Actor Anna Maxwell Martin and a bunch of oldsters have warned that major faculty checks have “devastating effects” for kids with particular academic wants and disabilities (SEND).
They’ve written an open letter to the federal government asking ministers to think about reforming SATs (normal evaluation checks) to accommodate the kids’ wants.
The 22 dad or mum teams say the system is damaging for kids with SEND and so they need to see a extra inclusive strategy which includes the wants of the person youngster.
The letter to Training Secretary Bridget Phillipson mentioned the present system “actively harms” kids with SEND, leaving them typically disengaged from faculty as they transfer on to secondary faculty.
Maxwell Martin, who has starred in TV comedy Motherland and police drama Line Of Responsibility, mentioned: “The federal government must look a lot tougher at find out how to make issues higher for kids in colleges, notably kids with SEND.
“This is a systemic failing within our assessment system, not the fault of any individual teacher or headteacher.”
What has analysis discovered?
Analysis by the SEND dad or mum group mentioned solely 24% of SEND kids handed the SATs, and 67% of SEND kids didn’t need to attend faculty due to them.
Half of the mother and father questioned additionally mentioned their kid’s vanity was broken, and so they believed SATs would have an enduring damaging influence.
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File pic: iStock
‘Change the system’
The letter to Ms Phillipson mentioned: “Forcing children into a system that actively harms them is not the answer. Changing the system so that our children want to attend is.”
However some suppose SATs don’t serve any youngster.
Lee Parkinson MBE, a major faculty instructor and training guide from Manchester, mentioned SATs are a damaging course of for all kids, not simply kids with SEND.
He known as the checks a “blunt accountability tool, a stick to beat schools with, rather than something that helps teachers understand children”.
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Major faculty instructor Lee Parkinson
‘Velocity rewarded over understanding’
Mr Parkinson claimed SATs had been “built to catch pupils out. They reward speed over understanding and memorisation over genuine thinking”.
“That alone disadvantages huge numbers of children, but for pupils with SEND the gap becomes a chasm. Processing speed, anxiety, sensory needs, working memory difficulties, language disorders… none of these are accounted for in a system that measures every child by the same stopwatch and mark scheme.”
Mr Parkinson added: “For many SEND pupils, success in school looks like communication gains, emotional regulation, confidence, independence and steady academic growth in a way that matches their needs.
“SATs do not measure any of that. As an alternative, they label, restrict and warp the fact of what progress really seems to be like for the kids who want considerate, personalised provision essentially the most.”
The open letter also said children with SEND who failed SATs “spend their whole 12 months 6 satisfied they don’t seem to be intelligent sufficient”.
‘Pressing want for rethink’
Sarah Hannafin, head of coverage at college leaders’ union NAHT, mentioned there’s an “urgent need” for the federal government to rethink the worth of SATs.
“If statutory tests are here to stay, they must be designed to be accessible for the vast majority of pupils, they should recognise the attainment and progress of all children, and they should not damage children’s confidence or cause distress,” she mentioned.
What does the federal government say?
A Division for Training spokesperson mentioned: “Primary tests and assessments play a vital role in helping schools ensure every pupil can achieve and thrive, while also identifying those who need additional support.”
“The government’s independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review panel shaped key recommendations aimed at improving our national curriculum, and included key insights from SEND experts.
“We’re actively working with mother and father and specialists to enhance assist for kids with SEND, together with via extra early intervention to forestall wants from escalating and investing £740 million to encourage councils to create extra specialist locations in mainstream colleges.”
