The English SATS....dead in the water ?

[Papaumau]

It looks as if the stubborn governmental bullying to enforce the SATS exams in England is going to fall by the wayside as more and more teachers and head teachers refuse to implement them.

Without a good representative sample of the abilities of the primary education sector being returned this set of exams are going to be worthless.

With Scotland NEVER having had SATS exams and Ireland and Wales voting not to have them either it is now only England that are holding SATS exams.

The teachers believe that this one exam after so many years schooling is only a snapshot and a worthless exercise so that the government can bring out league tables and while it puts children under stress that they do not need, ( their standard grade and higher grade exams are still going on ), all they do is use up teachers' time and resources for little measurable or accurate result.

See this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/may/10/sats-boycott-by-headteachers and come back and tell us what you think about the situation.

[John]

Hopefully they are dead in the water. They were more about
providing political proof that educational policy was working.

The control of this would be to make the average very easy or
give 2 points for a 1 point answer etc.

It was part of the Labour (now the previous government)
novelty spin and mirror emporium.

[Papaumau]

I also have to agree with that premise ! 

[cheddar-caveman]

I certainly agree that these do nothing towards furthering a childs education but it's a shame the schools decided to boycot them now after the children have wasted a year of their schooling cramming for them. It would have been better to have gone ahead this year and then refused to have them in the future.

[John]

You can use the word cramming. But in reality they really are at a low level in terms of what
a very average child should know at that age.

There is also no pass or fail level.

Obviously schools want to get the best levels as possible. This is not easy with the social  structure
of to-day. That is where the real difficulty comes in.

Notice how I avoid the  use of the word success or better - it may upset someone.

[Papaumau]

They deliver a level of stress on top of the usual standard and higher grades exams that these kids do not need or want.

The SATS are only there for the government quango to collate very doubtful figures about each school so that they can bring out those bloody-useless league tables - and for no other reason.

Scotland has NEVER used them, Ireland and Wales have already scrapped them and for some strange and unknown reason the previous ENGLISH government felt that they should be kept.

They cost a fortune to set up and run and surely this should be one of the first places any supposed cash-saving new administration should drop the axe on.

[John]

Look at where the money went and you will find your answer.

A Blair Production underpinned by Brown.

SATS are not difficult and an average child should have no problem.

Yes it will stressful for the children who are kept up all hours or are
encouraged to do nothing by their parent, carer etc.

[Papaumau]

John.....

You are living in the past when you keep on harping back to the OLD administration. We are now in a new administration and there is no reason why the Tory/Liberal government should not scrap these worthless extra exams.

When you say:

SATS are not difficult and an average child should have no problem.

You are forgetting that every child cannot be an "average" child and because while some may find the SATS easy some will not.

Such a short-term snapshot of what is happening in the education of a child during all of the primary years is an unfair and inaccurate way of measuring anything.

We already have the mid-term tests every year and the mock exams that teachers set so that they can add to their knowledge of ongoing progress and when we consider that we STILL have all of the standard and higher grade examinations to prepare for, this EXTRA examination is just a nuisance that stresses out the kids when they should NOT be getting stressed out.

The SATS examinations have NO value as far as ongoing assessment of the children is concerned and for that reason alone they should be scrapped.

[John]

So after some 10 days we have to forget what went on in the prior 13 years.

I am all for looking forward - but that is well out of balance.

I would imagine that the education system  in many areas is in turmoil, from
lack of English to classroom disruption.

I am sure there would be more children stressed about that then a rather
simple SAT Test, for some to scribble on.

 

[Papaumau]

For a child there is nothing "simple" about a SATS test !

No, I did not say that we should forget what has gone before, in fact I have laboured that point, ( excuse the pun ), many times before.

I just hope that when we refer to history we refer back far enough to remember what the Tories did during THEIR abortive years too.

[John]

At 11 years old - a child should know something.

This is not a young age in today's society.

[Papaumau]

Now you are splitting hairs John !

It is not about what a child knows at ten or eleven - as the other exams are aimed at that kind of a survey - it is whether we should be overloading our kids with exams that are not needed.

If these wasteful SATS were scrapped in England - as they have been in  the rest of the country - there would be more time left for just teaching and learning.

Seems simple to me !