Pupils being turned into robots

I can imagine a few young children become very excited by the title of this post, but in reality I would agree with Mrs Ward who claims that the testing regime is damaging our children.

A report in the Daily Mail says that children are being turned into 'little robots' by the primary school testing regime. Teachers warn that staff no longer have time to read stories to pupils, hear their news from home or help with problems.

Lesley Ward, a teacher with 32 years of experience, said primary schools have been turned into mini versions of secondaries with a rigid 'almost Stalinist' timetable. Mrs Ward blamed SATs tests and pressure on teachers to maintain league table positions. She said that while there could be no return to 1970s-style education, where teachers could largely do as they pleased and thousands of pupils failed to learn the three Rs, the changes had gone too far.

'We need to take the best bits from the present and the past,' said Mrs Ward, vice-president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. She said that when she first started work, teachers had more time to care for children. 'If they were upset they used to come and sit on your knee and tell us,' she said. 'Now they can't. We have turned them into little robots that have got to be a certain level by a certain age and it's horrible. The problem is with SATs and league tables. It is a mini-secondary curriculum.'

She added that children are tired by 3pm, yet Government childcare policies can see them spend ten hours a day at school. Children who attend breakfast clubs can start at 8am, while afterschool care and clubs and societies often finish at 6pm.

Mrs Ward, who began teaching in 1975, said that pupils could be rigorously assessed without the need for externally marked tests. 'It's almost a Stalinist regime,' she said.

Her concerns were echoed by Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers. He said: 'The pendulum has swung too far. We need to recognise the value of taking time to enjoy and create freedom into the curriculum.'

A spokesman for the Department of Children, Schools and Families said: 'Of course primary schools need to strike the right balance between learning, play and other activities and the best schools do this well. The National Curriculum offers teachers considerable flexibility in how they structure the school day.'

Children could face even more tests in Year Seven

The Daily Mail reports that more than half a million children may have to resit English and maths tests next term amid claims that the SATs system is on the brink of collapse. Secondary teachers are expected to give new arrivals from primary school a series of fresh tests because the SATs marking fiasco has shattered confidence in the reliability of results.

The revelation came with talks already under way to sever the five-year, £165million contract with the U.S. testing firm ETS. Ministers are refusing to say publicly that the company will be sacked because they are anxious to avoid the spectacle of taxpayers having to compensate it for breaking its contract early. But the axing of ETS (Educational Testing Service) is seen as crucial to restoring confidence in the SATs system.

The SATs results were supposed to be issued on July 8, but last night some were still being marked by an emergency panel being put up by ETS at a hotel near Manchester Airport. The work is expected to continue into tomorrow.

As senior MPs called for schools and pupils to be given compensation, it emerged that 800 schools have already lodged appeals against results. Thousands more - one in four overall - are expected to request a review before the deadline passes.

Next year, ministers may have to rely on class teachers to mark SATs, ending 13 years of externally-marked tests. This is because the Government has only months to run a complex tendering process to replace ETS.

Meanwhile more secondary schools are preparing to run their own tests for 11-year-olds, as some already do. They need accurate results to determine which classes and ability sets the newcomers should be placed in.

Dr John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, which represents secondary heads, said they were concerned the tests were no longer a reliable reflection of pupils' ability. He believes almost every school will use extra testing this autumn, affecting morethan 500,000 children.

SATs factory - anyone want a job?

A truly shocking report about the way our pupils' test papers are being handled. I'm sure this concerns only a tiny minority of papers. However, it is just the general disrespect for our pupils that is very frustrating.

A woman who went for a job as a cocktail waitress at a hotel where SATs papers are being marked was offered a job by the firm contracted to do the grading "on the spot". The American company at the centre of the SATS shambles has set up an emergency marking centre at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester to accommodate scores of staff and overcome the huge backlog of work. Hotel bar staff have also been offered work by ETS Europe. The marking company has virtually taken over the hotel, where staff are working in what one examiner called 'pressure-cooker' conditions.

As anger grew over the marking of the standard assessment tests for 11 and 14-year-olds, known as SATs, The Mail on Sunday was told:
• Hotel bar staff have been approached by ETS managers and offered work. A source at the hotel said a woman who went to an interview for a job as a cocktail waitress was hired 'on the spot' by ETS.
• Each staff member is costing the company more than £500 a day. Their food and £117 room bills are being met and they are paid more than £180 daily plus £30 spending money and £3 per paper marked. Staff who mark 60 papers can earn £360.
• On at least one occasion a bundle of papers was left in the restaurant to be later handed in to reception by a guest.

The news will shock thousands of parents already harbouring deep misgivings about the way ETS is handling their children's exams. ETS described the operation at the hotel as a 'marking panel'. A spokeswoman said: 'It is a panel of senior markers who are marking test papers. The test papers are then loaded online on to the marking computer system. We collect the test papers from schools across the country, take them to our central distribution centre and then send them on to the hotel. I cannot comment on the room rates. It would be inappropriate to discuss the pay rates of markers.' Asked if there was a backlog, she said: 'There are still papers being marked now.' The US firm, which was awarded a £165million Government contract to administer the 1.2 million SATs papers, last week admitted failings in the process.

ETS apologised for delaying the publication of thousands of results and also admitted that in some cases some pupils who sat tests were marked as absent.

The results were supposed to be issued on July 8, but officials admitted days before the deadline that they would be delayed by a week.

End of year lessons...

I enjoyed this cartoon in the TES!

Year Six prepare to leave

I really enjoyed this comment in the TES:

Last hurrah for Year 6: sadness and celebrationMike KentPublished: 18 July 2008

It's the end of another summer term and time for the Year 6 leavers' concert. Music and drama are high priorities at our school. The idea of a leavers' concert started five years ago, when a handful of children thought it might be nice to entertain the school with a few songs, a couple of dances, and a sketch lampooning the staff, which, since they were leaving that day, they knew would not entail them being told off.

The event just seemed to grow each year. As our standards of music and performance climbed higher, so did the quality of the leavers' concert. Our 2008 preparations began early because last year's cohort had set a high standard, and - a first - in 2007 Year 6 parents were invited too. Many came because their children had talked excitedly about the concert, but mostly because their sons and daughters had been very high achievers. The adults were grateful and wanted to share their children's last moments at Comber Grove.

The entire school crowded into the hall that we've made into our little theatre, the lights on the stage fired up, and the chattering died down to an expectant whisper. As the show began, I realised just how accomplished our children had become during their years with us. With the help of their teachers, they had designed an enormously varied programme: Indian dancing, comedy wrestling that had the infants in fits, African songs and dances, genuinely funny sketches, solo and group singing of current songs, which were tuneful and beautifully choreographed.

The staffroom sketch was, as usual, greeted with hoots of laughter. But this one was cleverer than before. How well these children know us, I thought. Our mannerisms, our personalities, but this performance seemed to convey greater affection - and a little sadness. They knew we liked them, and they liked us too. The sketch ended with a child impersonating a retiring member of staff, cartwheeling across the stage and shouting "I'm free! Oh God, I'm free!"

Then, back to the music, and most moving of all, the five girls we called our Camberwell Beauties. One of our teachers heard them singing together in the playground two years ago, inventing harmonies to a song we'd taught them in choir. She took time out of her lunch hour to work with them, finding songs that would suit their voices. When she left, other teachers took over, pushing the boundaries and not letting them get away with merely regurgitating fashionable pop songs. And now, watching this concert, I was hearing a stunningly beautiful rendition of "Down to the River to Pray", each of the five singing a different harmony. How sad that they were leaving.

And then the children lined up on stage for their finale. "I want to be ... a footballer," said Michael, the first in the row. "I want to be ... a designer," said Rachel. And so on, round the circle, each child voicing hopes and dreams for the future. A few would live their dreams. Many wouldn't. But for this brief moment in time, the world was theirs.

The concert ended, the rest of the school went out to play, and Year 6 climbed down from the stage, quiet and subdued. The moment had come; they were about to leave us. Many were in tears and I hugged each one. They were my children, I would miss them, and I was reminded, once again, how privileged we are to be teachers.

SATs results expected to fall

The TES reports that early signs are showing that this year's scores will remain static and results fall below government targets

Provisional key stage 2 results are still due to be published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) on August 5.

Early indications from eight local authorities, covering almost 900 schools, show the results will remain static this year at 80 per cent of pupils reaching the expected level 4 in English, 77 per cent in maths and 88 per cent in science.
Other authorities have said results are not secure. Some report that pupils have been marked as absent. In one school, all Year 6 pupils were marked absent for one paper.

Ken Boston, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which oversees testing, was called before the Commons select committee on Monday.
He revealed that 10,000 emails from markers had gone unanswered by ETS Europe, the marking company, that his officials were forced to set up a call centre to cope with complaints from markers, and that fines for ETS could run into tens of millions of pounds. But he added that the marking of KS2 was now 100 per cent complete.

Two days later he had to apologise. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he was "bitterly disappointed" to find that another 384 scripts had been discovered. "The reality is we cannot have next year a repeat of what happened this year," he said. "It has to be addressed."

The papers were due back in schools a week ago last Tuesday, but then the National Assessment Agency said the KS2 results would not be ready until last Tuesday, and the KS3 results until today.

At one stage last week, seven emergency marking centres were in use as examiners raced to finish marking allocations from ETS.

If the results do stay still, it will mean the Government has missed the final chance to reach its goal of 85 per cent of pupils reaching level 4 in English and maths. But a static score would be some relief to ministers as the DCSF's own statisticians have warned the scores could dip by two percentage points as a result of the end of "borderlining" - the process of checking pupils' results if they fall just below a national curriculum level.

From next year, the targets will be changed to reflect a combined score for English and maths, and progress throughout primary school.

Marking discrepancies

A headmistress is demanding her pupils' SATs papers be re-marked after an exam paper littered with grammatical mistakes scored higher than a literate, fluently written one.

Janis Burdin, head of Moss Side Primary School in Chorley, Lancashire released two examples - by Child A and Child B - which had both been awarded a Level 4. But Child A received one more mark overall - despite woeful literacy.

Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said his union had received an 'unprecedented' numbers of calls from members unhappy with the grades they were getting back.

In the Moss Side Primary School discrepancy, Child A wrote:

If he wasent doing enthing els heel help his uncle Herry at the funfair during the day. And had stoody at nigh.

Becoues he invented a lot of new rides he won a prize. He didn’t live with his mum he lived with his wife.

Child B wrote:

Quickly, it became apparent that Pip was a fantastic rider: a complete natural. But it was his love of horses that led to a tragic accident. An accident that would change his life forever. At the age of 7, he was training for a local competition when his horse, Mandy, swerved sideways unexpectedly, throwing Pip on to the ground, paralysed.

Both 11-year-olds were awarded five marks out of a possible eight for sentence structure. Child A received eight marks out of 12 for composition and effect, while child B received seven.

Headmistress Janis Burdin has labelled the marking of SATs 'absolutely off the radar' and 'pathetic'. Mrs Burdin said: 'These two papers were both given Level 4. I would have given one a 5 and one a 3. These are the most extreme differences but there are many more discrepancies. 'The marking, especially for the writing exams, is absolutely off the radar. The whole thing seems random. I would have expected a third of our pupils to get Level 5 but only one did. We've spent hours looking at this wondering what to do. From what I've heard, the training of the markers has been unsatisfactory. We got our papers back last week but we are not releasing the writing exam results - the children would be mortified if they saw what they got. In 2003 we got re-marks on all the English papers and eight grades were changed. This time it's worse. It's absolutely pathetic. I can't tell you how cross I am.'

Mrs Burdin added, 'It has been an absolute fiasco from day one. The new system is all online yet it went down straight away after the first exam on May 12 and when every school in the country rang the helpline - that crashed too.'
She added: 'I will pursue this until they are sent back and re-marked. The children and staff work really hard and we rise and fall by our SATs - it is the first thing that an Ofsted inspection looks at.'

Heads call for abolition of SATs

The Daily Mail reports that around one in four schools in England are still waiting for SAT results as pressure grows on the government to sack the US company responsible for marking millions of school test papers.

Adding the government's woes teachers' leaders are refusing to accept results blighted by a marking fiasco.

Furious heads demanded the abolition of the testing regime and associated league tables and prepared to lodge appeals against this year's results in unprecedented numbers. They claimed the system was 'collapsing in on itself' as more evidence emerged of delayed results, erratic marking, missing papers, unqualified markers and administrative chaos.

Thousands of primary and secondary schools have yet to receive a full set of results after major logistical problems and computer glitches.

There were calls for an inquiry into the shambles to determine whether the results should stand or be annulled.

They came as the Conservatives demanded the sacking of ETS, the U.S. firm awarded a £165 million five-year contract to run the testing system in 2006.

It was claimed yesterday that ETS instructed examiners to spend just ten minutes marking essay-based English scripts. With a growing backlog of unmarked exams threatening to delay results, one examiner said they were told to check 45 English papers in seven-and-a-half hours. Results in tests for 11 and 14-year-olds were meant to be issued on July 8 but officials admitted four days beforehand they would be delayed by a week.

But days after the second deadline, some schools are reporting whole batches of scripts missing and pupils inexplicably marked as absent despite taking the tests.

Ministers have already admitted more than 120,000 teenagers will have to wait until next term to get their English results.

But while the initial concerns focused on delays in getting results to pupils, schools have since reported apparent inconsistencies in marking. This is thought to be linked to systems brought in by ETS to check markers are examining properly according to the marks scheme. It has been claimed markers were allowed to continue examining this year despite registering more errors than usual. It is also said the new online system for checking the accuracy of markers is less effective because it does not require them to demonstrate their accuracy on the actual scripts they have been assigned to mark.

Fiasco, fiasco, fiasco

I have never heard the word 'fiasco' used as much as in the last few weeks whilst the awful treatment of our pupils and their test papers is big in the news. But, I can't really think of a better word for the situation.

The Daily Mail reports that a senior MP claimed teenagers straight out of school are marking papers. Barry Sheerman told ministers he had evidence 'people who have recently passed their A-levels' were hired to mark English, maths and science scripts.

Most primary schools received their results yesterday, and head teachers have already noted concern over discrepancies in assessment.

Mr Sheerman, chairman of the Commons schools committee, made the revelation as Children's Secretary Ed Balls admitted that at least 120,000 pupils will not get all their SATs results by the end of term. But he refused to apologise, despite accepting that he carries ultimate responsibility for national testing. At a meeting of the schools committee yesterday, Mr Sheerman told Mr Balls he was aware that ETS had hired 'not graduates, but people who have recently passed their A-levels, to mark papers'. He believed the marking had taken place in the Nottinghamshire area and involved Key Stage Three tests for 14-year-olds. He said he had raised the issue on Tuesday with Ofqual head Kathleen Tattersall. 'They were astonished when I produced a piece of evidence which I know to be true,' said Mr Sheerman. 'An agency hired a graduate to mark science, maths and English papers. He was the most experienced member of the team.'
It also included non-graduates, he said. Rules state that markers should be either trained teachers or on training programmes.

ETS admitted an agency had been used to help source markers, and said that it is investigating the allegation that untrained staff have been assessing papers.

SATs results

Hopefully you have received your SATs results today. I believe that some schools haven't.

We did receive ours. I am pleased with the results and the children have done well.

But I'd be interested to know how our results compare with others'.

In Maths, our Level 5 results are down, compared to last year, as are our Science results.

In English, our reading results are about the same as last year's (despite what I thought was a harder paper), but our writing results are up -massively. We had two children who received 50 out of 50, and several who only lost a couple of points in writing. Our top score in English was 96%! Now, I wouldn't ever want to detract from our pupils' achievements, but I am very surprised that anyone could score such high marks!

Well done children!

Fine for ETS Europe?

The BBC writes that the company behind the late delivery of England's school test results faces penalties that could cost it "tens of millions". Giving evidence to MPs, Ken Boston of the QCA, revealed that at one point there were 10,000 e-mail enquiries from markers unanswered by ETS Europe.

Some 70 staff from the National Assessment Agency (NAA) went in to help and a second call centre was set up. ETS has apologised already and says the situation will not be repeated. Dr Boston told the children, schools and families select committee that there had been weekly meetings involving the NAA and ETS since last September and daily meetings since the beginning of May.

But ETS repeatedly assured the regulator that it would deliver the results by the 8 July deadline, despite the widespread anecdotal evidence that all was not well. It was not until 26 June that it had formally notified him that it would not do so, he said.

A concern now was next year's test series. "And the clock is ticking - it's a two-and-a-half year development cycle," he said. He suggested the answer was on-screen marking, now used for more than half of GCSE examinations and many of the A-levels - but not these "key stage" tests. "We need to move as quickly as possible to on-screen marking for key stage tests: fast, reliable, secure."

This was the one aspect of what he famously described on his appointment as the "cottage industry" of England's exam system that had not changed in recent years. But it would not be possible to implement this for 2009.

He stressed that ETS had been responsible for the logistics of the operation. The people doing the marking were essentially the same as in previous years and there was no reason at the moment to believe the quality of the marking was in doubt "despite the stories and fears that are abroad".

Tomorrow is officially D-Day where we find out how the children got on in their tests. It's a shame that the results are late, but I wish all Year Six pupils good luck in getting the results they worked so hard for.

Swedish school revolution could happen here...

There is an interesting report about David Cameron's idea to use Sweden's school revolution in this country should (sorry, when) the Tories come to power.

After having been the Stockholm recently (albeit for a stag weekend) I would recommend following any strategy the country has. It is a fantastic country and I would be interested in hearing anyone else's thoughts about this education idea.

Shakespeare for all ages and stages

"Shakespeare for all ages and stages" is a booklet published by the DCSF. It aims to enhance the educational experience of Shakespeare for young people by providing a map of opportunities for lifelong learning and pleasure in his work. It supports progression by ensuring that each year and Key Stage builds on what has gone before and helps to prepare for what follows.

The booklet includes a framework of opportunities, suggesting significant experiences in Shakespeare from Key Stage to Key Stage, as well as yearly learning objectives linked closely to the National Strategies' Frameworks. It contains suggested teaching approaches designed to help teachers deliver learning objectives in lively and engaging but manageable ways. They exemplify active, imaginative and participatory approaches related, where possible, to whole Shakespeare plays.

It offers teachers – from the Early Years Foundation Stage through to post-16 – ideas for working with Shakespeare's stagecraft and language as well as ways in to the historical and theatrical contexts in which he worked.

SATs results are expected to fall

The BBC reports that the pass rate in England's national Sats tests could fall by up to 2% this year after a change to the marking system. A practice known as "borderlining", where papers were re-marked if they fell just below the expected level, has been dropped this year. The exams regulators had recommended the change, saying there were other ways of assuring quality of marking.

Exam papers which were marked as being just over the pass level were not re-marked. A study by the National Assessment Agency (NAA) - which now regulates the tests, taken by 11 and 14-year-olds - concluded that the change could lead to a drop in the numbers meeting the levels expected by the government.

A statement on the website of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) says: "Analysis of results data for previous years by NAA allows us to estimate the impact of the process changes. This analysis indicates that the removal of borderlining in 2008 is expected to cause a fall in the proportion of pupils achieving the expected level by up to two percentage points."

It predicts the impact of the change will vary between Key Stage (age group), level and subject and that English will be affected more than mathematics or science.

Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove said: "The credibility of the exam system has been put in danger by this whole process. Ministers cannot escape their responsibility for tests which parents and teachers say they can no longer trust."

More SATs frustration

The BBC writes that head teachers are reporting "widespread problems" with the quality of marking in the delayed Sats test results being returned to schools in England. "The row is only beginning," says Mick Brookes, leader of the National Association of Head Teachers.

Mr Brookes is urging heads to give parents the assessments of teachers, as well as any disputed test results. The National Assessment Agency has given assurances that the marking will be as good as last year's. The NAHT head teachers' union says that schools are reporting concerns about the reliability of the marking in scripts being returned.

Mr Brookes says that he will advise schools to issue these returned test results as "provisional" - and to accompany these results with the teachers' assessments of the levels achieved by pupils. It is so inconsistent and also obviously wrong. There are scripts that are vastly different in standard but that have scored the same marks. In nine out of the 36 spelling papers there were mistakes marked as correct ("articals" being a favourite).

This was a reflection of the level of concern over disparities and mistakes in the marking of test papers taken by 11 and 14 year olds, he said. "We're getting calls about the quality of marking. In one case there was no marking at all, the papers sent back to the school were completely blank," said the heads' leader.

The National Assessment Agency has promised that the marking will be as reliable as last year - a promise repeated on Monday by Schools Minister Jim Knight. "Marking accuracy will be checked more frequently, at up to five rather than two intervals during marking (as was the case in 2007). These checks will confirm that marking is being maintained at the required national standard," says a statement from the NAA. "The NAA is confident that marking quality is at least as high as in previous years." But Mr Brookes dismissed the NAA exams watchdog as "venturing into the absurd" in its response to the marking problems. "This is a complete mess. There are widespread concerns in every area," he said, predicting that there would be many appeals against the marking and further disputes when they were used as the basis for school league tables.

Mr Brookes said schools should be given budgets to commission their own external marking - rather than the £156m paid as a five-year contract to the private contractor.

SATs results to be delayed

The Daily Mail reports that more than a million children will get their SATs results late because of administrative chaos, the Government admitted yesterday. Children's Secretary Ed Balls said that more time is needed to complete the marking of papers for 11 and 14-year-olds and to 'resolve technical issues'.

Results for Key Stage Two are expected to be received by schools a week late on July 15, and for Key Stage Three by the end of that week. The tests for 11-year-olds are seen as the most crucial as they determine primary schools' ranking in official Government league tables.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls has ordered an enquiry into the marking delay as more than a million children may not find out their results before the end of term. The data is also passed to secondary schools, enabling teachers to decide how to group new arrivals in key subjects if they use setting. An independent inquiry into the reason for the delay has begun and will report to the qualifications regulator Ofqual. The watchdog has already accused the National Assessment Agency, which oversees the testing, of letting teachers and pupils down.

The marking shambles is an embarrassment for the Government and has prompted teaching unions to demand that Sats tests are scrapped. Teachers assessing the papers have been warning for months of administrative problems at ETS Europe, the firm handling the marking for the first time on behalf of the NAA. Senior examiners have also claimed that quality control is weaker this year, so pupils may receive less accurate results.

The Times Educational Supplement yesterday revealed that marking of Key Stage Two English and Key Stage Three reading and maths was continuing into the weekend. This is despite the fact that all the test papers were due back in primary and secondary schools by Tuesday. The problems are believed to be worst in English.

Sex education to begin at age 4

The Daily Mail reports that Children as young as four are set to be given compulsory sex education in primary school. They will be taught the names of body parts and basic ideas about different relationships.

Government advisers claim that 'gradual education' from such a young age would help to stop children from rushing into sex when they are older. They argue that the sex education that children receive in science classes does not go far enough.

But the recommendations caused a storm of protest yesterday, with family campaigners claiming that the views of parents and teachers are being ignored. Norman Wells, director of the pressure group Family and Youth Concern, said: 'What this is really all about is the sex education establishment trying to force schools to do something many parents - and many teachers - are uncomfortable with.'

At present, primary heads and governors decide whether or not to provide sex education and what it should involve beyond the compulsory science requirements laid down by the national curriculum. They must have a policy on whether or not they provide sex education. If they do provide it, usually in personal, social and health education (PSHE) classes, parents have the right to withdraw their children.

But the FPA - formerly the Family Planning Association - the sexual health advice service Brook and the Sex Education Forum are recommending the introduction of compulsory lessons. They are taking part in a Government review of Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) in primary and secondary schools. The charities sit on a panel, which is currently examining 'the right age to begin teaching what the key messages are and content that young people should receive at each key stage'. They have pre-empted publication of their final report later this month and publicly announced their recommendation for statutory sex education from primary school onwards. This would bring sex and relationship education on to the curriculum alongside other compulsory subjects such as maths and English. Brook chief executive Simon Blake said: 'All the evidence shows that if you start sex and relationships education early - before children start puberty, before they feel sexual attraction - they start having sex later. They are much more likely to use contraception and practise safe sex.'

Anna Martinez, head of the Sex Education Forum, confirmed they are recommending making PSHE statutory to give it 'the high status it deserves as an essential part of all children's education'.

Another 'Balls' up?

The Daily Mail reports that Schools are to be judged on how they improve children's 'wellbeing' by tackling obesity, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy. Teachers will be expected to monitor and record up to 31 detailed aspects of their pupils' lives at home and at school.

Headteachers criticised the new guidance, saying that schools cannot be held responsible for the 'ills of all society'. And education experts accused the Government of meddling in the work of schools and expecting teachers to do the work of parents and social workers.

The controversial plans come as Children's Secretary Ed Balls launches a clampdown on hundreds of 'coasting' schools that are not doing enough to raise standards. He is introducing new legal powers that will force complacent local authorities to take action, even against schools that have good exam results but are not displaying sufficient progress year-on-year.

In addition, the Government is planning to introduce 'strong school level indicators' that will measure how much the country's primaries and secondaries are contributing to pupils' well-being.

Motormouths teachers achieve results

The TES reports that hyped-up teachers who feel under pressure and talk quickly in class are more likely to be effective. The finding from Brian Apter, an educational psychologist for Wolverhampton council, challenges the accepted wisdom that talkative teachers put pupils off. It also suggests a stressed workforce may improve exam results.

Mr Apter observed more than 3,500 children and nearly 300 teachers in 141 primary classes and found that pupils tended to talk least when teachers talked most. "During literacy and numeracy hours, teachers spend a lot of time speaking at a faster rate," he said. "They are pressing hard because it's really important to get the information into kids' heads. We thought that would exacerbate behaviour problems, but we were wrong. Teachers got much better behaviour when they put their foot on the pedal."

During these lessons, teachers tended to talk so urgently and quickly that pupils simply did not have time to misbehave. "Talk a lot and enthusiastically about your subject, motor around the classroom, engage kids all the time," he said. "They're the teachers who get good results and behaviour."

But it is not merely teachers' mouths that speed up under pressure. They become ultra-alert, with all senses in overdrive. "A teacher who is driven by management to get the school up the league tables is an urgent teacher," said Mr Apter. "So if children don't understand something, they'll pick up on it really quickly. The teacher wants every result in that class to be a good one."

Manufacturing this sense of urgency is not hard, teachers just need to psych themselves up. "Get the walk and the voice right," said Mr Apter. "Sound enthusiastic."

But he questions whether teachers should overdose on caffeine or obsess about their performance. "It may be that this method is very good for cramming, but poor for getting deep, reflective knowledge about a subject," he said. "One wonders what the toll is for teachers," he added. "You have to have the energy to be that full-on and hyped-up during literacy and numeracy hour. Then you come to the end of the day and collapse. I wonder whether this reflects all the teacher career-changers."

Test papers remain untouched

The TES reports that emergency full-time marking centres have been set up so examiners can work seven days a week to mark national tests taken by 11- and 14-year- olds. Two "marker panels" have been established in Leeds and Cheadle, near Manchester, where examiners are working eight-hour days to get the scripts marked.

Examiners were supposed to have finished all the marking by Monday for the key stage 3 tests, and by yesterday for KS2. But the National Assessment Agency (NAA) told The TES that more than a million of the papers were not listed as being marked on its systems on Monday. The revelations will place fresh pressure on ETS Europe, the American firm running the marking operation for the first time this year, amid complaints from scores of examiners that the administration has been a shambles.

More than 300 examiners have complained to the NAA about their experiences. Problems range from disorganised training to computer glitches and emails and phone calls not being returned.
Some markers were this week still waiting for papers to be collected from their homes, which they were unable to mark because the ETS computer system said they were not supposed to be marking them.

Some markers have been sent scripts for the wrong key stage. One teacher allowed The TES into her home to see her three unopened boxes of scripts, athough she feels unable to contact the schools involved and cannot be named because all markers have signed confidentiality contracts.
The KS2 maths marker received the boxes of KS3 science papers last Friday, completed by pupils at four schools. The boxes were still sitting in her kitchen this week because, she said, ETS had not replied to emails from her asking for them to be collected. The marker said: "Pupils and teachers are all eagerly awaiting their impending results. Little do they know the papers are sitting in my house."

I'm the Best Man

Yesterday I was the Best Man at my friend's wedding. We all had a thoroughly enjoyable day. Everyone had such a good laugh. My speech went well and people found it funny! (That's what I have been worried about!) Also we picked up a few ideas for our wedding next year!

The Apprentice winner

I don't know about you, but I am still suffering from not having the Apprentice on TV anymore. I hope that repeats of all four series are shown soon, or at least that the American version might be on TV. But in the meantime I was really impressed by this report written by Libby Purves, Author and presenter of 'The Learning Curve' on BBC Radio 4. You can find the original report here. In my mind Lee was the obvious choice for the winner from very early on. He was an enthusiastic, determined, positive, encouraging, risk-taking and innovative salesman, who was always able to learn. Whilst I thought Claire would have been an equally deserving winner, Lee seemed like the ideal 'Apprentice'. A lot has been made of the fact that Lee lied about his academic background. I think this report really sums up how I felt about this:

Lee, a refreshing riposte to our exam-obsessed world

Libby PurvesPublished: 20 June 2008

He won! My favourite, my black-browed hero Lee McQueen is Sir Alan Sugar's chosen apprentice. Amid the usual assortment of ignorami, weasels and delusional self-esteem junkies, the lad shone out week after week as a beacon of rough-hewn sanity. Nearly all the others were either aggressive, grumbly, panicky or stupid. (Who can forget the team that, after years of multiculti education, thought a chicken became kosher if an imam blessed it?) The show was, as ever, hilarious viewing for the middle-aged, as Sir Alan and his wizened cronies set awful tasks for the young, then patronised them.

But Lee won. Rejoice! Full of barrow-boy energy, he was the sort of good- humoured salesman who makes you laugh as you sign up, the kind of team member who wants to win for the fun of shared victory. He never grassed up the others in the boardroom or bitched in the house ("A perfect gentleman," said one rival). After a tough and plainly dyslexic childhood, and a humiliating academic failure, he worked hard at a commission-only job and clearly yearned not for vapid telly fame - as too many do - but for the leap forward, and the business polish of working with the big boys. He'll be a joy, a merry Fauntleroy to Sugar's crusty Earl. Seeing his nervous terror of "presenting" in the final test, his muttered practice and brave final performance had some of us mums wiping away a furtive tear.

Oh, yes, and it's Lee who was caught out falsifying his CV. He used a vague chronology that suggested two years at Thames Valley University, when in fact he lasted only four months. He did not pretend to have graduated, just exaggerated how long he tried. Sir Alan seems unfazed, but several commentators have shaken their heads in pious horror, crying "cheat" and "liar".
Well - habitually pious as I am - I say phooey. It's plain as a pikestaff why the poor devil did it: he was embarrassed. He admits to feeling academically under par compared with his snooty peers with their half- arsed business degrees and poncey claims to be "business analysts". Lee clutched at the fig leaf of a university education to hide what he saw as his nakedness. His dyslexic spelling, his confusing "genre" with "gender" and his sense of educational inferiority did not make him aggressive - just a bit sheepish and all the more determined.
Salute Lee. He exists in every class, in every school in this benighted, tight-lipped, certificate- obsessed educational world of ours. He is the boy adrift, undeservedly belittled in a world where Edexcel can flaunt its hateful slogan "Success through qualifications" - not through knowledge or learning, just qualifications. He is the bright lad, the all-too-human bundle of energy whose ambition risks being crushed by the system. He plunged bravely into the university of life, and did well; but he knew that too many employers have no trust in their own judgement and cling to paper qualifications. So he cheated a bit, just as young girls stuff socks in their bras because the world tells them that only big breasts will make you worthy of love.

He didn't even pretend to have the degree: just the two years' study. Which, ironically, would have benefited him far less than using those years to struggle and sell did. Lee may not have qualifications, but someone taught him something far more useful: resilience, ambition, cheerfulness, a desire to learn by doing, and a capacity to accept knockbacks.

So here's to all the fledgling Lees out there, frustrated by their inability to engage with the paper world but hungry as hell for a bite of the real one. Fair winds to them.

Libby Purves, Author and presenter of 'The Learning Curve' on BBC Radio 4.

Science is uninspiring

According to the TES, the national curriculum and the testing regime lead to boring and repetitive science lessons. Ofsted found that too much time was spent preparing pupils for exams instead of allowing children to do hands-on experiments.

Primary teachers, in particular, lacked confidence, relying too heavily on textbooks and worksheets, according to the report, which looked at lessons in 90 primary and 105 secondary schools. There was limited training for teachers to enhance their expertise in science.

Christine Gilbertm the chief inspector, said: "Science is a fascinating and exciting subject, yet for many pupils it lacks appeal because of the way that it is taught."

The age of the maths experts...

The Williams Review of Maths has finally been published, and the Government have adopted its proposals. It has investigated ways to improve primary maths teaching. The review recommends:

• Every primary to have a specialist maths teacher within 10 years, except some small schools, where they may be shared.
• Teachers to be paid £8000 over five years to train through summer schools and part-time study.
• Support for catch-up intervention programmes in Year 2, but schools to decide if this is done individually or in small groups.
• Review of primary teaching frameworks to make them more user-friendly.
• Government to increase numbers of early years teachers who are graduates.
• More emphasis on time and volume in the early years curriculum.
• Primary national curriculum should be broadly unchanged. But the review wants more emphasis on oral and mental mathematics.
• The Government to produce guidance on how early years staff can encourage children to express mathematical ideas on paper.

Women could learn form teaching style of men!

The TES writes that female teaching need to stop talking so much and at such a high pitch if they are to engage with boys in classes. Celia Lashlie, an education adviser and author from New Zealand, said women are important to boys' learning, but they need to learn from the male colleagues.

Women should make more use of silence - asking a question then giving boys time to think before answering - and non-verbal cues such as raised eyebrows. They also should talk at a lower pitch.

"Don't speak so much - just shut up," says Ms Lashlie, a self-described feminist. "I've been in classes with young female teachers and by the end of the session my ears hurt."

Ms Lashlie also recommends that heads 'defeminise' the workforce by employing more men and dealing with boys' fathers rather than their mothers. Too often, she says, parents turn up for meetings with their son's teacher or headteacher, and the mother talks while the father is too scared to say a word. Some schools are already considering making fathers sign an admissions charter agreeing that they will be the first point of contact with the school.

Radical changes needed for Maths

According to the TES, plans to reform maths teaching in primary schools may bot be radical enough. David Burghes, mathematics professor at Plymouth University and one of the experts who drew up the original numeracy strategy, has criticised the Williams review of maths teaching before it is published next week.

The former chair of the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education, is expected to contain recommendations for how primary schools can improve work with those children who struggle with the subject.

Professor Burghes said he feared the review would simply lead to more initiatives and different training for teachers instead of more radical change. He says that the concentration on test results means schools in England are possibly ignoring international approaches which could be more effective. He suggests English schools should copy strategies tried overseas, including rearranging desks so children sit in pairs facing the front rather than in groups; a re-emphasis on whole-class intereactive teaching; and creating more links between areas of the subject. He said, "I'm not against group work for some subjects, but it doesn't really work in maths - the groups become dominated by one child. I'm not saying we should return to chalk and talk. I want more whole-class interaction, with children coming up and talking to the class."

You tell him!

The TES reports that a class of 11-year-olds has written to Kim Knight, the schools minister, to describe the anxiety and boredom they faced this year in the run up to national tests.

Year Six pupils from Dog Kennel Hill Primary in East Dulwich, south London, have called for the minister to follow the example of Wales and scrap the exams.

Two pupils described how SATs and test preparation had made them cry, while several said testing had made them ill with worry.

Earlier this term, the pupils asked Katherine Nicholls, their teacher, how to protest against the tests. She suggested writing to Mr Knight, then played them parts of a Panorama TV documentary on over-testing, in which he appeared last month. In the programme, Mr Knight played down concerns about teaching to the test, claiming that it "need not be a huge deal" and that "children don't notice hugely that they're taking national tests as opposed to other tests."

Miss Nicholls said she was incensed by his comments and felt that they were an insult to her and her colleagues, who freequently felt pressurised to improve test results. In her letter to Mr Knight, she said, "I would challenge you to find any English primary school where the children are not aware that they are taking 'important' national tests. I am tired of the Government's fundamentally flawed use of SATs results as a measure of school success, and I am devasted that I have had to watch another class go through the emotional trauma."

Several of the 27 children who wrote to the minister said they missed out on lessons such as art, PE, history and geography. Most also wrote of feeling relieved once they were over. Some describe the tests themselves as a trial, although a handful said they were easier than expected.

£100 for your results

The TES reports that selected primary heads are being offered £100 to report what scores their 8 to 10-year-olds achieved in the optional end of year tests. The National Assessment Agency (NAA) said it was collecting the results from years 3, 4 and 5 to check how pupils are doing in the years they do not sit national tests.

But the National Association of Head Teachers is concerned that the information may be used to compile league tables - a claim the agency has denied. Mick Brookes, the association's general secretary, said, "Our strong advice to schools is not to do it because we have no trust in the use of this data... We are concerned that this could lead into constructing league tables for every year group. We can't allow that to happen... There is also the isssue of the imposition of bureaucracy. Is it something that's going to benefit the school? If not, then don't do it."

The day the helicopter came to school

Today will forever be known as "the day the helicopter came to school". What an exciting event.
I saw an advert for Heli-wise some time ago, offering schools free visits by a helicopter. I immediately sent an email, half expected to be told that they were oversubscribed. But it didn't take long before I was given a date and a risk assessment was being carried out. Yesterday we spent some time arranging the 400+ children in the school into a formation ready for a photo to be taken from the air.

At 10.45am the helicopter arrived! It circled the school and took a photo of the children in their formation. Then there was intense excitement from the children and staff when it landed on the field. The co-pilot then gave a half hour talk to the children about the helicopter and how it works. They were enthralled - everyone from Reception to Year Six!

The children then had their class photos taken in front of the helicopter. There was great delight when it finally set off again. It circled the school, taking aerial photos before setting off for its next destination.

What a fantastic event!

Strikes could be made illegal

Calls are being made for teachers to be banned from taking industial action. Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, said the Government should stop teachers from taking industrial action as a 'kindness'.

He said, "Teachers don't seem to realise that they're shooting themselves in the foot by striking, so it would be good if the Government took the decision to ban it for them."

The Centre for Policy Studies, a centre-right think-tank, said schools should be allowed to fire staff who went on strike. Jill Kirby, its director, said, "If you have a teacher who is not sufficiently committed, who wants to strike and deny children an education, schools should be allowed to permanently replace them."

Twitter

I have recently discovered Twitter - a microblogging service. This is a blogging website where only 140 characters can be used in each update. The Year Six Teacher Twitter page will include updates about Year Six news, views, information and lots of other random items too! Hope it's useful!

Sport opportunities not being provided

The Daily Mail reports that almost a million children are not doing enough exercise because thousands of schools are squeezing sport off the timetable. Official figures show that one in seven is missing out on chances to play sports such as football and netball. With childhood obesity soaring - a quarter of 11 to 15-year-olds are now classified as so fat that it threatens their health - schools have been set a target of providing at least two hours a week for PE and sport. But around a third of primaries and two-thirds of secondaries fail to achieve this.

Government figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show 895,481 children aged five to 16 lose out as a result. Critics yesterday claimed a generation of youngsters is being let down and at risk of becoming couch potatoes. They said it makes a mockery of the £100million drive launched by the Prime Minister last July to give children five hours of sport a week, during and after school, by 2010. Liberal Democrat sports spokesman Don Foster said: 'It's ludicrous for Gordon Brown to be making commitments when so many kids still aren't doing the two hours. 'Billions of pounds have been pumped into school facilities so parents are entitled to expect their kids are given a decent chance to use them.' Heads claim the curriculum is overcrowded, leaving some schools struggling with the demands of tests and exams.

Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, said: 'The findings are not surprising. We believe the targets, tests and tables regime is squeezing out important areas.'

Sparklebox KS2 is free!

Sparklebox has announced the brilliant news that all its resources are now free! Fantastic! This includes the KS2, KS1 and Foundation Stage sites! If you've never used their resources before, now there is no excuse!

All I Have To Do Is Dream...

The Daily Mail reports on the results of a study. It reveals that children actually do better at school if they stare out of the window instead of focusing constantly on the teacher.

Despite appearances, they are concentrating hard on their work or trying to learn something, it found. Teachers are being asked to check whether youngsters are staring into space often enough to consolidate their learning. Those who look away from others at points during a lesson are likely to have a better understanding than pupils who do so less often, say University of Stirling researchers.

They observed more than 230 children, aged from five to early adulthood, and found that apparent daydreamers did better in tests and problem-solving tasks such as balancing a beam with asymmetrical loads. Youngsters aged four to six, for example, were more likely to avert their gaze when carrying out a task they found difficult, or that was new, but looked away less if being tested by someone they knew. For older children, so-called 'gaze aversion' was linked to the complexity of the task in hand, rather than familiarity with the tester.

This result held across a range of different tasks, the researchers said. 'These results are important because they show that children avert their gaze when they are trying to carry out a task which is difficult or with which they are not yet familiar,' said Dr Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon, whose research was financed by the Economic and Social Research Council. 'That means that gaze aversion is a useful thing for teachers, carers and parents to know about.'
From the point of view of teachers, gaze aversion can be a 'positive sign'. Children who used it were more likely to be termed 'improvers' by Dr Doherty-Sneddon. By contrast, children who were not improving their performance, or were going backwards, used it less often.

The researchers believe paying attention distracts children because their brains are too busy trying to interpret visual cues from the teacher. They believe the findings can help teachers understand the mental state of pupils with autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Could this be the best advert ever?

Awesome!

Six week Summer Break is Impacting on Standards

The Daily Mail reports that schools should switch to five-term years to stop children losing ground over the summer. A report by the Institure for Public Policy Research claims that the six week summer break is hampering efforts to raise literacy standards. It calls for the school year to be divided into five eight week terms with a fortnight's holiday between each and four weeks off in the summer.

I actually think this makes sense. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Txtng mks u clvr

The Sunday Times reports on research that says children should be encouraged to send more text messages because they can improve literacy. Professor David Crystal believes that sending frequent texts helps children’s reading and writing because of the imaginative abbreviations needed.

The finding is in stark contrast to fears that texting’s free forms and truncated words herald the abandonment of traditional grammar. “People have always used abbreviations,” said Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. “They do not actually use that many in texts but when they do they are using them in new, playful and imaginative ways that benefit literacy.” Crystal’s views will appear in his new book, Txtng: The Gr8 Db8.

In one study due to appear in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology, researchers asked 88 10 to 12-year-olds to compose text messages for various social scenarios. Beverly Plester, a senior lecturer in psychology at Coventry University, and her colleagues found that using “textisms” – abbreviations such as “2nite” for “tonight” – was “positively associated with word reading, vocabulary and phonological awareness”.

John Humphrys, the BBC presenter, has described text messagers as “vandals who are doing to our language what Genghis Khan did to his neighbours 800 years ago”.

Obsessed with League Tables

The Daily Mail reports that Labour's obsession with league tables is damaging children's education. A damning international report has found that headteachers are overloaded with bureaucracy and their intense competition for high rankings is having a 'negative' effect on many pupils. Some schools are suffering worsening results as poor league table rankings send them into a 'vicious' downward spiral.

The preliminary findings from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development are a blow to the Government. They come shortly after the Commons' schools select committee warned that 'teaching to the test' is endemic.

The report looks at school leadership in 22 of the 30 developed nations that make up the OECD. It says that schools in England strive for a good reputation in order to attract 'gifted and high-achieving pupils'. The ranking by exam results is therefore 'extremely important to establish and protect'.

But the report notes the consequences of these league table rankings 'are often negative' for both the school and its pupils. While the tables favour schools that are already advantaged, less successful schools have to battle against a 'vicious circle'. This includes, a 'bad reputation, worsening atmosphere, decreasing identification of the pupils with their school, decreasing number of pupils, reduction of resources, decreasing job satisfaction and motivation among staff, lack of applications of well-qualified teachers, worse quality of lessons, decreasing pupil achievement and worse results in the league tables'.

The report adds: 'Different studies show that most headteachers disapproved of the great competitive pressure open enrolment and league tables had produced.'

Pip Davenport on Facebook

After his 'guest appearance' on the English writing SATs last week, it seems that Pip Davenport is working hard on creating a bit of publicity for himself!

The 19th century fairground ride inventor was the subject of the biography the Year Six children were asked to write in the long writing paper. Now, somebody has created a Facebook page for him! Ironically, he has joined the "It's Time to Stop SATs" group!

His first friend was a certain Citronella Garnet, whose name is made up of two characters from the SATs reading paper!

Very funny!

Transition for high school

The TES magazine reported on some of the methods of preparing Year Six pupils for the transition up to high school.

"It's busier than the rest of the year," says Ruth Kirkup, assistant head and Year 6 teacher at Dallow Junior School in Luton, Befordshire. "This idea that SATs have finished and that's it is wrong. But it is a good time."

The activities included teaching pupils how to tie a tie and preparing schoolbags, both vital skills in many high schools.

Other primaries cram in extra school trips, a creative arts week, an enterprise challenge, a show, a leavers' assembly and, increasingly, a school prom.

Lessons continue, with some schools using transitional units that pupils complete early in Year 7, some continue themes from earlier in the year, while others do entirely new work, or ensure any remaining gaps are plugged before the pupils move on.

Price of school lunches to rise

The Daily Mail reports that the future of healthy school meals is under threat because of the rising cost of food. The soaring price of bread, eggs and cooking oil has left many councils struggling to maintain the subsidised lunches. It is feared that some may stop providing them.

Figures from the School Food Trust show that 43 per cent of English councils made a loss on their school meals last year. The average price to parents was £1.64 - but that conceals an average subsidy of 43p a meal. Many private firms fear that if they pass on rising costs then parents will tell children to opt for cheaper, less healthy alternatives.

Parents have already been told to expect a 10 per cent rise in prices for meals at primary schools. It will mean an annual bill of £390 per pupil.

SATs marking fiasco

The marking of England's national tests is in disarry because of administrative blunders. Many teachers say that they have quit as markers in protest at organisational mistakes surrounding the KS2 and KS3 tests.

It seems that ETS Europe are to blame for this. The TES forum has been flooded with 1500 comments posted by markers. They are angry that crucial training events have not been completed yet. Many said that they had not been given information about the location of the training, or had been asked to travel hundreds of miles at the last minute.

Markers also said that they were frustrated by ETS Europe's inability to respond helpfully to requests for information. One marker said she mad never seen such problems since the introduction of the national tests. "We all deserve better than this fiasco," she said.

Andy Latham, ETS vice-president, said, "I apologise to all the markers who have experienced frustration with the training and the standardisation process. We remain firmly committed to our July 8 deadline for the delivery of the results."

Great.

'Teachers on the cheap' threaten strike action

Classroom assistants (are we allowed to call them that any more?) are threatening a national pay strike, saying schools are using them as 'teachers on the cheap'.

Jim Knight, schools minister, was accused of sacrificing teaching assistants' pay and conditions when he attended a support staff union conference in London this week.

Unison, which represents morfe than 200000 support staff and classroom assistants, agreed to ballot for a one-day national strike in July over a pay offer of 2.45%. Assistants say they are expected to do the job of teachers, but starting pay under £15000 compares unfavourably to teachers' £20133.

Mr Knight announced to the Unison conference that a new pay negotiating body for school support staff would be set up by September, with an independent chair.

Pick Up A Penguin...

The TES writes about the Science SATs papers. There were some awkward contexts for some of the questions, including cleaning fish tanks with magnets and getting babies to sleep. But the question that has appeared to cause most confusion in the TES forums is a question about the features of penguins.

Many children answered, "fur". The SATs discussion on the forum began to buzz with complaints about 'the infamous penguin question'. On teacher wrote: "I am beginning to regret showing my class the April 1 BBC prank video about the flying penguins."

Another question that irritated teachers asked what scientists could measure or observe to find out how well babies slept. One pupil proposed looking to see whether the baby was snoring. Another answered: "Mummy says my brother never sleeps and she is losing it." Donna Thomas, a Year Six teacher in Chichester, West Sussex supervisied her class, despite having had a baby girl seven weeks ago. She said, "It was not the best question on the science paper because it was about using a bit of common sense rather than testing curriculum knowledge. But it said babies sleep better if they have more daylight, so I'm now taking mine outside to play!"

Maths Test B

So that's it - all over!

I thought that Maths Test B was slightly easier than Test A. The questions were all do-able. I didn't like the way that the Peaches question was asked. The number of times I read this out to children was incredible. It was a shame that 'perpendicular' turned up. This is a word you tend to use just a few times over the year, but it was worth 1 mark in the SATs. Rotational symmetry appeared for the second year in a row. But no ratio, and no co-ordinates - this is rare!

Anyhow, now it's time to get on with all those things we've put off for a few months!

Maths Test A & Mental Arithmetic Test

I thought that Test A was quite fair really, with a range of questions on many different topics. It gets clearer each year that the test goes in order from Level 3 questions, then Level 4 and then Level 5. The children's exam technique has definitely improved by doing their best questions first (but isn't it sad that 11-year-olds can do this). It's a shame that my maths class this year are one of my weakest.

The mental arithmetic test was not too bad at all, in my opinion. How my children agreed!

Reading Test

After our delight with the choice of writing for yesterday's tests, we were brought right back down to earth today with what I thought was a difficult paper. Some very tricky questions and a not very interesting topic. How dull was that story?! I felt sorry for our pupils who used an enlarged paper - it was in black and white!

Writing Tests

I was really pleased with these tests!
The Long Writing test was a biography - Pip Davenport! Blimey, isn't this one of the first times ever that the task is actually a genre of writing that is actually studied in Year Six?! After picking genres that no one could ever guess at - finally we get one that we've studied this year! Speaking to colleagues from other schools, it would appear that some children were concerned about historical accuracies - e.g. worrying about things like Pip using a mobile phone or something similar. However, I feel this should be outweighed by their understanding of skills from our study of this style of writing.

The Short Writing test was to write a page from a book for Year Six memories! Blimey - if the children didn't have something to write about for this then they never will!! However, I'm curious to know if, when the results are published, the markers will publish the children's thoughts about their most challenging moment - the SATs!

The spellings today didn't seem too bad. I'm sure we've had a few of these before.

MPs say that SATs should be scrapped

Perhaps I am a cynic, but I can't help wonder about the timing of the reports about SATs this week. Maybe there are a few high ranking MPs have children who have taken the tests this year. Or maybe Labour MPs know this could win voters as this is music to many people's ears.

Anyhow, the Daily Mail writes about a report from MPs says that mass exam testing of pupils at seven, 11 and 14 should be scrapped. It argues that children are being robbed of a proper education by a SATs system that forces teachers to chase targets instead of inspiring pupils to enjoy learning.

The Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee said mass testing led teachers to drill pupils to pass exams instead of ensuring real gains in knowledge. It suggested ministers could ensure national standards were being maintained by requiring only a small sample of pupils to take tests each year.

And the MPs called on teachers to be given greater responsibility for tests and marking but said the results should not be collated in league tables to prevent the pursuit of results "at all costs".

More than a million pupils will take national tests in the three Rs and science this month. But the report said: "Teaching to the test means that pupils may not retain, or may not even possess in the first place, the skills which are supposedly evidenced by their test results."

The exams, however, are "here to stay", the Government insisted. "Parents don't want to go back to a world where the achievements of schools are hidden from them," said schools minister Jim Knight.

"Children don't notice hugely that they're taking national tests"

I really wish I'd watched the Panorama all about the SATs. Maybe it's time I investigated the i-player that everyone's been talking about.

It seems that Jim Knight, the schools minister, has said, "Children don't notice hugely that they're taking national tests." Yeah right! I'd really like him to go into a school and find out how much the children notice!

Science Tests

I felt that the Science Tests were not too bad today. I know there has been a lot of debate on the TES forums regarding the unusual contexts for some of the questions, but overall I felt they were fair. There was a mixture of easy and hard questions, with quite a bit of maths thrown in for good measure. Any thoughts?

Test overload

The Daily Mail reports that MPs are warning that an obsession with testing threatens to damage a generation of schoolchildren. An influential report will recommend the national testing regime be scaled back.

In its first major report since forming last year, the Commons schools select committee is expected to say tomorrow that the current system is not fit for purpose. The MPs will point to concerns that children spend too much time being drilled to pass tests at the expense of real gains in their knowledge and understanding. Under the current mass testing, backed by the Government, pupils face compulsory tests in the three Rs at seven, 11 and 14.

The Labour MP told the BBC's Panorama programme: "There's something wrong with the amount of testing and assessment we're doing, the quality of testing and assessment and the unseen consequences for the whole school culture. It is still a culture where the success of a child, of a teacher, of a school, is linked to testing, testing, testing, that is the problem." He also attacked proposed reform of the Sats system, under which pupils would be tested at any time from the age of seven. Mr Sheerman said that would put them under continuous pressure.

The all-party committee is expected to recommend a greater role for teacher assessment and a consideration of a sampling approach which would see only a percentage of pupils tested each year.

But Schools Minister Jim Knight MP has defended Sats. He said: "I look at the fact that our results are improving year on year and standards in our schools are rising, and part of the reasons for that are tests and tables."

Year Six Gladiators Ready!

Well, several weeks of SATs revision now completed, we all wait to find out what challenges will face the children next week.

The Science tests are usually fairly predictable in what will come up. It all depends on how much mathematical knowledge is required to read the tables and graphs in the questions.

The children have plenty of experience of the types of questions in the Maths papers. Now all they need to do is hold their nerve.

As for the English tests, the revision is mostly irrelevant. We have all tried to guess what the writing tasks will be, but I'm certain that the test setters will simply pick a type of writing out of thin air, rather than choose a type that the children have a lot of experience of.

Now that the revision is all over we can get back to enjoying lessons and teaching new stuff!!

Good luck to every year six pupil, and fingers are crossed for every year six teacher!

First choice for Brown and Cameron

Despite all that has been in the news recently about primary school places, it would appear that Gordon Brown and David Cameron have had no trouble in having their first choice primaries allocated to their children.

Yesterday Gordon Brown and David Cameron revealed that they had secured their first-choice schools for their respective four-year-olds, John Brown and Nancy Cameron. One is an inner-city community school where half the children are entitled to free meals and most speak English as a second language. The other is a Church of England school in Kensington, West London, with a largely white, middle-class catchment area.

The Prime Minister’s choice for his elder son, Millbank Primary, is the nearest-but-one primary school to Downing Street. There are at least a dozen state primaries closer to the Conservative leader’s home in North Kensington than the school he has chosen.

The Tory leader and his wife, Samantha, have secured a place for their daughter Nancy at the heavily oversubscribed St Mary Abbots Church of England school. A Conservative source said that the family were delighted, adding: “This is the school they wanted for their daughter. They have gone through the same process as everyone else. They attend the church, and there was no favouritism.” The Camerons’ nearest school is thought to be Oxford Gardens.

New SATs to be redesigned

Low scores from pupils taking part in the pilot of the new SATs tests have forced the Government to have a rethink.

Pupils will be given more time to complete the higher level sections. Also, procedures will be tightened to make sure that the right students sit the tests.

More than 400 schools have been taking part in a two-year pilot of the new tests, which are expected to replace KS2 and KS3 SATs from 2010.

Parents evenings - waste of time?

The Guardian reports that parents are increasingly turning their backs on traditional parents' evenings and would prefer more informal contact with schools to learn about their children's progress. Rather than an evening a term queueing for a five-minute chat with teachers, parents want more frequent access, or to monitor their children's progress online, according to research commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

The research finds that only half of parents report feeling very involved in their children's education, with their working lives being the number one barrier to helping with homework.

The children's secretary, Ed Balls, publishing the research, said: "We know parents are increasingly involved in their child's education - and want to do even more. But for many it's a difficult balancing act to juggle work, childcare and quality family time and still be able to help their children with homework and keep track of how their child is doing at school. Parents tell us they like having informal contact with their child's school - whether that's a chat in the playground or the chance to go online and see their teenager's latest marks and make sure they are going to all their classes."

Parent evenings would always have a role but schools should keep up to date with what parents want, he said.

Lunchtimes should be social events

School lunchtimes should be a social event, not just a functional feeding opportunity, say children.

Jo Pike, a researcher at Hull University, asked primary pupils what they like and dislike about eating in school. She found their preferences have often been overshadowed by adult preoccupation with nutrition.

Few children referred to food when discussing their priorities. Instead, they spoke about the social elements. Many felt it was important to be dining with friends, as this created a sense of safety.

Most children also used meatime to decide which games to play in the playground later, or make after-school social arrangements.

Dining room displays of pupils' work help to give a sense of ownership of the eating space. Such displays should be changed regularly.

Sweets go sour...

The TES reports that parents have criticised staff who use sweets to reward pupils. Apparently the practice is common in about a quarter of state primaries, despite healthy schools being one of the big focuses at the moment.

Aound 3/4 of the 2581 parents who answered a survey on Netmums, a parenting website, said they thought it was a bad idea, and that it contradicted recent healthy eating drives. The same number said they would also prefer teachers to use other rewards.

Nutritionists and eating disorder specialists also warn about the dangers of associating food with good behaviour or academic achievement. Children who believe they only deserve treats when they have been good will feel guilty eating sweets when they do not feel they deserve them. Such guilt can lead to secret eating or disordered eating habits, nutritionists say.

Yr 6 Teachers Wikispace

The Yr 6 Teachers Wikispace is a great resource where planning and resources are shared.

I plan to create a Year Six Teacher Wikispace very shortly.