Around 600,000 children starting Reception this month will have to take the new Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) in English and Maths, which is now a legal requirement.
More Than A Score, the campaign group organising the petition, have calculated that at least 300,000 teaching hours (or 60,000 school days) will be lost to the administration of the assessment, which they claim has been designed purely as a data collection exercise for the Government.
Education experts have pointed out flaws in the RBA, including the difficulty extracting reliable information from very young children and the disruption to the classroom at a key time for children who are just starting school. They also point out that Reception teachers carry out their own detailed assessments of children based on observation during the first weeks of school.
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:
What's included
-
Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month
-
Unlimited access to news and opinion
-
Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news
Already have an account? Sign in here
