The government is committed to holding SATs exams for Year 6 students next year – and it is the right thing to do. Testing children is crucial and the damage the lack of exams has caused over the last year will only become apparent in the future. SATs are important because they should give accurate…
Two recent news articles by the BBC: “Covid: Catch-up narrative putting ‘huge pressure’ on children, psychologists say” (22 February 2021 – read the PDF of the article here) and the Telegraph: “We must be as radical in helping schools as we were with vaccines” (22 February 2021) have highlighted the psychological and educational impact the pandemic and lockdown…
The World Economic Forum recently published its vision for the future of education. The innovations of digital technology, virtual learning environments are the advancements in artificial intelligence will impact how we learn and the contexts in which education takes place. We should encourage ‘debating and reflecting’ and encourage learning in ‘non-formal and informal’ settings and time frames. …
One effect of the pandemic not yet wholly appreciated is the way it has exposed the weakness in assessing children’s progress at primary school level. A dramatic shake-up of the SATs system around four years ago has left educators and parents unaware of exactly how children in this age range are faring. Before the changes,…
Primary school children should be taught basic numeracy and literacy when schools resume in September. The lockdown inevitably means many children will be behind, and knowing these basic building blocks is vital. Even for those who are on top of the subjects, a refresher term is no bad thing because numeracy and literacy are so…