This week, I have been reminded just how damaging the primary education system can be to lower ability pupils.
I asked my class to write a New Year's Resolution. One girl in my class wrote this:
"My resolution is to do my very best in my SATS. I know I will fail, but I will try my hardest."
This says an awful lot about the pressure children are under in their SATS, and how results affect confidence and self esteem.
I made her remove the 'f' word and told her that nobody is a failure in my class, whatever result they get.
The truth is slightly different though. If this child doesn't get a Level 3, she will be not graded. When all of the other parents open their envelopes, and ask one another how their children did (which let's face it, is what all parents will do), she will be left feeling that she has failed, just as she expected all the way through her schooling.
This is no fault of the teachers. It is an education system that is driven by results, categorising children into pass and fail. It is an education system that assumes that all children should make progress and doesn't take account for the fact that some children are simply intellectually challenged. It's an education system that forgets that underneath the school uniform is a fragile person who should be entitled to a childhood.
I will try every intervention for this child, and all others in my class. But one thing she will never be in my eyes is a failure. Some things are more important than exam results.
