EMILY, my 17 year old daughter, decided to enter the Teach First 'What would you change' competition. She has agreed that I can share her entry with you. Emily has been brought up with the values and philosophy I consider to be essential and which I have based the Musical Minis programme on. I am delighted that these have now become important to her, especially the fact that she wants every child to achieve its full potential. Here is Emily's entry:-
"There are many hugely controversial and important issues surrounding education which need to be tackled. The one I personally believe most prominently needs addressing is Key Stage 2 Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) which are doing so much damage to our children’s future. I propose to abolish these futile tests which are stopping imaginative, energetic and excited learners getting the stimulation and enjoyment they need and want.
The problems the Government is trying to solve through SATs are not going away with these unnecessary tests. If they were then a horrific 35% of 11 year olds would not be starting Secondary School without the basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Therefore, there is an obvious problem to which SATs do not appear to be the answer.
The word educate is derived from the Latin word ‘educare’ meaning to draw out. Teaching therefore is not just about imparting knowledge or teaching facts; it is taking what the children already have and inspiring them to use this inbuilt knowledge to the best of their ability so they can flourish as individuals. This role simply cannot be fulfilled when teachers have to “teach for the test” to children that are learning for the test. It is therefore hardly surprising that SATs are one of the most unpopular education reforms in the UK with 4,005 schools in England boycotting the tests in 2010.
SATs also contribute to the issue that children are not well rounded individuals by the time they reach Secondary School as non-assessed subjects are halted in Year 6. Anything that is not on the SATs suffers which means that both stimulated and uninspired children are confined. Humanities are joined together, children who do not know about British monarchy or European capitals are in my mind, not being fully educated and something needs to change. For example Latin is very rarely included in schools and so much can be learnt from this forgotten language. If SATs for Key Stage 2 children were stopped, teachers would have more time to focus on individuals and learning could be immensely improved.
It is unrealistic to expect a perfect Education system; however, it is not unreasonable to expect a fair one."
As parents, Rob and I were delighted and a little surprised to find that Emily at 17 years old, has such an insightful grasp of a core weakness in the education system. Do you have concerns that the education system could fail your child? I would love to hear your views and to learn what you would change.
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.