Primary school teachers in Peterborough say SATs could be causing too much stress for children
The National Education Union is urging the government to abolish SATs as it could be pushing out other subjects
Primary school teachers in Peterborough say time given to teaching English and Maths could be pushing out other subjects.
Analysis by the National Education Union found these lessons made up more than half of weekly teaching in England's primary schools.
The union's urging the government to abolish SATs as part of its curriculum review.
There may also be health implications. The most disadvantaged 20% of schools dedicate just 93 minutes a week on average to physical education.
Primary school education should be about fostering a love for learning
Judi Clarke, primary officer for the Peterborough NEU district, said:
"PE is being shortened. Two decades ago we were doing 2 hours of PE a week; that's now dropped down to 93 minutes a week on average."
"That has a massive effect on children's health and wellbeing."
"I think primary school education should be about fostering a love for learning, getting some key skills in, and some understanding of the world around them without having to force them into very narrow testing."
"If you broaden that curriculum out, I think it helps children who aren't particularly academic because they can find their strengths somewhere else."
"At the moment they're being shut down from the creative subjects."
They're being shut down from the creative subjects
1\2 out of 20.5 weekly primary teaching hours are now spent on English and Maths.
Some Foundation subjects are studied for less than an hour per week on average. Some pupils can go weeks at a time without learning any history at all.
Responding to this new analysis, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“We welcome the Government’s intention to move back to a national curriculum for all schools, including academies, but this is only effective if we do not suffocate other subjects to serve Government tests in English and maths."
"As our survey shows, the pressures of these high-stakes assessments are clearly constraining the range that schools can offer. That some are reporting weeks without history teaching is shocking."
"The aims of the Government’s review are to ‘deliver a curriculum which is rich and broad, inclusive, and innovative.’"
If schools are under pressure to use more than half of curriculum time for English and Maths alone, these objectives risk being undermined."
"For the Government’s review to work they must not only end SATs and reduce the burden of assessments in primary schools, so that they can breathe again and children can thrive.”