Wildflowers Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/feb/01/reception-children-compulsory-tests-2016
finleysmaid Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 surely what needs to happen is more moderation between nursery provision and school that way the information is already there for the teachers use. No more 'testing' is required and it will not mean another 30 assessments to do in the first term. Most teachers already do assessments .....but they wouldn't need to if the connection between them and the pre-schools was better! some of my children will have been with me for 3 years before they start school ...I have lots of information on them.....more than schools will discover in the first 6 weeks that they are in a new environment! 1
Melba Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 What are the announcements that are expected next week?! Always worrying.
mundia Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 This was part of the last consultation about assessment a few months ago. I think it was fairly obvious where it was likely to go. I was just thinking about this last week and wondering when the response to the consultation was going to be published. Finleysmaid, co moderation across settings and schools is something we are working hard to develop in my LA, but its not without its challenges, sometimes getting people in the same space at the same time is challenge enough! 1
BevE Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 Finsleymaid - I agree the link between schools and settings needs to strengthen. We have up to 8 feeder preschools each year and we do visit all of them. Our links with our on site preschool are good and the information we get is very useful. We then spend the first 4-6 weeks getting to know the children, letting them settle in and by the October half term have a good baseline. My concern at us being 'made' to do a baseline in the first couple of weeks is the impact this will have on the children. Do we really want to put them off school even earlier than the KS1 SATs do? Our end of Reception year judgments have to show children using their learning in the environment through their play. How is a formal baseline assessment going to help us with this? Seems to me it is another case of meddling in the education system by someone who does not really understand it! Bev 2
catma Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 Well the writing was on the wall when I posted about this last year - I wonder how many people in the sector responded to the consultation? Cx
Aunt Sally Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 (edited) Oh this makes me so angry. There is a presumption that reception teachers don't already baseline their children. In our county 'all' reception teachers are required by the LA to baseline where they are within the first half term. I presumed this was the same everywhere, surely it is??? How could you plan for them if you don't know there starting point. I recently spoke with a teacher who said that in their school they were going back to more formal teaching and had ordered new tables and chairs because it was deemed by Ofsted they weren't 'getting anything out of continuous provision'. I was just appalled that all the good work out there is being trampled on. Are tables and chairs the answer or is it that some work needs to be done on their continuous provision? How do you complete your profile when everything has been adult led? Edited February 2, 2014 by Aunt Sally 3
BevE Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 Oh this makes me so angry. There is a presumption that reception teachers don't already baseline their children. In our county 'all' reception teachers are required by the LA to baseline where they are within the first half term. I presumed this was the same everywhere, surely it is??? How could you plan for them if you don't know there starting point. I recently spoke with a teacher who said that in their school they were going back to more formal teaching and had ordered new tables and chairs because it was deemed by Ofsted they weren't 'getting anything out of continuous provision'. I was just appalled that all the good work out there is being trampled on. Are tables and chairs the answer or is it that some work needs to be done on their continuous provision? How do you complete your profile when everything has been adult led? Well said :-)
catma Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 There probably won't be a profile - that was all part of the consultation. It will be a baseline that can be matched to the outcomes throughout school. The focus on testing is being ramped up right through school. Year 2 children will have a spelling and grammar test, we have the yr1 phonics test... Cx
Moorside Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 Love teaching but I worry about the future of education in this country. Why when the top countries don't start formal education until 7 are we pushing earlier and earlier it just doesn't make sense! 2
lyndis Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I agree Catma. I too think that the profile will go. Most countries that do well in education don't have politics/ politicians involved and are led by actual educationalists. I can see a spelling test coming for Year One...its crazy!!
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