SATS. The very word fills most people in schools with a resigned sense of dread.
As an NQT, I couldn't believe it when I was offered a role as Year 6 teacher, helping children through this crucial stage of their education. It was a great massage for my ego. Now, with one week to go, I would prefer to retreat to the safety of teaching in a year further down the school.This week, I have seen several children in tears and spoke to a number of concerned parents who are worried about what the prospect of the SATS are doing to their children. A sense of impending doom is prevalent amongst some in the staffroom, and I am spending my Bank Holiday weekend feeling tired and run down.
It's no surprise. During the week, the children have been either revising excessively or taking tests. Often the tests don't reveal what the teacher wants or needs them to, and so the stress levels rise. The children, the vast majority of whom wish to please their teacher, feed off this stress. Consequently, the classroom can become a very emotional place. It takes a special teacher to keep a classroom calm at this time of the year!
I've been asking myself the question, "What is all this for?"
Is it for the children? Well, yes, to an extent. It may be preparing them for testing in High School. It may be furthering their knowledge. It may ensure that they are being taught what they should have been. But once a child leaves primary school and enters High School, what has all of this taught them? They have been in school lessons for the last six years. They know the curriculum. The crucial difference is that some children can retain information. They will thrive. Those that can't will crumble.
Is it for the teachers? Yes, much more so. Future contracts can depend on good results. Headteachers can hold back pay if they deem results not good enough.
Is it for the schools? Absolutely. If children aren't gaining Level 4s, this can be seen by everyone in the school league tables. Since these are usually the first thing that's looked at to judge the effectiveness of a school, the SATS results have got to be good.
The government has created a system that perversely puts children last of all. They are simply pawns in a political game where Britain aspires to prove it's greatness against the more rigid and seemingly successful school systems of Singapore, Finland et al.
Some schools are taking this so seriously that their Year 6's are going in this weekend, on a Bank Holiday, for extra revision.
When I was at school, I can't remember being tested heavily. I didn't know my levels. I knew I was on the brighter side of my class, but there was no sense of competition, no pressure like there is today to succeed. People argue that children need to experience this pressure as that is what life is like in the real world, but surely not at 11-years old?
Sometimes I wish our school system would allow children to be children. There must be an alternative to this rigorous testing.
