SATS 'wiping the smile off education" one headteacher told The Bolton News
CALLS for the current system of SATS school tests to be scrapped have been backed by Bolton headteachers.
One head said they were responsible for "wiping the smile off education". Around 5,000 pupils aged 11 and 14 are taking their SATS - Standard Assessment Tests - in maths, English and science in Bolton this week.
But a report by an influential group of MPs has warned that the pressure on schools to meet Government targets is denying children their right to a rounded education.
The Commons Schools Select Committee condemned the "widespread" practice of teachers drilling pupils to pass their tests.
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And it called for SATS to be radically cut back.
It said children's education had been distorted to meet Government targets.
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The MPs also demanded an inquiry into "grade inflation" amid concerns that test results may exaggerate the true standards of education.
And they warned the Government's planned reforms, which will see pupils tested more often instead of at fixed ages, risked causing even more damage to education.
Head of Turton School in Bromley Cross, John Porteous said: "Testing will always have a purpose to serve. Pupils were tested before the SATS and if they were scrapped, testing would continue."
But he added: "National tests dictate the education and curriculum, rather than schools devising a creative and motivational curriculum for their pupils.
"SATS have wiped the smile off education. My children who went to primary school before they were introduced took part in interesting projects and developed skills - that was education with a smile."
But he said that changed with the introduction of SATS.
Assistant headteacher of Hayward School in Great Lever, Adrian Dawes, agreed, saying national exams are an "added pressure" and have taken the flexibility and creativity out of the curriculum. "I welcome the inquiry into the current system to see if it can be improved," he said.
The MPs' committee said: "We received substantial evidence that teaching to the test, to an extent which narrows the curriculum and puts sustained learning at risk, is widespread.
"While the Government has allocated resources to tackle this phenomenon and improve practice, they fail to accept the extent to which teaching to the test exists and the damage it can do to a child's learning."
The committee recommended:
l An inquiry to find out the full extent of the problem of schools "teaching to the test"
l A reduction in the number of times children are tested
l That the current system of compiling national results from tests taken by every child aged seven and 14 should be abandoned
l National standards should be monitored by testing a much smaller "sample" of pupils from across the country every year
l The exams watchdog should conduct "a full review of assessment standards" as ministers have failed to address concerns over "grade inflation".
The committee warned that the current system had become so distorted that national results - used every year to measure school standards in England - were not fit for purpose.
Chris Caldwell, head of Top o'th Brow Primary in Breightmet, said SATS were an unnecessary added pressure for schools.
"We still have internal assessments and this is an added unnecessary pressure for the school particularly in the way they are presented to the public. The table do not compare like with like. I welcome the enquiry and would like to see a change in how raw data from SATS is presented to the public."
Meanwhile, Bolton's MPs have also added their support to the select committee's calls.
Dr Brian Iddon, MP for Bolton South East, said "The curriculum is often interrupted by too many tests in both primary and secondary schools.
"The Government has good intentions but it has had an impact on education that is not good.
"When you have tests, teachers teach to the exam not the curriculum, and that's not the same thing. You don't get a broad education because the whole aim becomes about getting better results for the school so it is higher in the league tables."
MP for Bolton North East, David Crausby, added: "I've always felt we over-test our children. One of the weaknesses is that it puts schools under too much pressure to pass the tests rather than educate the children. I talk to a lot of head teachers and they really hate SATS week."
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