Press release 14 September 2017On 14 September, the government announced its plans for the future of primary assessment in England, including the introduction of a baseline assessment within the first few weeks of Reception. The Better Without Baseline campaign responded as follows:
We are disappointed that government has not listened to the views of early years practitioners and researchers and seems set to repeat its costly and misguided attempts to reintroduce a commercially run baseline assessment scheme in reception. Early labelling of children based on flawed data is deeply damaging to children's progress. Reception teachers across the country who are busy helping new children settle in this year will dread repeating the experience of last year's pilots, which gave them no additional helpful knowledge about their children's starting points, and took up days of teacher time. Headteachers should be concerned that they will be held to account with dodgy data - the government has not provided satisfactory evidence that a reliable and valid baseline measure can be conducted with 4-year-olds that will show progress achieved with KS2 results. It is vital that any proposed scheme is piloted to show that it can address these concerns, and that the benefits outweigh the human and monetary costs. |
"Primary Education policy is in danger of producing a generation of children
who will experience anxiety and the fear of failure more than they feel the joy of learning." Responses to the Primary Assessment consultation, June 2017Read what the campaign and its members had to say in response to the consultation:
Press Release - 30th March 2017
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Articles
ATL Blog - Why are so many kids so unhappy at school?
We need to listen more carefully to young people and to provide an education system which inculcates a life long joy of learning, rather than an exam treadmill. The present exam system is unsustainable, and will become more so. Things will change eventually – but enormous damage will have been done in the meantime.
Good Childhood Report, 2015
- In a new international study of children’s well-being, children in England ranked 14th out of 15 countries for satisfaction with life as a whole.
- Children in England are among the most unhappy with their school life in the world. This increased with age as almost twice as many children in Year 6 (10 and 11 year olds) (34%) totally agreed that they liked going to school compared to Year 8 (12 and 13 year olds) (18%).
- One in nine children (11%) are unhappy with their school life.
- 38% of children (10 and 12 year olds) in England are bullied each month and half have felt excluded by their peer group.
- Girls in England were bottom of the international rankings in terms of happiness with their body confidence, appearance and self-esteem, and were twice as likely as boys to say they were unhappy with their bodies (18% vs 8%)
- Half of children (52%) who don’t live with their family, including those who are ‘looked after’ in residential or foster care, had low overall well-being. This compares to fewer than one in 10 (9%) children who live with their families.
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Action Groups
Calderdale Too Much Too Soon, West Yorkshire https://sites.google.com/site/calderdale2young2fail/
Cambridge Primary Charter
London Primary Charter
Birmingham NUT- There will be a 'Too Young to Test' picnic in Cannon Hill Park on Saturday 27 June.
Barking & Dagenham NUT- As part of the borough's Play Days on Wednesday 29 July there will be a story telling and play event in Mayesbrook Park in Dagenham. The event will also be providing parents with information on baseline testing and the campaign against it.
East London NUT- Michael Rosen was guest speaker at a National Children’s Day picnic and play event. You can watch a video of his speech on baseline testing here.
Sheffield NUT- A parents’ Facebook group has been set up to keep parents and teachers informed of the local campaign.
Thanet NUT- Campaign stalls have been held, including at a rally to commemorate the Miners strikes in Kent.
Nottingham NUT- Nottingham have held stalls, produced local leaflets, held a National Children’s Day picnic and collected email addresses to notify people of future events and activities. They have also set up a parents Facebook group for their local campaign.
Cambridge NUT- Cambridge held a picnic and play session on national children’s day to show why four is too young to test. They also hosted a seminar with David Whitebread, a speaker from the Primary Charter and the Summer Born Campaign, on June 10. They are using guest speakers to make links with local radio to help spread the campaign to the wider public and engage new supporters.
Lambeth NUT Lambeth have held stalls in the local community to speak to the public about why children are better without baseline.
Cambridge Primary Charter
London Primary Charter
Birmingham NUT- There will be a 'Too Young to Test' picnic in Cannon Hill Park on Saturday 27 June.
Barking & Dagenham NUT- As part of the borough's Play Days on Wednesday 29 July there will be a story telling and play event in Mayesbrook Park in Dagenham. The event will also be providing parents with information on baseline testing and the campaign against it.
East London NUT- Michael Rosen was guest speaker at a National Children’s Day picnic and play event. You can watch a video of his speech on baseline testing here.
Sheffield NUT- A parents’ Facebook group has been set up to keep parents and teachers informed of the local campaign.
Thanet NUT- Campaign stalls have been held, including at a rally to commemorate the Miners strikes in Kent.
Nottingham NUT- Nottingham have held stalls, produced local leaflets, held a National Children’s Day picnic and collected email addresses to notify people of future events and activities. They have also set up a parents Facebook group for their local campaign.
Cambridge NUT- Cambridge held a picnic and play session on national children’s day to show why four is too young to test. They also hosted a seminar with David Whitebread, a speaker from the Primary Charter and the Summer Born Campaign, on June 10. They are using guest speakers to make links with local radio to help spread the campaign to the wider public and engage new supporters.
Lambeth NUT Lambeth have held stalls in the local community to speak to the public about why children are better without baseline.
Events
Rotherham Show - Sept 2015
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