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Click here for campaign resources.
 
As the National Union of Teachers joins forces with the National Association of Head Teachers in a campaign to see the end to SATs we can say, finally,
 
“SATs Enough!”
 
“SATs damage children, teachers and the entire education process.” So says the NUT, the NAHT and many, many other organisations including “Parents Aloud!” (ex-National Confederation of PTAs)
 
And this government imposed damage is in the service of their “Public Service Reform” agenda – to break up state education into competing edu-businesses – as this article explains.
 
SATs undermine our professionalism, forcing us to teach to the test. They narrow the curriculum, paring it down to the minimum required by the test. They create a “target group” of pupils – those on “borderlines” whose “results” become key to the school meetings its targets. They create a sense of competitiveness amongst children, and a sense of failure amongst many. They force a regime of coaching and practice testing, which replaces creative, exploratory and dynamic learning processes. They fit the statisticians’ view of education, which is all to do with ever escalating targets and percentages, rather than the professional view, which is to do with the education of the whole child by a teacher responsive to their actual needs and interests.
 
And the SATs results tell us only how good children are at taking tests, and how good teachers are at training them to take the tests – nothing to do with how well children are learning generally, and what their teacher needs to do to develop them further.
 
We predicted all this in 1993 when SATs were first imported from the USA. We’ve been campaigning ever since. There are now no SATs in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man. They all agree with us about them. The Secretary of State, Ed Balls, suddenly U-turned on Key Stage 3 SATs and did away with them in the hope that it would weaken our opposition to all SATs. It didn’t work. So now he has abolished the Science test at Key Stage 3 for the same reason. It won’t work. In fact, abolishing the Science tests will make the effect of SATs even worse, as the curriculum for year 6 will narrow even further!
 
“We predicted all this in 1993 when SATs were first imported from USA . . .“
 
So why is the Government so insistent on keeping these discredited tests? The fact is that is NOTHING to do with education, and EVERYTHING to do with the Government’s political strategy of “reforming” public services – fragmenting the education service into “increasingly independent” competing schools, with a growing role for the private business sector in running them – leading towards full-blown privatisation.
So the KS2 SATs are essential to them, so that they can publish “league tables”, creating an internal market in education where parents are encouraged to “shop around”, to choose schools, and vie with each other to get their children in, while other schools lose pupils and suffer the consequent budget cuts and loss of teachers.
 
The Government make no secret of this. The following is an extract from “The Government’s Approach To Public Service Reform” from the PM’s Strategy Unit 2006.
 
Given these goals, the Government’s approach to public service reform has four main elements:
  • top down performance management (pressure from government);
  • the introduction of greater competition and contestability in the provision of public services;
  • the introduction of greater pressure from citizens including through choice and voice; and
  • measures to strengthen the capability andcapacity of civil and public servants and of central and local  government to deliver improved public services.
Performance management – and its “top down” nature based on “pressure” is well known to us – and is directly linked to targets and SATs testing through the “pupil performance” aspect.
 
“Competition and contestability” (the latter being a more acceptable word than “privatisation” as far as government is concerned) are the long term aims - not just an “element”
 
Pressure from citizens and “choice and voice” need to be based on some “evidence” – thus the government’s defence of the misleading KS2 SATs and league tables
 
And if you don’t fit in with this narrow number-crunching distortion of education – well, there are “measures” to “strengthen” your “capability and capacity”… so watch it!  “We have ways of making you conform….”
 
Through our dogged campaigning, we have effectively won the argument. Of course, there are concerns expressed about what might replace SATS and whether it would cause teachers more work. We know that what should replace SATs is teacher assessment – and there’s already plenty of that going on alongside SATs, so there is NO need for any MORE work – in fact there will be considerably less-but-better work as we go on from the abolition of SATs to establishing professional control over teacher assessment too.
 
As we look at the general political scene – corrupt politicians promoting private sector control of public services (despite the fact that the private sector is in crisis due to the greed culture of the system) – its easy to get cynical and pessimistic.
 
This campaign gives us the opportunity to stand up together for our professionalism, and for the children we teach against the political manipulation of our service. We in the NUT are proud of our history of opposition to SATs, and proud to be in the lead again as the resolve of “the other side” begins to crumble, and the unity of our side is renewed. Just one more push! If they do not abolish all SATs by 2010, we WILL boycott them.
 
This will be the last year of this government imposed child abuse!
 
SATs – from the perspective of an ‘ex’ Year 6 teacher.
 
Preparation for SATs often began in my school from September -depending on the cohort of Year 6 pupils. If the cohort was deemed ‘poor’ in the three core curriculum areas after-school booster sessions were started immediately.  All children were expected to attend and the school contacted parents if their son/daughter fell below a certain attendance level – hard luck for those pupils who had an outside ‘fun’ interest on those afternoons!  If the cohort was deemed ‘good’ their extended school sessions were started after Christmas but then the same rules applied.
As well as booster sessions the curriculum was increasingly taken over by SATs preparation as May drew nearer and nearer and nearer!  Photocopying bills increased dramatically as past papers were churned out at an alarming rate – at least planning became easier even if marking was a huge time-commitment!  And for those lucky children ’on the cusp’ extra individual/small group intervention strategies with a TA or a supply teacher!
 
The effect on the children?
Well to be honest it varied.  Those who enjoyed academic success in Literacy, Numeracy and Science often seemed to enjoy their chance to ‘shine’.  However children whose strengths were creative or non-academic often reacted negatively i.e. some showed symptoms of stress and/or anxiety; some became ‘naughty’; and others just ‘switched off’.  The competitiveness between pupils also seemed to increase in Year 6.  Although I only discussed targets for improvement and methods of achieving better results (was I guilty of ‘teaching to the test?) with individual pupils they often compared each other’s progress – obviously increasing the poor self-esteem of some pupils.
 
Memories of SATs themselves
Setting up the hall for the tests – desks in rows facing the front, covering displays (just in case they gave ‘clues’) and putting out acceptable equipment.  The arrival of the children who often looked scared and uncertain (even after all the practicing!) I vividly remember one pupil arriving with her own bucket – mum said she was sick and could she be allowed to return home after she’d done the tests?  Of course we said that that would be ok (and actually she didn’t need to use the bucket – perhaps it had been nerves?) Then the receiving of the unopened tests (almost ceremoniously) from the Headteacher, followed by instructions/explanations/questions and then SILENCE marred only by the occasional cough (sob!), a murmured response to a ‘hand-up’ or a sound from another area of school.  Then the gathering of the papers, their immediate collection by the Headteacher who whisked them off to await collection and then finally … the hubbub as the children reacted.
 
The aftermath
The arrival of the eagerly (?) awaited results!!!   The post-mortem.  Where were we in the League Tables?  Were we high enough? Had we achieved enough level 4s and 5s? What was our value-added like?  Had we done enough to avoid drawing OFSTEDs attention?  Then the relief that it was all over – until next year!
 
Do I miss teaching the Year 6 children? Yes.  Do I miss SATs and the increased stress? Certainly not!
 
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