There was probably some considerable excitement in staffrooms up and down the country when the news emerged that KS1 tests could be on their way out – maybe tempered slightly by the realisation that it’s only a possibility, and then only in five or more years’ time. But at least it feels like a step in the right direction.
There was perhaps slightly less jubilation with the realisation that scrapping the KS1 statutory assessment would probably dependent be on the introduction of a new reception baseline assessment. After the chaotic attempt at this in 2015, early years practitioners won’t want to rush back to them again any time soon. I’m not an EY specialist, and make no claims to be, so I’m sure some will be horrified at even the thought – but would a simple check on entry to school really be so bad?
The big disaster of the previous attempt wasn’t the administration of the assessments – which schools handled as brilliantly as you might have imagined – but the foolish way in which different providers were permitted to produce incomparable tests. Hopefully the department will have learnt its lesson.
EY practitioners might think that a baseline check won’t tell you anything you don’t already know, and that’s fine. Few Y6 teachers are told anything new by the outcomes of the KS2 tests. But that’s not what they’re for – they simply offer a snapshot of pupil attainment that allows government and others to get a measure of how schools are doing.
Many might argue against even that snapshot idea, but that gets us nowhere. We can’t expect governments to spend billions on education without getting some indication of how it’s working, but we can expect such measures to be sensibly used.
The consultation on primary assessment published earlier this year suggests a more sensible measure of primary schools – focusing on progress right the way through, from early years to Y6 – but also seeks support and guidance from the profession to get it right this time. A baseline makes good sense.
Remember also that this assessment isn’t a measure of school effectiveness in its own right, or even of pupil attainment – that’s why the consultation states that results wouldn’t be published or shared.
It’s just an indicator of children’s attainment level when they start at your school. That’s surely got to be worth noting, so that we can celebrate all the fantastic work schools do in the seven years that follow.
Michael Tidd is deputy headteacher at Edgewood Primary School in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire
