Dorset headteachers call for SATs to be scrapped

The Echo contacted every head in the area to find their views and the majority wanted to see the exams axed.

Out of 53 heads questioned 32 said they should be scrapped, one called for a review, one said they should stay as they are and 12 refused to comment. A further seven did not reply.

They majority said SATs should make way for new teacher assessments.

It follows a unanimous vote by the National Union of Teachers to boycott Standardised Assessment Tests (SATs) for seven and 11-year-olds.

The National Association of headteachers (NAHT) is due to hold a similar ballot at their conference in Brighton later this week.

Headteacher Trevor Jameson of St George’s Primary School, Portland said he would be happy to boycott next year’s SATs.

He said: “They don’t serve a purpose, Northern Ireland or Wales have done away with them, Scotland never had them and England doesn’t need them.

“They don’t tell us anything about the child we don’t already know.

“The Government last year scrapped SATs at Key Stage 3 and they should’ve done the same for 11-year-olds at the same time.

“But they feel they need some measure of primary schools and some stick to beat us with.

“We have far more sophisticated ways of assessing teaching progress than SATs can tell us.”

He added: “SATs also sway the curriculum adversely for Year 6 and I’d be happy to see the back of them.”

Headteacher Sue Stockham of Radipole Primary School, Weymouth said SATs should be scrapped but assessment of children should continue.

She said: “There was a time when SATs were necessary in the era before standardisation in schools.

“But so much has been done now to standardise teachers’ judgement so instead of standardised tests which cause a lot of stress – high stake testing.

“There’s still a need for teacher assessments to be moderated but the current system of SATs is causing stress to children and inevitably leads to a narrowing of curriculum as the children are prepared for them.”

She added: “This was the case last year when the whole system was discredited by people sending back marked scripts and having the marking overturned.

“So what’s the point in that really?”

Today Polly Patrick, president of the Dorset branch of the NAHT, will travel to London with fellow headteachers from across the country to lobby MPs at the House of Commons.

The group will meet at 12.30pm and start their ‘green card lobby’ process at 2.30pm – asking the Government to abolish SATs at Key Stage 2 as it already has for Key Stage 3.

Mrs Patrick, who is headteacher of William Barnes Primary School, Sturminster Newton, aims to lobby South Dorset MP Jim Knight, North Dorset MP Bob Walters and West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin.

She said: “It’s very rare for the NUHT to take this action but at the same time the education of children and the way we can make learning effective is being damaged by one statutory assessment used by Government, so it really is very important.”

Headteacher Nicola Ralph, of Buckland Newton Primary School, said: “I would like to scrap SATs but I’m not for boycotting at this stage until we’ve got something else in place.

“I do know all the teachers and headteachers find the present system very difficult because it stops you teaching for such a long time and governs the curriculum so much.

“It doesn’t fit in with all the other things we’re supposed to be doing, such as Excellence and Enjoyment and Every Child Matters – all those agendas about making learning fun and child led.

“We’re trying to develop a more creative curriculum and you can’t do that with the restraints of SATs so easily.”

Mrs Ralph said her school was a lead school in Assessing Pupil Progress (APP) and one of its teachers, Alison Chant, was a lead APP teacher.

The Government initiative is a ‘very rigorous’ form of teacher assessment and Mrs Ralph said classroom-based testing was ‘much less stressful for the pupils’ and the pilot scheme had proved ‘really effective’ over the past three years.

Headteacher Veronique Singer, of St Catherine’s Primary School, Bridport agreed it was ‘absolutely’ time to move on from SATs.

She said: “I think they’ve have probably run their usefulness.

“I don’t think they tell teachers anything they don’t already know and they do have a very restricting effect on the curriculum.

“Also the league tables don’t give a true reflection of the other things schools are doing. Schools are doing far more than getting children through tests in maths, science and English, we’re also turning out good citizens.”

Mrs Singer said she hoped it ‘wouldn’t get to the point’ where teachers had to boycott next year’s SATs.

She added: “It’s not something I imagine most teachers want to do.

“Teachers are assessing children continuously and it is usually a much better judgement than the tests because they’re done over a long period of time.

“It’s time to treat teachers as professionals who know exactly what they’re doing.”

Melanie Austin, of Broadmayne First School, said formal testing should be replaced by ongoing teaching assessment throughout the year in the classroom that involved the children.

Mrs Austin said: “We do Key Stage 1 here but in a very friendly way, the children are not really aware they’re being tested.

“We’re trying to persuade the Government to move away from formal testing with small children sitting exams.

“I’d like to see more ongoing teaching assessment throughout the year.”