Press Release from the West Sussex Teachers’ Association
The National Union of Teachers is holding an indicative ballot of its members in West Sussex over a boycott of SATS at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 1.
In the light of the Review on the condition and future of English primary education headed by Professor Robin Alexander, SATS are seen by education experts as a block to the creative talents of children and have led to an unacceptable level of "teaching to the test" in order to meet government targets.
The bullying OFSTED regime has not raised standards but has increased the stress on teachers and therefore indirectly on pupils.
The NUT welcomes the Alexander report and does not believe that the political parties should ignore its findings.
The following press release from the NUT nationally is appended for information:
Commenting on the final report of the Review on the condition and future of English primary education headed by Professor Robin Alexander, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Europe’s largest teaching union said;
"It is a testament to primary schools that they are considered by pupils and parents as a haven in an increasingly perilous world. Despite suffering a raft of damaging top-down initiatives, the finding by the Cambridge Review that primary schools are doing a good job is a rebuttal to their detractors amongst politicians and the media.
"While the Cambridge Review is right to highlight the dangers of relying on Ofsted and national tests as measures of pupil achievement, we shouldn't fall into the trap of
believing that we don't know how well primary schools are doing. As Robin Alexander himself says, primary schools are doing a good job and parents and children know that.
"I support Robin Alexander's argument for a fundamental overhaul of the current, unacceptable system of testing and punitive Ofsted inspections. The Review's damning verdict on SATs validates the NUT's campaign to end them. How much more evidence does the Government need before it realises that this is a useless system for assessment which has done nothing but bring unwelcome and unnecessary pressure on schools which are self-evidently successful.
"The fact that such an authoritative report highlights the damaging impact of child poverty on children's learning and wellbeing must make ending child poverty a top priority for this and future governments.
"There is every argument for replacing the current, complicated National Curriculum structure for primary children with a foundation and primary stage. All the evidence shows that proper, in-depth early years education provided by qualified teachers gives the best possible start to children's schooling. Jim Rose's Review, constrained as
he was by endless Government restrictions, could not have considered such a bold recommendation.
"A full review of primary staffing is long overdue. For too long, individual primary teachers have had to juggle a range of National Curriculum subjects and the needs of
enthusiastic children.
"The message from the Cambridge Review is that funding for primary education must be levelled up to match that in secondary education. The point about reducing class size is that it reduces stress on individual teachers, and reduces the likelihood of illness and unreasonable marking and recording demands.
"Robin Alexander is right to highlight our needing a highly qualified, well trained workforce. The fact is that primary teachers are now immensely well-equipped to deal with the challenges of primary education.
"It is absolutely extraordinary that the Government has decided to ignore the Cambridge Review recommendations. Any government worth its salt, particularly in front of an impending General Election, would have embraced this immensely rich report as a source of policy ideas. It is not too late for the Government to recognise that not all good ideas emanate from the minds of civil servants. Let's hope
that the Cambridge Review becomes the benchmark for both Government and opposition parties when formulating future policies on primary education."
Labels: information, NUT policy
