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Just let us teach! (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10)


Raising standards


 Teachers are the guardians of standards in their own classrooms and are held accountable by processes such as performance management, Ofsted inspections and capability procedures. All teachers want the same thing for the children in their charge – to be able to help them reach their full potential through the range of experiences and opportunities provided in class and in school. What ‘good’ teachers do is teach children skills for life, not just drill them in how to pass a test.


Teachers have to reach children who have been damaged, whether by poverty, neglect, traumatic experiences or a difficult family situation. When they are able to do this effectively, the whole of society benefits. It’s worth bearing in mind that it takes more money and resources to build and run a prison than it does a school.


The future of assessment


As this article went to press, the future of assessment was unclear. The coalition government, while insisting that SATs will stay, has declared a commitment to reviewing them. The QDCA is being disbanded, and the changes to the primary curriculum planned for September 2010 have been suspended pending a review. What all this will mean for the future of SATs, APP and single level tests we’ll have to wait and see.


In July the NUT and sister education union ATL published Make Assessment Measure Up, a joint document outlining both organisations’ opposition to SATs and offering suggestions for a more meaningful assessment system. Read more at www.teachers.org.uk/assessment.


 









Our experience of APP



When Assessing Pupils’ Progress (APP) began to be rolled out in 2008, I knew, as a deputy head, CPD co-ordinator and active member of the NUT, how I wanted it to work in my school. The Head Teacher agreed that assessment was only a useful tool if carried out for the teacher’s professional development.My school, Reffley Community School in Norfolk, was already using Classroom Monitor (an online markbook), Norfolk Target Tracker, and selecting work with the children to be kept in a file to ascertain what level each one was working at. When APP was introduced, we believed it should be used instead of these assessment monitoring tools, not as well as.


In 2008/09, our first year of working with APP, we focused on one area at a time – maths in term one, writing in term two and reading in term three. The majority of teachers found this manageable and it helped them to plan effectively for the next steps in the children’s learning, especially for the higher achievers.


Even though teachers were not asked to collect reams of evidence for APP, some felt the need to. Those were the teachers I supported the most with the process, as they seemed least confident with levelling children’s work.


Our aim this year has been to moderate teachers’ levelling in year groups and award a certificate to say what the teachers’ ability at grading work is. We propose that staff should do APP rigorously every two years and carry on with the other assessment we have been doing for the rest of the time.





 


 


 


Useful websites


• www.teachers.org.uk/files/ PPA_207sq%20(3996).pdf Guidance for NUT members on PPA and leadership and management time.


• www.nationalstrategies. standards.dcsf.gov.uk/app


• www.tda.gov.uk/remodelling/ nationalagreement/ppa.aspx Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group advice on PPA.


• www.qcda.gov.uk/ assessment/333.aspx Information on single level tests.


• www.teachernet.gov. uk/teachingandlearning/ schoolstandards/mgppilot/ Information on the Making Good Progress pilot.


• www.woodlands-junior.kent. sch.uk/SATS.html Brilliant online resources to use in class with the children.


• www.teachingtimes.com If you have a subscription, look for articles about APP and the SATs boycott.






Tina Humber is deputy head and Senco at Reffley Community School in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. She has taught for 13 years and, among other roles, is on the NUT Primary Advisory Committee.





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