DfE keeping Reception Baseline for September under review
Annette Rawstrone
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Controversial plans to test four-year-olds in English and maths when they start school in September are ‘under regular review’ by the Department for Education, in light of the disruption caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson has said that further guidance will be provided to schools in the summer term, once feedback has been gathered from stakeholders on a range of options.
In a response to a written question submitted by Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran seeking clarification on the introduction of Reception Baseline Assessment, he stated, ‘The Department understands the challenging circumstances schools are facing and is working closely with our delivery partners to keep progress towards the reception baseline assessment under regular review.’
Ms Moran is calling for clarity on the issue now, including reassurance that the tests will not happen in the next academic year. It is currently not clear who the stakeholders are that are being consulted and what options are being considered.
‘The Government must listen to heads and teachers who are deeply concerned by the prospect of another formal assessment at a time when families are struggling,’ she said. ‘The Government should commit to reducing stress on schools and children and just trust teachers.’
Early years consultant and More Than A Score member Nancy Stewart calls the tests ‘pointless, unreliable and potentially damaging at the best of times’. She says that they will be even more disruptive as schools readjust to the current crisis and ‘face unknown possible disruption ahead’.
‘The priorities of heads and teachers will be settling children back into school and focusing on their welfare, after a sustained period of disruption. This will be even more important for those children starting school for the first time,’ she stated.
‘Teaching professionals are telling us that they want to spend their time making sure these four-year-olds are happy, settled and safe at the start of their learning journey.’
More than 80,000 people have now signed a petition by campaign group More Than A Score against the introduction of baseline assessment.
The group has released a series of short films featuring heads and teachers speaking out against the tests. In a video for the campaign, Chris Dyson, headteacher of Parklands Primary School in Leeds states, ‘Are we really saying that we want four-year-olds to come to school, to be sat down to have a baseline test? No way, José!’
More Than A Score is also asking supporters to send a ‘virtual postcard’ to schools minister Nick Gibb, demanding that he cancels the tests in the 2020/21 school year.
