It appears that we are at a rare point in time in primary education where the DfE are actively seeking the views of the profession on what Michael Tidd calls the 'dog's breakfast' of primary assessment. According to Russell Hobby and others at the Learning First Chester conference on 13th May 2017, the government are 'in listening mode', having realised that attempts to create a robust and fair accountability system are more challenging than they first seemed. In order to gather the views of the profession, a DfE consultation on primary assessment was launched on 30 March 2017.
The consultation closes on 22nd June 2017 and I suppose I am writing this to encourage anyone with a vested interest in the outcomes to put their views forward.
I initially attempted to complete the online survey (Link) a few weeks ago and was put off by the initial questions about Reception baseline. I felt that I just didn't have enough information to give an informed view on it and wondered if others might fall at this first hurdle. On my second attempt, I was keen to get through to the questions that I wanted to give my opinion on so I didn't get bogged down with the feeling that I needed to give an erudite response for every aspect. For some questions I gave a brief answer or simply declared I had no strong opinion on the matter.
The questions from the consultation cover a broad range of subjects including -
For most primary teachers there will be something within the consultation that should pique your interest and have a direct impact on your job. Given that time is a precious commodity, I think it is perfectly reasonable to skip a few questions here and there in order to give your opinion on what matters to you. If you take this approach you can be in and out of the survey in 5-10 minutes and you can rest easy that you have contributed to preparing a more satisfactory 'breakfast' to sustain us in the future.
The full text of the questions is provided below and the consultation can be completed here.
The consultation closes on 22nd June 2017 and I suppose I am writing this to encourage anyone with a vested interest in the outcomes to put their views forward.
I initially attempted to complete the online survey (Link) a few weeks ago and was put off by the initial questions about Reception baseline. I felt that I just didn't have enough information to give an informed view on it and wondered if others might fall at this first hurdle. On my second attempt, I was keen to get through to the questions that I wanted to give my opinion on so I didn't get bogged down with the feeling that I needed to give an erudite response for every aspect. For some questions I gave a brief answer or simply declared I had no strong opinion on the matter.
The questions from the consultation cover a broad range of subjects including -
- Reception Baseline
- Moderation
- Progress measures
- Times Tables Test
- KS1 Grammar Test
- KS2 Writing
For most primary teachers there will be something within the consultation that should pique your interest and have a direct impact on your job. Given that time is a precious commodity, I think it is perfectly reasonable to skip a few questions here and there in order to give your opinion on what matters to you. If you take this approach you can be in and out of the survey in 5-10 minutes and you can rest easy that you have contributed to preparing a more satisfactory 'breakfast' to sustain us in the future.
The full text of the questions is provided below and the consultation can be completed here.