Hull and East Riding schools to boycott national curriculum SATS tests
MORE than 100 East Yorkshire primary schools are set to join next week's boycott of national tests for 11-year-olds.
In the East Riding, at least half of the area's 118 primary head teachers have already confirmed their pupils will not be taking the 2010 SATS tests in English and maths.
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'FLAWED SYSTEM': South Cave C of E Primary School head teacher John Killeen says most local schools would support action against SATS tests. Picture: Rob Stebbing
In Hull, about 75 per cent of the city's 71 primary school heads are expected to join the boycott, which is a national dispute spearheaded by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT).
The number of schools involved is expected to grow as more heads confirm they intend to join the boycott.
NAHT county branch secretary John Killeen, who is head teacher at South Cave Primary School, revealed the majority of local heads are set to take part in the action after response to the boycott "snowballed" nationally.
Mr Killeen insists the current system of testing is flawed and undermines the work of schools.
He said: "The NAHT and NUT are not against testing, it's just high-stakes testing and the misuse of the results we are against."
Mr Killeen said flawed data and inaccurately marked tests give a false picture of a school's performance in league tables and can even destroy head teachers' careers.
He claimed the tests also cause unnecessary stress for children and teachers alike.
He insisted: "We have exhausted every single avenue, I think we have acted professionally.
"This action is unavoidable, we are doing it for the children's benefit for the future."
Many schools, including South Cave, are expected to hold alternative tests for 11-year-olds.
The move will provide parents and feeder schools with an assessment of pupils' ability levels, but it will scupper the controversial performance league tables.
Skidby Primary head Steve Honey said: "Our children will be tested on SATS papers from the past and they will be marked by teachers and moderated by colleagues across the school.
"Parents will receive teacher assessment marks based on those SATS and we have made arrangements for our feeder secondary, Cottingham High School, to receive those marks."
Clive Hyland, head teacher at Beverley Minster Primary, confirmed his 63 year six pupils would not be sitting this year's tests.
Mr Hyland said: "All schools have very rigorous systems of teacher assessment. SATS tests are not providing us with information that we didn't already have.
"We won't be doing any testing next week, but we will do tests with year six pupils, as with other year groups, and that information is passed to parents."
"Heads are not taking strike action, the children will be having a perfectly normal week."
One head teacher, whose school will be going ahead with the tests, said it had been "a very hard decision".
The East Riding head, who did not want to be identified, said children and teachers had worked hard, supported by parents, for the tests.
The head said: "I certainly understand the strength of feeling against these tests and how they are used and, indeed, marked.
"However, after much thoughtful deliberation and discussion with staff and governors, I have decided we will be undertaking the tests this year as normal."
The Government insists the tests help drive up standards and the publication of results gives parents vital information on progress made by their children and schools.
The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have both suggested they would keep SATS but refine them.
East Riding Council education officials have previously said they expect to know how many schools will be affected by the end of this week.
2 Comments
by Pam, Hull
Saturday, May 08 2010, 8:16PM
“I think it is a good idea, as there is too much of "ticking the box". Children are being trained to perform to achieve good scores for the schools. At every stage they are being forced to "tick the box". By the time they leave University, and that has caused more problems for them due to so many achieving degrees, that the payment that was for the elite degree holder no longer exists. For example the Nurse with a degree gets no more extra pay for having a degree than one who sat the State Registered Nurse exam, it has all gone up proportionately. Children tick the box through SATS, through GCSE, through A/S Level, through A Level, but where are the "outside the box" skills? What do the University leavers achieve? A debt, the need to find the job to pay off their fees. But with so many graduates how will they do that? AND... where have all our "thinkers" gone? Will there be people like Edward Jenner who was apprenticed from the age of 14 to a surgeon for 8 years before going into Surgery and Anatomy. Was told - "don't think, try, Joseph Lister who was taught at a Quaker school went to University to study Arts and changed to Medicine, Isambard Kingdom Brunel,(even he finished his education in France) and George Stephenson whose father was a fireman for a colliery pumping engine, earned such a low wage there was no education for George. He realised the value of education and paid to study at night school to learn reading, writing and arithmetic, and "how an uneducated man such as Stephenson could come up with the solution that he had for a safety lamp which wouldn't explode when exposed to fire damp". These are people who pushed forward our lives with such wonderful development? Will our Children be allowed to do the same, to enjoy their education to bring forward ideas or will they continue to develop to the standards set by the Government?
For some there is no joy in education. Why are children from other countries so much more focussed than ours? When I was at school in the 60s those who couldn't achieve exams went out on school to work helping them get into the work ethos. Now the jobs are so painfully not available, anyone without one could be volunteering, getting an apprenticeship and finding out how they could be pushing up the barriers. They could be generating enthusiasm in their lives and those of the people around them. Why not give it a try?”
by Nigel, Redruth, Cornwall
Wednesday, May 05 2010, 10:02AM
“I think that these head teachers are doing the right thing in boycotting the SATs tests. Usually regular school set tests show how well the Children are progressing and are less stressful. As sometimes it has been shown that even the best pupil can have a bad test day.”