Page 14


Life after SATs – workload dream or nightmare?


NUT members in Wales already know how it feels to be rid of SATs. Helen Robbins looks at how the abolition of the tests has affected teachers’ workload.






In the six years since the phasing out of Key Stage 2 SATs in Wales, teachers have seen significant changes in assessment procedures. With the recent boycott of KS2 SATs in England, it seems inevitable that English Year 6 teachers will soon be treading the same path as their colleagues in Wales.


Despite huge support among NUT members for the abolition of SATs, colleagues in English schools frequently ask: ‘What will replace them?’ It seems the fear of increased workload and alternative systems has become a greater monster for some than the SATs themselves.


This article reflects my personal experiences of life after SATs and the effect on my work-life balance. I appreciate that teachers in other schools may have had different experiences.


I am firmly against an education based on testing and league tables. Furthermore, I believe the removal of the SATs was necessary and long overdue.


Adjusting to life without SATs


Once the SATs had been abolished, at my school, as at many other schools in Wales they were replaced with other commercialised tests and a flurry of formative assessment. In some schools, core subject leaders, desperate to show evidence of achievement, placed an unnecessary burden on class teachers to have folders of annotated evidence for every pupil. At my school the workload quickly became unmanageable, as not only did we now have to prepare pupils for an alternative test, but we also then had to mark and analyse the results – results that had been accurately predicted by teacher assessment!


Realising that we had replaced the burden of SATs with a greater one, a large amount of time was spent in senior management team meetings, followed by a series of staff meetings deciding what was best for our school. It was agreed that there was little point in getting rid of SATs if they were to be replaced with more internal tests marked by teachers. Our decision was to place a greater emphasis on formative assessment and moderation.


This change in emphasis initially resulted in an increase in workload. All staff needed more training on assessment, and this was carried out through a series of Inset days and cluster training.


Marking in the core subjects became more precise and more detailed in order to ‘close the gap’ between pupils’ current performance and desired achievement. This spotlight on marking and ongoing assessment, although time-consuming at first, very quickly had a positive impact on pupil progress and standards. Time was spent thinking about next steps in pupils’ lifelong learning, rather than what they needed to learn to pass a test.


Moving to moderation


 In the six years since the abolition of SATs, internal moderation has become an integral part of every staff meeting. During planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time, year groups moderate samples of work in preparation for the staff meeting. The samples are then discussed with the whole staff to ensure consistency and help all teachers feel secure in moderation.


We work as part of a local cluster of schools, and the importance of moderation is reflected in time allocated for moderation at cluster level. These cluster meetings are sometimes facilitated by school development advisors to ensure consistency from cluster to cluster. The moderation is rigorous, but with careful planning, good use of PPA, well organised staff meetings and cluster meetings it need not lead to a workload increase.


Advantages for all


So, has our workload increased since the abolition of SATs? Although initially the answer would have been a resounding ‘yes’, six years down the line there is no doubt that work-life balance has improved. Teachers are now able to be more creative. The curriculum, in Year 6 in particular, has become more creative as it’s no longer driven just by imparting knowledge. Pupils are able to show their understanding in a variety of ways, not through a one-off test. Parents are no longer anxious about their children entering Year 6.


Teachers in England, should not be afraid of life post-SATs. The hard work has been done for you in Wales! Although the meetings and experiments we went through to decide what would replace SATs were time-consuming and frustrating, hindsight has come to show that nothing extra was needed at all.


The grass is definitely greener where I’m standing!


 


Watch Helen and her colleagues discussing life after SATs in Wales in a specially commissioned NUT film at www. youtube.com/watch?v=oIN1FFXQ4Yo.


 


Helen Robbins is a Key Stage 2 teacher and senior manager at Penygarn Community Primary. She is President of the NUT’s Torfaen division and represents Welsh young teachers on the NUT’s Young Teachers’ Advisory Committee.

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16