3rd May 2009

No to SATs!

[Assessment reform: good for children, good for education ]
Assessment reform: good for children, good for education

Despite the Government's acknowledgement that, "over nearly two decades of the National Curriculum and its assessment regime, the end of Key Stage tests had often stimulated controversy," we still have no definitive end in sight for the regime in Key Stage 2.

As you will have seen, the NUT has voted to hold a ballot on boycotting the 2010 SATs.

This unanimous vote was passed on a motion which will also be debated at the NAHT Conference, where it is also expected to be passed unanimously. The NAHT President, Clarissa Williams, stood and cheered loudly when the vote was carried – as did all NUT delegates.

Of course, if the Government sees sense, a ballot and boycott will not be necessary. We all know that the Government abandoned KS3 SATs because it was a discredited system which had lost the confidence of both teachers and parents. The same is true of the remaining SATs.

The Government has until now maintained that SATs are essential. It said the same about KS3 SATs until they were abolished. And the Government maintains a total silence about the situation in Wales and Scotland, where there are no SATs! Why are teachers and pupils in England subjected to SATs when they are not seen as necessary in Scotland and Wales?

This decision gives great heart to those teachers who have known for years that the SATs regime distorts the nature of the Primary curriculum and imposes a rigid structure – at a time when children and teachers should be allowed to be creative.

All the Leicester NUT delegates supported the motion, and we would urge members to vote 'yes' in any ballot for a boycott. We hope a ballot will not be necessary. We hope the Government sees sense. But if they don't, NUT members will need to act and save children from yet more years of a damaging and unnecessary SATs regime.

The full conference motion, passed unanimously, is below:

Conference welcomes the joint NAHT/NUT campaign and endorses the joint statement on testing and assessment.

Conference believes these proposals represent the future of assessment in Primary Schools.

Whilst welcoming the decision to remove National Curriculum tests at Key Stage 3, Conference rejects the Government's argument for maintaining them in Primary Schools.

Conference calls on the Executive/National Council to broaden the joint campaign to secure the end of a testing regime which is not fit for purpose.

Conference recognises that the strategies deployed to date, including lobbying, letters to MPs, parents' questionnaires and local campaigning, provide a positive base for attracting widespread support.

Conference asserts, therefore, that unless the Government sees fit to respond to overwhelming evidence for ending statutory tests at Key Stages 1 and 2, joint action will need to be taken to prevent their continuation.

Conference instructs the Executive/National Council:
1. Step up the joint campaign to halt statutory testing at Key Stages 1 and 2;
2. Seek the support of all unions, including those in the TUC, for the campaign;
3. Seek support from the widest possible range of organisations, including parents, governors and parliamentary parties;
4. Once all other reasonable avenues have been exhausted, ballot all relevant members for joint action to boycott the Key Stage 1 and 2 statutory tests, for the academic year 2009-2010, if the Government refuses to remove them.

The joint NAHT/NUT statement, calling for:
• assessment which supports learning;
• the abolition of imposed primary tests and school performance tables;
• evaluation which supports not punishes schools,
can be found on the national website:

Ballot To Stop SATs Goes Ahead [updated link, 26 Jan 2010].


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