North Yorkshire National Education Union: 'SATs aren't fit for purpose'
The 'Big SATs Sit-In' event is taking place today in Westminster
MPs and peers are set to take Year 6 English and Maths SATs papers at Westminster today.
They are going to be under the same exam conditions faced by 10-and-11-year-olds, meaning no talking, no Googling and no calculators. The tests will be invigilated by primary school pupils.
The event has been organised by campaign group 'More Than A Score' to highlight the consequences of the 'high-pressure, high-stakes' nature of the tests.
Alison Ali from there said: “This is more than a test of maths and English capabilities, it’s an opportunity for MPs to put themselves in the shoes of 10- and 11-year-olds being tested under GCSE-style exam conditions.
"They will see how absurd some of the questions faced by children are, how these absurdities influence and narrow the whole curriculum, and how they are only used to judge schools, not to help children’s learning.
"We want them to question: is this the right way to measure what children can really do? Is it the fairest, most accurate way to judge school performance?”
"Young people should be loving and enjoying learning and not learning just for tests"
Gary McVeigh-Kaye, Secretary of the National Education Union in North Yorkshire, said: "Children learn at different rates, levels and speeds and to standardize all that at different stages in their education, particularly around the end of Year 6, puts a lot of pressure on them. It doesn't help reflect where they are in their learning, what they've achieved and what they need to go on to do next, so in the format that they're in at the moment they're not fit for purpose.
"We want to see more teacher assessments done throughout the year which is on-going, more meaningful and that's taking into account where children are developing rather than this one-off test which is high-pressure, high-stakes and doesn't set children up for the real world where most of their life isn't sat in a room taking tests.
"Schools are held accountable for SATs results. Teachers are held accountable for SATs results. The children are held accountable for SATs results and that puts a lot of pressure on young people, particularly at that very formative age where they should be loving and enjoying learning and not learning just for tests.
"The fact that we place all this pressure on our young people increases the mental health problems that we see in schools over the years. This generation of parents came through having sat the SATs tests when they were at school, so that puts another level of strain because they've known nothing different and a lot of young teachers have known nothing different.
"We're wanting for the MPs and peers to have met with teachers, teaching unions, parents and some of the children to talk about the tests and the impacts that they have, that would be much more meaningful. If the MPs fail their SATs tests then it's going to be a bit of a joke about how politicians can't even do the tests but for these children that we're placing these tests upon, it could really affect their lives and their education."
"Being labelled a failure is the wrong way to begin secondary school"
More Than A Score says in 2022, 41% of year 6 children were told they had not “reached the expected standard” before starting secondary school. It argues that being labelled a failure is the wrong way to begin secondary school and that spending most of year 6 cramming for SATs does not encourage a love of learning.
The campaign group adds that parents and headteachers agree as according to research in September 2022, only 8% strongly support current government policy on primary testing and headteachers believe preparing for SATs and other tests should be bottom of their priorities in the classroom. Meanwhile 60% of parents agree that the high-pressure nature of the tests harm children’s mental health.
Matt Morden, a headteacher said: “Like many schools, we do everything we can to reduce the stress placed on children by SATs. But of course they feel the pressure of the exam conditions on the day. SATs will never show all that our pupils have learned and they will never give a full picture of our school performance.”
Emma Hardy MP, who is attending the event, added: “I feel it is important to do the SATs paper this year to put myself in the situation of a Year 6 pupil to experience the pressure they are under.
"It’s definitely time to review the way primary school children are assessed and primary schools are measured. Testing children under exam conditions in a narrow range of subjects doesn’t always support children’s learning, can often harm their wellbeing and isn’t the best way to give a full picture of how well a school is performing.”
The Big SATs Sit-In
A cross-party group of MPs confirmed for the event — Parliamentary business permitting — includes: Emma Hardy (Labour, Hull), Flick Drummond (Conservative, Meon Valley), Ian Byrne (Labour, Liverpool), Margaret Greenwood (Labour, Wirral), Navendu Mishra (Labour, Stockport) and Emma Lewell Buck (Labour, South Shields). They will be joined by a group of cross-party peers. After the papers are marked, the Westminster class of 2022 will be told if they have collectively “reached the expected standard” required by the Department for Education.
As well as Westminster, Big SATs Sit-Ins will take place in dozens of schools around the country including Brighton, Birmingham, Cheshire, Essex, Durham, Whitley Bay and London.