A blog to my Year 6s

Here is a blog post I have written to my Y6s on our Kidblog.org account. I wrote it straight after our Y6 production of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. For me this achievement was far more impressive than their excellent SATS results.

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Hi everyone.

I'm writing the morning after a night that I will never forget.

To say people were proud of you is a massive understatement. Your parents love you, and whatever positive things you do at school and in your life, they will always be proud of you. But last night you put on a performance that, given your age, would have made Andrew Lloyd Webber himself proud.

And as for your teachers and staff - you may feel at times that we nag you or get on your back but remember this - each and every one of us cares for you as individuals and we want you to achieve the very best that you can. Last night you did that - you put on a complex and technical West End production that in parts wouldn't have looked out of place on the professional stage. And you made it your own. And you're 10 and 11 years old!

For me, your production brought back many memories of when I used to act as a child. In fact, your performance was truly on another level compared to anything I've been in myself. But as a director, I have enjoyed every minute of this. I have been singing along to every song; I have been going through all of the emotions in the play; I have laughed and I was very close to crying. Very close! So thank you for the gift you have given me. You pushed beyond your comfort zone. You learned to sing. You learned to dance. You learned to act. You were patient. You were never satisfied when you knew you could do better. You were amazing. It is a gift that I, along with everyone in that hall will hold in their hearts for a very long time.

It would be impossible of me to pick out individuals because it was a show that involved everyone for the duration. You were never out of the gaze of the audience. But I did watch the audience through the show. Needless to say, there was a sea of proud parents and grandparents wiping their eyes, genuinely moved to tears by your performance. There was much laughter. There was a parent who punched the air with her fist every time her daughter said a line. There was a certain Pharaoh's parents who turned around to me in stunned disbelief!

And of course there was a standing ovation - and that's never happened.

So now as we move on, and Joseph becomes Hollie, and the King becomes Max once more, always remember - you rocked it last night. You have all grown so much in confidence as well as talent and you put on a performance that none of us would have dreamed you could do three months ago.

In a few short weeks, you'll be leaving your cosy surroundings at Barlby CP and taking your next steps in the world as you go to high school. As you take that step, you can hold your heads high and know that you can achieve anything. You have showed us that in the most extraordinary way.

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#24 Children are worth more than a piece of paper

Today we sent home our reports. And with them...SATS results.

In my class, the children broadly fell into 4 categories.

The majority worked hard and got the results they deserved.

A very small minority didn't work hard (despite high levels of support) and got what they deserved - poor results.

An even smaller group didn't work as hard but managed to pull off good results against my expectations.

Finally, some children worked hard but didn't  get the grades they were aiming for.

It is this final group who I feel for the most. The truth of the matter is, some children test well, and others don't. I watched one girl crumble under the pressure of the Mental Maths test. She picked things up in the written paper but didn't  get the Level 5 she deserved. So she, like a couple of others, we're left with a Level 4, which up until recently was seen as a good grade.  Now it's just average. Some children see that as a failure, which is probably due to the burden of expectation from schools, parents, and yes, although I hate to say it...teachers too.

As I write this,  I know that practically the whole of Y6 will be talking in a secure internet chat room about their results. For some, there will be celebration. Others will feel crushed.

I'm  not against testing. I think it does develop character. But it doesn't work for all children. Six years of primary schooling should not be summed up by a week of tests under pressure.

Before they left this afternoon, I talked to my class, fully aware that some did not 'perform' (a horrible word) as well as they might. I told them how much we valued them as children rather than valuing their test scores.

And I can honestly say that I have seen the best of the children in my class over the last fortnight - not in classroom activities, but in our Y6 production of Joseph, and our residential trip to East Barnby.

Here, I have witnessed their confidence grow; their relationships flourish; their level of challenge increase; their creativity set free; and their laughter flow. They have been doing what children should be doing.

No test could ever make up for that.

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#19 Don't talk about the F word in my class.

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.

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