School holidays - over? Not yet!

Does anyone else share my annoyance at the pace of commercialism and its refusal to let anyone actually enjoy what is happening now!

Throughout August we are bombarded with 'back to school' ads imploring us to spend money on clothes, books and stationery despite the fact that we have only actually broken up for the long awaited summer holidays for a week or so.

When we do eventually return to school in September you just know that we will start the annual build up to Christmas which, when it eventually arrives, only appears to actually last for about 24 hours before we are told to go out and spend money in the sales, swiftly followed by thinking about our next summer holiday. Once that is here, we will again be told to think about going back to school. And so it goes on.......

Drives me nuts!

SATs – is tutoring an option?

(Worth referring to my page on tutoring to see my views on this one too.)

SATs are standard assessment tests and they are administered in years 2 and 6. Additionally, there are QCA tests that are optional but used by most Primary schools at the end of years 3, 4 and 5. Most schools will do some sort of in-house preparation or coaching before SATs because, basically, it is in their interests to get your child to perform at their best when these tests are undertaken.

Accordingly, I wouldn’t generally recommend the tutoring route in this example. SATs provide you, as parents, with a useful snapshot of your child’s abilities and may be used by the school for setting or grouping of children. Moreover though, they are a way for Ofsted and the DCFS to keep tabs on how schools are doing – so, in that sense, they are far more importance to the school than to you or your child’s future.

SATs tests for the chop anyway!

This morning there is the anual furore about how standards, as measured by SATs tests for children in year 6, appear to have stalled. Indeed, whilst maths and science were the same percentagess as 2008 English actually dropped by 1% in terms of the amount of children attaining level 4.

On will leap the Daily Mail and others to lambast the Government! Cameron has apparently already come out and accused Labour of 'failing a generation'. Well, we all look forward to a change of Government when the education service will be treated to the steady ship of the Conservative party leading us through untroubked waters and to the promised land of higher attainment whilst spending less money! Yeah, right.

For my own part, reflected in the views of the vast majority of parents I speak to, we represent a profession that has never had higher standards and teach to a level that was never achieved in the days before the national curriculum. The notion that there was somehow this golden age when over 90% of our 11 year olds did leave school attaining all of the necessary skills is simply fanciful. Does that mean we shouldn't be concerned? No, we must always strive to do better. Does it give those that seek to score cheap political points licence? Apparently.

At the end of the day, there exists the probability that our 11 year olds will not be put through these tests for very much longer anyway. This is already the case in Scotland and Wales and moves appear to be afootin England to abandon tests in year 6 and move them into year 7!

Special Educational Needs - are you concerned?

I think my child has special needs – how do I get them diagnosed?

The usual advice would apply here – talk to the school about it. They may well have a view about the likeliness of some sort of a diagnosis. However, it is worth remembering that a diagnosis of itself might not necessarily mean any difference in terms of the school’s approach or provision. There is increasing pressure on education authorities and schools to reduce the number of statements for special educational needs since they are incredibly expensive. Accordingly, a school needs to be able to demonstrate that it has put in place all sorts of strategies and reviews before there is any likely success at a statement panel hearing.

Having said that, there is also a move to put in resources earlier rather than later – an early intervention approach. So, it is well worth pursuing doggedly if you really do believe that your child’s needs are acute enough. If, however, it is simply a case that your child is ‘a bit behind’ their peers then it is extremely likely that their needs would qualify them for any additional funding – it is simply down to the school to find ways and means to address their needs through targeted teaching strategies.