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NUT: “The nature of league tables means someone will be at the bottom, regardless of achievement”

NUT: “The nature of league tables means someone will be at the bottom, regardless of achievement”

Commenting on the latest information on Key Stage 2 SATs results for Primary schools, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“League tables are an absolute blot on the education landscape. Proving you can pass SATs comes at great expense to the overall educational experience and learning of pupils. Only yesterday the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME) blamed accelerated learning, driven by the fear of League Tables, for the ‘superficial’ grasp pupils have of the subject.

“The very nature of league tables means that there will always be someone at the bottom, regardless of their achievement. It really is time we stopped this ridiculous measure of achievement in schools.

“It is a reflection of teachers’ hard work with all pupils that despite the goalposts being moved the results for Level 4 in the combined English and maths score have improved for yet another year.  It proves that all primary schools have the capacity to improve without a change to academy status.  Strong leadership, teaching and teamwork are at the core of good schools.

“The NUT is still concerned, however, that the use of a crude measure of attainment such as the English and maths combined score for each pupil in the Key Stage 2 SATs, fails to reflect much of the crucial work carried out by schools who support pupils in the most challenging circumstances.  

“The fact that the Maharishi Free School failed to enter pupils for KS2 SATS, as required, on top of its failure to properly apply the Schools Admission Code which resulted in a successful challenge by the NUT to the Schools Commissioner, clearly demonstrates the inability of the Secretary of State to adequately oversee what is going on in these schools. It is time they were brought under local authority oversight so that the pupils in them can receive the education to which they are entitled and that taxpayers can be assured that these schools are using public funds for the purpose for which they are given – educating children to national standards.

“Schools should be held accountable but through rigorous self-evaluation verified by trusted professionals such as HMI, not league tables.”
                                              
END                                       pr201-2012
For further information contact Caroline Cowie on 0207 380 4706/ 07879480061
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