National Curriculum assessment

We've got to be ready for that.

By the time they're in, well, I suppose when they're in year six in the primary year, sector there being prepared for SATs, well actually probably being prepared for SATs in year five.

I suppose one example of a mixed age classroom in the mainstream sector is the very small rural primary school where children year five and year six are doing the same thing with variation for two years as they prepare for those maths and SATs exams.

So could you say a little bit more for me because this is an intriguing idea i think this idea of how you see progress being defined or whether you think that's actually the right term for what you see in your classroom

well i think it's interesting because it's it's always going to be about that individual child's progress relative to their own developmental trajectory there's no kind of standardized assessment that we give the child We are constantly, formatively assessing them based on what they're showing progress in, challenge in, interest in.

And I guess that that is the gamble you have to make at some point, isn't it? You can't just keep putting your resources into year six because there's sacks are your outcome.

And I know it's a controversial one, but we often think too much about the SATs because I guess that's what we're judged against.

But actually, if we thought about different year groups, then actually SATs should just deal with themselves in theory.

Yeah, and certainly in the long run.

I mean, because you described having the space to know what you do is right.

Once you get that sort of monkey off your back.

And so I think it all ties together.

It's the SATs.

Now, I don't mind admitting I was a bit surprised by England's result here.

You look at things like maths and reading are rigorously tested in primary schools, particularly with SATs, and yet their scores have been flat over the last three years, whereas science has improved despite science SATs in primary and secondary schools being scrapped years ago.

So, Luke, what did you make of England's clear improvement in the PISA science test? Can you point to anything that says to you that might be driving this improvement?

I agree with that initial take, but I think it's important not to over-interpret changes in a given year as well, because these schools are subject to sampling error and variation from year to year as well, because it is just a small sample of young people.

But actually, I have loved year six.

I love I think the kind of post SATs pay off of, you know, SATs are finished, you're not being moderated and you can just chill, I think is really good fun.

And I think because they're more independent, you can have a bit of a laugh and a joke with them.

But yeah, I think the challenge as well, academically, it's pushed me in my knowledge, my subject knowledge and things like that.

So on a Monday and a Tuesday, I'm a year six teacher.

So it's SATs coming up.

So that's where my head's at largely.

But I also work with storytelling schools.

And, uh, children are being betrayed, and parents are being lied to if they're told that, uh, you can prosper without doing some of that hard work early on.

And where did the row over SATs come into it? That's the test that the-

Yeah

... children take at the end of year six.

That is part of, of, of human life overall.

So testing is both a way of making sure that children have learnt, it's giving them a sense of satisfaction, it's helping them onto the next stage.

But critically also, the SATs tests at the end of primary school let us know how well schools are doing.

Yes.

School league tables, abolished.

SATs exams at 11, scrapped.

Rigid curriculum, gone.

It's all designed to encourage critical thinking, but experts say it's depriving Welsh children of a proper education.

But researchers at Bristol University later found that abolishing school league tables in Wales led to lower performance at GCSE level, particularly in those low-performing schools.

And remember phonics? Well, they still teach that in Wales, but unlike England, there are no national tests to see who is falling behind.

Wales also scrapped national tests known as SATs, which were taken at age 11 and 14.

What this basically means is that kids in Wales aren't examined externally under proper exam conditions at all until they get to age 15 or 16 when they do their GCSEs.

And they didn't feel that comparing...

They used to compare the Key Stage 1 SATs with the Key Stage 2 SATs, but that's only progress from Year 2 to Year 6, so they didn't think that was good enough.

And then the Year 1 SATs were made optional, so you don't have to do them anymore, although I've observed that a lot of schools still do seem to do them.

So they were still stuck with what's the baseline for this progress measure that we want to do.

um and so the dfe you know designed this baseline and and they they kind of snuck it in after covid in 2021 i remember 2021 it was a time when digital stuff had they'd

that.

Yeah, and I was saying to Emma earlier that there was a post on a primary school leaders Facebook group the other week and the person had said, you know, they've got really terrible SATS results for reading and has anyone got a good reading scheme that they could recommend? And I was saying to Emma, like, you know, what actually is the problem in that scenario? Is it a fluency issue potentially? So actually the children aren't reading, you know, as quickly as they could be.

Or actually, is the wider curriculum being taught really effectively so that it's giving the children the background knowledge to be able to access some of the text? Is it

coding? Is it phonics? Is it?

yeah so like what what actually is the problem because the the SATS results are like the end point outcome like you need to delve back into where where are things going wrong way before that and actually is just putting in a brand new reading scheme in that context going to solve all your problems or actually Is the foundation curriculum not very well thought through, not being prioritised, not being taught? So then children don't understand those cultural capital references that come up in the comprehension papers.

We mentioned vision previously, didn't we? And I think it's important to audit your current curriculum against what that vision is.

So, you know, using that phrase you used earlier, Kieran, about not throwing the baby out of the bathwater, thinking about you don't need to necessarily rip up an entire curriculum as that example of, like Julie's just saying, it could be certain issues that can be remedied and fixed rather than you know replacing everything and equally you know you don't need to wait for the new national curriculum to be announced the most important decision we make is is what our peoples will learn and if we're not happy with what's in place then there's nothing wrong with changing that for the better so if you're in school in that uh in that stage of the process you need to identify what's the area of the highest leverage so what one or two changes are likely to have the greatest impact on pupils now, and then sequence improvement so that each change enables the next.