100 signatures reached
To: Cambridgeshire County Council
Oppose baseline testing for reception children
The Government has introduced a new standardised baseline assessment in England which many schools have been pressurised to administer to children in their Reception classes.
This is not to help teachers support children in their learning. It is to be used as a measure of accountability so that schools can demonstrate how much value they add between Reception Year and Year 6 by giving each child a single numerical score.
This is not to help teachers support children in their learning. It is to be used as a measure of accountability so that schools can demonstrate how much value they add between Reception Year and Year 6 by giving each child a single numerical score.
Why is this important?
The scoring of children in their first weeks on entry to their new schools:
-Is Damaging for children and inappropriate practice at an important transition time
-Will undermine the current methods of assessment and practice used in early years settings
-Will not improve the quality of schools
-Is not a reliable source of data
-Will lead to a further formalisation of learning in the early years and downgrading of play
-Transfers funding from school budgets to private companies
-Prevents the local education authority from having an active role in overviewing and monitoring assessments in the early years across the county and places this role directly into the hands of the private assessment providers and the DFE.
We call on the County Council to write to the Secretary of State for Education calling for the removal of Baseline Assessment and the retention of the existing Early Years Foundation Stage Profile in our schools.
We also call on the County Council to support any school that chooses not to implement the Baseline assessment.
-Is Damaging for children and inappropriate practice at an important transition time
-Will undermine the current methods of assessment and practice used in early years settings
-Will not improve the quality of schools
-Is not a reliable source of data
-Will lead to a further formalisation of learning in the early years and downgrading of play
-Transfers funding from school budgets to private companies
-Prevents the local education authority from having an active role in overviewing and monitoring assessments in the early years across the county and places this role directly into the hands of the private assessment providers and the DFE.
We call on the County Council to write to the Secretary of State for Education calling for the removal of Baseline Assessment and the retention of the existing Early Years Foundation Stage Profile in our schools.
We also call on the County Council to support any school that chooses not to implement the Baseline assessment.
