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The Early
Education position
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.
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