Early Education supports initiatives to scrap SATs for 6 & 7 year olds

Many of you may be aware of the Primary Education Alliance campaign to abolish SATs at the end of Key Stage 1 and the ‘Scrap the SATs’ features, posters and car stickers in the magazine Five to Eleven. Scrapping the SATs in favour of teacher assessment is the policy of the National Association of Headteachers too. Early Education supports these initiatives. At our 2003 Annual General Meeting, members voted in the resolution stating:

‘Early Education members urge that the government abandons SATs at the end of Key Stage 1 and urge that the emphasis be placed on teacher assessment, which has been shown to have equally reliable results.’

Now we need your help to bring England in line with Wales and Northern Ireland. We believe that ending the tests at 6-7 will raise attainment by 11. It will ensure that all children have a richer curriculum. It will reaffirm the position of professional judgement.

If you believe that the SATs at the end of Key Stage 1 have an adverse impact on teachers and children, and that they are adversely affecting the successful implementation of the Foundation Stage please help.

Do you broadly agree with the principles below?

· SATs at 6-7 create unnecessary anxiety among teachers, parents and children.

· Teacher assessment with inbuilt moderation is more reliable than SATs.

· Effective teaching time is lost to preparing for and administering SATs.

· The cost of SATs would be more productive if spent on supporting learning and teaching.

· SATs offer no tangible benefits to the child, and the narrowed curriculum promoted by SATs at the end     of Key Stage 1 turns off children, inhibiting their future learning potential

The administering of SATs does not take into account known research into how children learn and develop dispositions for learning.

If your answer is yes, please write to your MP and MEP explaining how you feel about SATs, and encourage others to do the same. Acting now is essential.