Teachers to call for ballot on boycotting baseline tests for four-year-olds
Independent | Richard Garner Education Editor | 20 March 2016
Teachers will call for a ballot on boycotting baseline tests for four-year-olds when they meet for their annual conference next weekend.
New tests from this September will make children in England “among the most tested in Europe”, the National Union of Teachers’ annual conference in Brighton will be told.
The baseline tests are designed to inform teachers about the abilities of pupils starting school. They will also be used to rank primary schools in league tables by showing how much, or how little, children’s performance has improved.
This autumn’s baseline tests are one of three new tests for primary schools. Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education, has also announced the return of national curriculum tests for seven-year-olds.
These were abandoned under Labour because it was thought that seven was too young an age for children to undergo a formal externally marked test. Last week’s White Paper on the future of education also held out the prospect of times tables tests for pupils aged 11, in their last year of primary schooling.
In addition, children undergo a controversial phonics test at the age of six to check their reading skills. This test has been ridiculed by teachers for including made-up words. There are also the national curriculum tests in reading, writing and mathematics for 11-year-olds.
