Tests (SATs).

We want our kids to be kids again and enjoy learning for learning's sake not for Ofsted results or league table figures. Bring back the creativity and the fun - say goodbye to repetition and boredom!

In May, children in Year 2 sit a whole week's worth of exams.. these children are 6 or 7 years old!!! All year their curriculum has been centred around comprehension and arithmetic in order to pass these tests. Outdoor learning has decreased, childhood anxiety has increased, games have been replaced with grammar, playing with punctuation.

Parents all over the country are joining forces on 3rd May for a day of fun learning out of school to show support for a SATS boycott and a return to teacher led assessments which value individuality and creativity in the school setting.

The video above was recorded at yesterday's Parents Defending Education launch

https://letthekidsbekids.wordpress.com/let-kids-be-kids-events-happening-on-3rd-may/

https://www.facebook.com/parentssupportteachers/?fref=ts

Michael Rosen speaking at Parents Defending Education

Parents declare #THISislearning as they take on the government's testing agenda

With Tory MPs lining up to question the government's forced academisation policy, a primary headteacher resigning in protest at the government's plans LINK and the NUT balloting for action real momentum is building up against Cameron's government.

Now parents are joining in and they are taking on the government on the content of education and the emphasis on testing as you can see from this blog first published HERE

On Tuesday 3rd May, thousands of parents are planning to take a stand against a school system which is more interested in testing our children than it is in nurturing in them a love of learning. They will be adding their voices to the growing unrest that already permeates the teaching profession, and joining the call from the National Union of Teachers to cancel the SATs for 2016. By keeping their children home from school on that day, they want to send a clear message to the government that enough is enough, and that their children – all children – deserve more.
We want to take things one step further.

As well as fully supporting the kids’ strike on 3rd May, we want to use that day and the run up to it to flood the internet with inspirational learning moments: images, stories and activities that show just how much more there is to learning than the narrow focus of the SATs allows. Whatever the age of your child, whether they are at school or nursery or educated at home, we would like you to help us show the government what learning really looks like using the hashtag #THISislearning.

If you’re a teacher, we would love to hear your thoughts too: this government has marginalised the expertise of education professionals for far too long.

If you have a blog, you can link up your posts below to create a hub of inspiration in the run up to 3rd May and share what you and your child(ren) get up to on the day itself. If you are not a blogger then don’t worry – you can share your ideas and activities on your social media accounts, using the hashtag #THISislearning on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can find out more about why we’re taking this action by reading Maddy’s post No, Mr Cameron, No, which inspired us with the fantastic response it received from parents and teachers alike, and the follow up, This is learning, Mr Cameron, as well as my post Why SATs are Bad for our Children, reflecting on the current situation from the perspective of ten years of teaching as well as life with a three year old.

You can also join our Facebook group to keep up to date with latest developments, and please comment below or contact either of us directly if there is anything else you want to know.

Sophie: Sophie is…
Maddy: Writing Bubble
#THISislearning

We would love as many bloggers as possible to join in! Here are just a few suggestions for taking part:

• Link up any post (old or new) about inspiring children to learn, including fun activities people might like to try on May 3rd.
• Please grab the #THISislearning badge from my sidebar for your post to spread awareness of the campaign (copy and paste the HTML code to add it to your site). We will share your posts on Twitter in return.
• If you share your post on social media, please the hashtag #THISislearning. If you tweet us a link to your post @writingbubble and @sophieblovett then we will RT.
• Link up your post below – just click on the blue button that says ‘add your link’ and follow the instructions. We look forward to reading your posts!

NUT call for 2016 SATs to be suspended as ministers fail the 'test of competence'

-->

I have been hearing concerns from local primary teachers about the new SATs that are due to take place in May so I am not surprised to hear that the NUT is calling for them to be suspended.

This is what the NUT said today:

Nicky Morgan’s new system for testing and assessment of KS1 and KS2 pupils has come apart at the seams. As a result the NUT is calling for the 2015/16 SATs to be suspended.

In early February the DfE published its requirements in relation to teacher assessments of children’s writing standards. These have come far too late in the process. The detail in the exemplifications of the required standards and the number of separate pieces of evidence required for each individual assessment mean that they are impossible for teachers to deliver in the few months between February and June. Since these exemplifications are ‘interim’ and only for this year, they could also change completely again next year.

These proposals add to a chaotic heap of other demands. The reporting date for teachers’ assessments has been brought forward. The ‘expected standard’ that children are required to meet has been pushed upwards, beyond the reach of far too many pupils. The consequences of this shift on the requirement on schools to meet floor standards have not been thought through.

Ministers have failed the test of competence. Nicky Morgan’s pledge to give a year’s notice of substantial changes has been revealed as just a hollow promise.

The NUT is calling for the 2015/16 SATs to be suspended and will be meeting other teaching unions on Thursday 18 February to discuss a joint response.

Hunt's neo-liberalism distorts his understanding of education policy

Tristram Hunt's Guardian attack on the Green party's education policy LINK , characteristising it as 'total madness', seems to have spectacularly misfired today. Guardian readers looking up the detail have come back to comment favourably on the policy.

Our policy does of course mark a clear break with the neo-liberal policies of the three main parties which support competition and marketisation of schools based on what Chomsky recently called the 'grading of students and teachers'.

Labour of course began the marketisation of schools with their sponsored academies and this, along with the privatisation of the NHS, was a key element in Blair's New Labour strategy.  Hunt, along with Lord Adonis, is essentially a Blairite and we cannot expect him to offer a fundamental critique of what the system, instigated by them,  has become.

So what is this 'madness' Hunt has found:

Delaying the start of formal education until the age of six

There are many countries in the world where children start later than in England and Wales and achieve just as well, if not better, with less anxiety. The Green Party takes account of such evidence and understands the importance of play and exploration in early childhood rather than the testing and ranking at ever earlier ages supported by the neo-liberal parties.

Ending SAT tests in Primary Schools

SATS are essentially a way of grading teachers and schools putting them and their students under intense pressure. This has had the effect of narrowing the curriculum, deskilling teachers who are under pressure to 'teach to the test' and removes much of the joy from teaching and learning. Greens have a much broader view of what constitutes education.

Hunt suggests that children's progress would no longer be monitored, but of course SATs are not the only way to monitor and evaluate progress and tell us little about the individual child compared with other systems.

Abolition of Ofsted will end accountability

The  Green Party would replace Ofsted with a collaborative system ending much of the stress, illness and rushed judgements associated with Ofsted:

The Green Party will instate a system of local accountability using continuous, collaborative assessment of schools. We would replace OFSTED with an independent National Council of Educational Excellence which would have regional officers tasked to work closely with Local Authorities. The National Council would be closely affiliated with the National Federation for Educational Research (NFER).

Where pupils’ attainment and progress is reported as part of a school’s holistic report to parents and the wider community it will include assessments, including value-added, moderated by the National Council of Education Excellence and the Local Authority’s School Improvement Service as well as the school’s own self evaluation.

Education cannot compensate for society
 
In a variation of Michael Gove's 'enemies of promise' labelling of his opponents, Hunt suggests that Natalie Bennett speaks the language of 'low aspiration and defeatism' because she recognises that schools cannot compensate for all the ills of an unequal society.

This is what Natalie actually said:

I am gravely concerned about low exam results and high dropout rates from children from disadvantaged backgrounds. But I understand that even wonderful schools can’t fully compensate for severe poverty and stress at home - which is why making the minimum wage a living wage, affordable and warm homes, and ensuring decent benefits are available to all who needs them, are education issues as well as social justice issues

More than 40 years in teaching and school governance has certainly taught me the importance of material conditions, and I would add a daily hot meal and a place to study to the list. These make an impact on levels of energy, motivation and self-worth. We have to work on both improving education and improving living conditions and increasing equality.

The focus on individual progression in education with its blame for failure on pupils, parents, teachers and schools, serves to let politicians off the hook over increased inequality, child poverty and inadequate housing.

What Hunt didn't say

Hunt failed to attack the Green Party's policy to end academies and free schools, integrate existing ones back into the Local Authority system, strengthen LAs through better funding and increased democratic accountability,  restore LA's ability to build new schools where they are needed and end Performance Related Pay for teachers.

Perhaps they were too popular for him to advertise?

Green Party Education policy is HERE

Natalie Bennett explains Green Party policy on education

Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green party, spoke yesterday at a meeting of the Anti Academies Alliance on Green Party policy. My apologies for the jerkiness of the video at the beginning.

There's so much more to an 11 year old than their Key Stage 2 SAT results

As Year 6 children get their Key Stage 2 SATs score a letter from a teacher that reminds us that there is so much more to a child than how they are graded in a one-off test.

Why a retired headteacher and current governor supports today's teachers' strike

It is simple really: teachers have no choice but to strike if they are to stop education spiralling into a crisis that will damage thousands of children. A one day strike is inconvenient - Michael Gove and the Global Education Reform Movement is a catastrophe.

The DfE and Ofsted would have us believe that the quality of education our children receive is dependent on tough 'super' head teachers and their senior management teams following government diktat. It is not.

What is important is the quality of the teaching force, their creativity and their commitment. At a day to day level is is important that they should not be tired, frazzled, over-burdened with paperwork and fearful of the next monitoring visit.

Labour and now the Coalition have put the teaching force under incredible strain in terms of workload and have accompanied this by attacks on their professionalism and their conditions of service. Pensions have been cut and contributions increased, take home pay has declined 17% since 2010 and they are now expected to work until the age of 68.

Imagine for a moment  teaching a class of  lively 5 year olds as a 68 year old! The fact is that it will be a huge strain and  bad for teacher and child. Governors and parents must realise this is something they cannot countenance. Teachers will end up retiring early due to ill-health or will be subject to 'competency' procedures that will end their careers on a sad and sour note. 

Teachers are leaving the profession in increasing numbers with many young teachers giving up exhausted and frustrated after five years. Recruitment of headteachers is in crisis. Morale is plummeting.

The introduction of performance related pay will tie teachers ever closer to target driven lessons related to spurious data based on testing. 'Standards' may go up but in reality will reflect more 'teaching to the test'.

But worse is waiting in the wings. The employment of unqualified teachers by free schools and academies is a wedge that will be used to increase the employment of unqualified teachers in local authority schools faced by declining budgets. This deskilling and deprofessionalisation is no accident because corporations such as Murdoch (Gove's ex-employer) and Pearsons are on hand to supply schools with ipad based curriculum packages for individualised learning - much cheaper than teachers and supervised by low paid teaching assistants.

I respect teachers and have seen their commitment over the years and now in the schools where I am a governor. I am not surprised that the research shows that they work a 60 hour week to keep up with the planning and paperwork. I am impressed that despite this they find time to organise and supervise residential visits with children, organise sleepovers at the Science Museum, run afterschool clubs and fund raise at the School Fair.

Their commitment to children and their learning is immense but continually undermined by government interference and bullying and an inspection system that induces fear rather than positive partnership for improvement.

Support the teachers today for a better tomorrow for our children.

Greens issue radical education challenge to 3 main parties

Regular readers will realise I have been away for a few days. I have been in Liverpool for the Green Party Conference where we debated Education policy on Saturday:

The Green Party has sharply differentiated its education policy from that of the three main political parties in revisions adopted at the weekend.

Moving the revisions I said:

The neoliberal project is based on the premise of unlimited growth and unrestrained exploitation of the earth’s resources and sees society purely in terms of the market, competition, private acquisition and consumerism. This leads to the marketisation of education through the privatisation of schools, erosion of democratic accountability and the narrowing of the curriculum policed by testing and Ofsted.

Our rejection of this model enables us to put forward an education policy that is child-centred and provides everyone with the knowledge and skills to live a fulfilled life, restores local democratic accountability, teachers’ professional autonomy and children’s right to a childhood.

The revised policy that was overwhelmingly approved with only two or three votes against commits the Green Party to:

·        Abolish the current SATs and the Year 1 Literacy Screening Test and rigid age-related benchmarking

·        Recognise the great variance in children’s development in the early years and the need to offer developmentally appropriate provision including the important role of play in early learning

·        Strengthen the role of local authorities in terms of funding and the enhancement of their democratic accountability

·        Oppose free schools and academies and integrate them into the local authority school system

·        Restore the right of local authorities to build new schools where they are needed

·        Adopt an admissions policy that recognises every child and young person’s entitlement to access a fair, comprehensive and equal education system, regardless of their background

·        Embrace a diverse range of educational approaches within that system

·        Replace Ofsted with an independent National Council of Educational Excellence which would have regional officers tasked to work closely with LAs. The National Council would be closely affiliated with the National Federation for Educational Research (NFER)

·        Ensure every child in the state funded educational system is taught by a qualified teacher

·        Reject performance related pay

Existing policy on the Curriculum which replaces the National Curriculum with a series of ‘Learning Entitlements remains unaltered.

Commenting after the policy changes were adopted I said:

We know that many despair of the current policies of Michael Gove and Tristram Hunt’s pale imitation and the great and reckless damage they are doing to the education system, teachers’ morale and children’s well being. We have clearly set out an alternative vision that replaces competition with cooperation, coercion with partnership, and fragmentation with cohesion.

Green Party Education Policy offers a real alternative

I will be moving a motion revising the Green Party's Education Policy at our forthcoming Spring Conference. The revisions take account of recent developments in what has been termed GERM (the Global Education Reform Movement) and the various campaigns that have sprung up as a result of privatisation, forced academisation, test led curriculum and pedagogy and the attack on teachers; conditions of service.

The full briefing paper on the motion can be read HERE. This extract sets out the background:

Since the current Education Policy was written there has been much change in the direction of education both nationally and globally. What has become known as GERM (the Global Education Reform Movement) emphasises competition between schools and between countries, education’s contribution to global economic growth and competition, the provision of a ‘market’ in education with increasing involvement of private companies, a narrowing of the curriculum through a concentration on basic subjects that can be measured through standardised testing, and a convergence between the world of work and education. 

In England the three main parties, to varying degrees, support this movement, which has resulted in the promotion of free schools and academies, the increasing role of private companies not just in sponsoring such schools but also in the provision of curriculum and learning materials. Companies such as Pearson and Murdoch are poised to exploit this situation. Testing at the age of four is now being mooted as well as the existing Phonics Screening Test at six, Key Stage 1 SATs at 7 and Key Stage 2 SATS at 11. In the secondary sector there is a huge emphasis on examination results. Test results are used by Ofsted as the first measure for judging school performance and schools spend an enormous amount of time analysing and ‘interrogating’ the data. A blip in these results can lead to a local authority school being forced to convert to academy status.

The paradox is that increased centralisation and the granting of unprecedented powers to the Secretary of State for Education, in this government and any successor, have accompanied the rhetoric about setting schools free from local authority ‘control’ through academies and free schools. Currently the micro-management of schools by Michael Gove has extended to advocating particular policies on behaviour management. Peter Wilby has described the situation thus:

Michael Gove is on course to complete what Kenneth Baker began… the creation of a fully centralised school system in which the secretary of state for education has the powers of an elected dictator.

The agreement between the three main parties on this gives the Green Party the space to offer a completely different approach based on our underlying principles:

• Our rejection of the economic growth agenda and the accompanying international economic competition enables us to have a broader interpretation of the aims and content of education.
• This in turn enables us to reject the narrow curriculum, testing regimes and league tables associated with the GERM model and to put forward a child-centred approach taking account of child development, especially in the early years.
• Our belief that decisions are best made at local level rather than by centralised diktat means that decisions about curriculum (apart from a broad entitlement) and pedagogy are made by teachers and the school community rather than the Secretary of State.
• This enables diversity and creativity to take place within the state funded local authority school system, which will have the effect of empowering teachers and developing their professionalism rather than deskilling them.
• Our belief in cooperation rather than competition means that we put forward collaborative models of school improvement including school to school support and a partnership role for an independent inspection service informed by educational research/
•  Our support for increased democratic accountability at a local level involves improving the representation of parents and pupils within schools and democratic accountability through local authorities and removing the excessive powers of the Secretary of State.
• Our commitment to social justice means that we put forward policies that support fair admissions and fair funding of schools and inclusion of children with special needs.

Greens get behind the striking teachers

Thousands of teachers were on strike today over changes in pay, pensions and conditions of service. I joined in the protest after a quick call to Vanessa Feltz's BBC Radio Show (first call after news http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01hj0n1)

The Green Party placard above got lost of attention and rounds of applause from teachers showing the potential for support we have out there. Natalie Bennett, Green Party leader, joined the march and Caroline Lucas MP, addressed a rally of strikers.

Teachers crowd outside the Emmanuel Centre which was already overflowing

A lot of support for today;s strike came from parents