AIBU to think our kids have been set up to fail?

[theluckiest]

There are heated conversations in Education about this but I really feel everyone should know what's happening - I have only been teaching primary for 5 years. However, for most of that I have taught Year Six. This week I came close to quitting a job I love and think I'm good at. This isn't about pay or conditions. This is about a system designed to make kids fail - the new 'expectations' for an 11 year old will ensure that most children this year will simply not reach them. They will be judged as 'working towards' ie. not good enough. AIBU to think this is going to be a national scandal this year?!! If your kids are in Y6, I am so so sorry. Sorry that they have been set up to fail, sorry that their lovely rich curriculum will be abandoned for a diet of SATS drilling and sorry that concerns for children's mental health have gone through the roof. This is happening right now people - in your kids' schools. AIBU to think something just has to give?!!!https://m.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tes.com%2Fnews%2Fschool-news%2Fbreaking-views%2Fdear-nicky-morgan-a-talented-and-demand-teacher-has-resigned-she&sid=0&appid=966242223397117&referrer=sociallplugin&rdr

Mistigri Yes, the adverb is now at the start of the sentence. A fronted adverbial can, according to my Yr 6, be a phrase which is used like an adverb.
They are before the verb and describe the action that follows and have a comma after them.
Clear as mud?

It's thoroughly depressing reading books to my DDs and instead of enjoying the story I am now spotting the grammar.

Only yesterday I was reading Norman the Slug with a Silly Shell and thinking "oh I could use this for my Year 5 SPaG lessons"

Ohlucky I never covered that when I was at school. If this baffles adults with degrees, what hope is the average 10/11 year old child got! I have signed both these petitions. I think that the Education ministers should sit the SATS and ranked in order of competence.

ohlucky the papers should be written in plain English, not academic jargon. They are at school, not studying English language at University!

I enjoyed your link too, Brecon -,it shall ever after be termed Nick Morgan's hostage video!

Aeroflot my degree is in English and I had to ask what they were!

I know ohyoulucky, these papers should be written in plain straightforward English. My BA and Msc are in Paychology, I failed the mock SATS in spectacular fashion. I did not have a clue what was being asked, what hope does the average 11 year old child have!

Psychology doh, ds 4 us bouncing toys happily on my head as I type.

Fronted adverbials are made up...or at least are a portmanteau term for a variety of other things:

Adverb:
Slowly, she walked up the stairs.

Simile:
As silently as a cat, she walked up the stairs.

Prepositional phrase:
After breakfast, she walked up the stairs.
Inside the haunted house, she walked up the stairs.
With her friend beside her, she walked up the stairs.

That's better teacher

I completely agree, I've taken my son out of school as the stress of failing was causing him to be so unhappy and didn't even need to stress as he sails through exams, I've always told my kids and families kids and , well, any kids I can get to listen that it doesn't matter how spectacularly you fail at something and no matter what cock ups you make tomorrow is mother day, you can always retake exams at any age and that exams and school education is such a small part of their life to enjoy it, do as well as you can and not give a stuff about results that's for head teachers to worry about not kids!!

teacher made up by someone who doesn't speak english ... I still can't get over a "grammar term" that manages to use "fronted" as an adjective and "adverbial" as a noun. My old primary school headmaster - a traditionalist who in Y6 taught us grammar with a bit of Latin and Greek etymology thrown in for fun because we'd run out of text books - would turn in his grave!

Fronted adverbials are made up...or at least are a portmanteau term for a variety of other things:
Absolutely This used to drive me mad.

If they are using made up words in SAT tests, what hope do our children have!

I'm pretty certain 'fronted' is not even a word.

And that video makes Nicky Morgan look like a member of Anonymous.

Thanks for the link to that blog. I was brilliant.

It also reminded me that they'd written this blog last year.

It's a bit worrying that no-one in the DfE thought that video was a terrible idea and stopped it.

I have been talking to DS's headteacher and the general consensus in our area is that 50% of Y6 children will get "working towards" and they will have to advise a number of parents that their children will now no longer be graded as achieving expectation.

I have a very bright daughter in year 6. We both did a practice year 6 sats test online a couple of weeks ago. I am degree educated and have 2 professional qualifications. I got 40%. My (just) 11 year-old got 70%.

Im not sure I agree with whether they need the stuff that's being taught to them to live a happy and successful but I do agree with raising the standards on our schools. From stuff I've read we were behind other developed nations.

Also, the tests are very much about testing the schools. My daughter knows that her sats results will not have an impact on her bit that she needs to do her best because she likes her school and wants it to be judged well.

I'm all for raising standards but at least give the children and teachers enough time to get a handle on all the new changes. It is all being rushed through this year.

My DS who is in Y6 should probably be ok, but a number of his friends will have been working hard for the last few years to get to the expected level and in the last few weeks the goalposts have been moved so that they are now being informed that they have dropped down to "working towards".

We have a fab Y6 teacher but based on the projected SATS results it will look as if she has failed.

Also going forward SATS results will have more of an impact on children because from 2017 if they don't meet expectations they will have to resit SATS in Y7

I have a current year 5 dd already nervous about year 6 and with the confidence already knocked out of her , in Maths in particular, due to constant testing and pressure to do better. Simultaneously she is now bored stupid by literacy which has been reduced to constant grammatical sentence deconstruction-using terms that I barely recognise and have certainly never had call to use in my adult life.
I have met no one that can tell me what the point to any of it is.I am dismayed that we now taking all enjoyment out of learning for these kids for apparently no good reason at all.

From stuff I've read we were behind other developed nations.

What stuff?

My daughter knows that her sats results will not have an impact on her
That is not true. There is usually a primary secondary transfer meeting where the Y6 teacher and the secondary school transfer teacher discuss pupils and SATs results are very much part of this discussion. The secondary schools usually do their own tests at entry but the pupil is not a blank slate at entry.

Especially since the government use the results to set GCSE targets.