Please address the impact that statutory testing and Ofsted expectations are having in our primary schools and instigate a return to valuing a well-rounded education for primary children in the UK (without the focus on testing) to save the careers of dedicated teaching staff and headteachers before they quit.
Why is this important?
On 13th April, the families of Tickford Park Primary School in Newport Pagnell received the devastating news that their beloved headteacher, Sally Ahmad, had resigned.
Mrs Ahmad’s resignation letter highlights how she feels forced to leave the profession that she loves, due to the expectation from Government and Ofsted that “schools are no longer encouraged to nurture the ‘whole child’ but have to focus purely on progress and attainment”. This detrimental focus has been so keenly felt by Mrs Ahmad, whose letter expressed her desire to teach since she was 11, that she has resigned with no position to go to. She simply feels she cannot, and will not, lead the children through the type of education (and assessment) with the focus that the Government is pushing for.
It is too late to save our amazing headteacher but my anger and frustration at the changes to the system (as a mother of a 6 year old daughter and a secondary Maths and Financial Studies teacher with 15 years experience) leads me to want to highlight at the widest possible level, the reality of our primary education system today….. and the impact that this is having on both teaching staff and our children. All this at a time when media coverage of the mental health and wellbeing of children shows how badly affected some individuals can be.
Mrs Ahmad’s letter expresses this important point that influenced her decision “Happy, secure, well behaved and keen to learn children no longer seem important, which in a day and age where we have never been more concerned about the well-being and mental health of our children is, in my opinion, unforgiveable”.
The media regularly reports about teacher workload and the deficit in the number of teachers in this country but maybe Mrs Ahmad’s letter shows the deeper and saddening reason why teachers might be unwilling to work in our education system anymore and the impact that this system could have on our children….
Please help me to save the careers of other talented and passionate primary class teachers and headteachers, who strive to make a difference, before they too, decide to quit. Thank you.
You can read Mrs Ahmad’s resignation letter, in full, here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oxL_tupgnL9ac0tYEPRi9TcvLGpfea0Y/view
