In the United Kingdom, the end of the winter school term is fast approaching. Throughout primary schools across the United Kingdom, children begin their ritualistic festive activities in the classroom. In the run-up to Christmas, these young people learn in tinsel-coated chaos, while the Grinch–like threat of SATS exams awaits the last winter weeks.
SATS exams, historically, have been necessary assessments in the British school curriculum at the key stage two. The eleven to twelve-year-old pupils are sat in exam-like conditions, mirroring the intensity of higher education. Before COVID-19, SATS were typically used as preliminary information to give to the pupils' secondary school regarding their learning abilities.
COVID-19 has caused a redistribution and a reconfiguration of the school curriculum. One of these reconfigurations is proposed by the campaigning organization called ‘More Than A Score.’ This campaign hopes to change the intense pressure children face during SATS. By doing so, the campaign will also shift the core focus of education on mental health, becoming the foundation for positive learning. This is necessary because 60% of parents have identified the negative impact SATS have on their children’s mental health. In addition, only 3% of headteachers would like to continue with SATS in the curriculum. Illustratively, this campaign certainly holds the weight of the majority thus far.
More Than A Score wanted to bring this issue to the forefront of educational change in a protest to scrap the tests. The campaign asked Members of Parliament to take the SATS. Furthermore, The Guardian labelled this group of politicians ‘The Westminster Class of 2022.’ The focus group found that 44% of the Class achieved the standard expectation in Maths. The following 50% of the Class fulfilled the standard expectation in Linguistics. Compared to ‘The Westminster Class of 2022’, 59% of Year Six students achieved the expected standards in each test. These results not only suggest that pupils in Year Six have a higher common understanding of Maths and Linguistics but that the intensity of these exams is too severe on young, developing brains.
In conclusion, post-pandemic, the priorities of schools have been adjusted, although the curriculum has not reflected this. To remedy this, educational reforms are underway as schools join campaigns to prioritize mental health over exams. The leading campaigning group, More Than A Score, hopes to bring about this societal attitude change in education.
In the United Kingdom, the end of the winter school term is fast approaching. Throughout primary schools across the United Kingdom, children begin their ritualistic festive activities in the classroom. In the run-up to Christmas, these young people learn in tinsel-coated chaos, while the Grinch–like threat of SATS exams awaits the last winter weeks.
SATS exams, historically, have been necessary assessments in the British school curriculum at the key stage two. The eleven to twelve-year-old pupils are sat in exam-like conditions, mirroring the intensity of higher education. Before COVID-19, SATS were typically used as preliminary information to give to the pupils' secondary school regarding their learning abilities.
COVID-19 has caused a redistribution and a reconfiguration of the school curriculum. One of these reconfigurations is proposed by the campaigning organization called ‘More Than A Score.’ This campaign hopes to change the intense pressure children face during SATS. By doing so, the campaign will also shift the core focus of education on mental health, becoming the foundation for positive learning. This is necessary because 60% of parents have identified the negative impact SATS have on their children’s mental health. In addition, only 3% of headteachers would like to continue with SATS in the curriculum. Illustratively, this campaign certainly holds the weight of the majority thus far.
More Than A Score wanted to bring this issue to the forefront of educational change in a protest to scrap the tests. The campaign asked Members of Parliament to take the SATS. Furthermore, The Guardian labelled this group of politicians ‘The Westminster Class of 2022.’ The focus group found that 44% of the Class achieved the standard expectation in Maths. The following 50% of the Class fulfilled the standard expectation in Linguistics. Compared to ‘The Westminster Class of 2022’, 59% of Year Six students achieved the expected standards in each test. These results not only suggest that pupils in Year Six have a higher common understanding of Maths and Linguistics but that the intensity of these exams is too severe on young, developing brains.
In conclusion, post-pandemic, the priorities of schools have been adjusted, although the curriculum has not reflected this. To remedy this, educational reforms are underway as schools join campaigns to prioritize mental health over exams. The leading campaigning group, More Than A Score, hopes to bring about this societal attitude change in education.
Image source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mps-primary-school-test-fail-maths-spelling-6cnrc6gtg
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