No YR2 Christmas Play due to SATs!

[dustydog34]

MY DS's Infants school has announced that year 2's will not be putting on a Christmas performance this year. I asked her teacher why this was, as all years have always put on plays etc, she said it was due to the children sitting SATs next year and that they didn't have time to practice for a performance and get ready for the tests as well! I thought the tests were not meant to impact upon the children? This is infants school!
What do you think?

Yes, it is absolutely awful, but the state of our education system and the huge expectations and pressures put on very young children, it really doesn't surprise me. How very, very sad!

That is so, so sad.

dusty - I agree with you, Foreverweeding & bigTillyMint - that it seems a real shame to not have a Christmas play this time of year because they need the time for SATs...

However being devil's advocate ....

If the school normally do have a play and have taken the decision at the last minute that this year this cohort can't afford that much time 'away from the core curriculum' - they may be doing this in the best interests of the majority of children - i.e. a large proportion may be looking to be seriously struggling to achieve NC L2 at KS1 SATs.

I know it's disappointing but no joke at our school, every year from late November for about 3 weeks, all children do is practice for the Christmas play, make decorations for the school, make sets for the play & make cards/ presents for family - with little breaks for numeracy or literacy here and there.

The School may well have made the decision that this year they couldn't risk it.

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Could you suggest a half-way house - with Y2 singing a carol or something in the school play which requires minimal practice? So at least they can feel part of it?

HTH

That is really sad and completely over the top. I don't see all the Year 11 events being cancelled due to GCSEs, so why so much pressure on little kids on something that wont actually affect their lives.

That is incredibly daft !!!

Okay, if they don't have time for the Year 2 to learn the play, then fine. Just get them to learn some christmas songs and take some part.

SATs will be teacher assessed anyway for Year 2, and the teachers cater the teaching and learning for their SATs paper if they do any ? or assess them later in the year.

For the Year 2 to miss out on the school play isn't great, especially as it is their last christmas in the infant school.

The school should have been putting in the effort to ensure all the children were achieving since the children first started - it shouldn't have to all happen in Y2.

But maybe the HT has the cosh hanging over re: SATs results and is panicking?

Ours just did songs in year 2 - I can remember being a bit disappointed at the time - maybe this was why? Mind you I think the year 2s did a performance in the spring term instead - maybe your school will do this too?

That's sad. :(

Although it would make my alarm bells ring. That's a Head that is worried about scores. Are OFSTED due?

Pastsellbydate,, all of those xmas activities can be lit and num activities if the teachers are creative.
How sad for yr 2 , no such thing as sats anyway for key stage 1 . What a ridiculous thing for school to be saying to parents and children.

Your views are interesting. I still feel that it's a shame to not have time for such things at this age. But as PastSellByDate says perhaps this has been a tough decision in the best interests of those who are struggling. I admit I don't think about that side of the fence often.
No we are not due an Ofsted. And yes they perform an end of year performance in the Summer, maybe I should just get over it!

Utterly daft, and quite wrong.

Any self-respecting child development expert would be tearing their hair out.

I bet there'll be a backlash to all this Government induced hysteria over tests, but too late for the kids caught in it meantime

And tbh, unless there are extra ordinary circumstances (which there may well be, OP, I would ask the teachers for more info I think), I think numeracy and literacy can continue alongside a Y2 play. Ours are, and less able children are taken out for extra phonics and numeracy (and upper body strength exercises, etc) regularly regardless of the fact that they are also going to be shepherds, donkeys or angels.

Our school moved the Year 2 concert from Christmas to July so they now do an end of year one, presumably as they have much more time to do this kind of stuff after their SATS. Sad I know but one solution.

I find this hard to believe- has somebody got the wrong end of the stick somewhere?

This is ridiculous - they are 6&7 years old. If you can't do a nativity at this age because of exams then that just confirms to me that targets and exams come above all else in our schools. They are little children! It's Christmas! How totally miserable.

Well our school are the opposite. No sign of any lessons being done, guided reading stops, spelling tests stop and no PE for weeks all because of the sodding nativity. Every day they rehearse. Bye bye curriculum

Where is the common sense and middle ground?

Teachers pay is now always linked to performance of the children - sadly that performance is measured in SATs levels, and average point scores progress. Welcome to the world of Gove.:(

Hi storynanny:

I think the key is 'a creative teacher' - I fear my DDs (now Y4 & Y6) have all the way through had literally the last month of autumn term at school 'off'. I'd say maybe half the numeracy/ literacy hours occurred and basically they had one long party.

The Christmas 'production' at our school is really that - I'd say there's as much work put into it as the one year's run up to DD1's ballet class performance at the end of year 'show'. It's a 2 hour show, with costumes, dance numbers, lines read (written by teachers not pupils), etc... It truly is not a 'mere' nativity and a few carols.

Making a giant tree out of cardboard & painting it & decorating it with tensil for stage setting may involve maths (if creative) storynanny - but took DD1 & 3 classmates 3 full school days. Kind of wondered why they couldn't just move one of the class trees (of similar size) into the hall on the day. KS2 upper also get dragged into setting up the Christmas fair and clearing away afterwards. Y6 frequently are asked to help take down decorations on last day of term.

Our Christmas play will be next week. The children will have Christmas parties, the choir will be out of school to perform at local hospice & old folks home, there will be a Christmas games session in the hall, and I believe they expect father Christmas at some point. All classes go out at some point and sing to other classes/ HT. There are several extra assemblies to teach about advent/ Jesus' birth. (Hannakah, by the way, hasn't had a look in - as it the case with many other religious festivals this time of year).

I can't complain - it is tremendous fun for the kids but this and 3-4 days of DVD watching/ bring in a game from home in the last week + big church service taking most of last day - all means not a lot of school work is done for about 1 full calendar month. I try to make up for it by upping my game at home from about mid-November and doing a bit extra after a few days off for Christmas.

Pastsellbydate tthat does sound a bit over the top! Plays never get better with rehearsals in ks1 in my experience just a quick run through the day before is plenty.
Some schools seem to have found a better balance than others. The performing to others however in and out of school is important though, pshe and community cohesion are good skills.

Our school has cancelled christmas productions due to focussing on SATs. Admitally attendence is roughly 92% and they have just failed an OFSTED.

I find it hard as christmas plays and asssemblies improve speaking and listening skills.

But then, most schools are writing off the next three weeks!

I'm not sure what is right.

Three wasted weeks - it's almost a summer holiday break.

Are you all teachers? If not do you know what is happening every minute every day in school? Are you taking your little ones word for it? I only ask because in all the schools I work lots of literacy and numeracy, science ICT and creative subjects will still be going on under the topic title Christmas. Eg guided reading books might be festival related, role play might be a Christmas post office where there are lots of Numeracy , speaking and listening, writing opportunities.
I have never been in a primary school where curriculum activities are totally suspended in December. It just is not allowed! Ofsted can appear anytime right up to the last week.
Hopefully most schools, especially primary, manage to find a sensible balance and hopefully will give young children magical memories. After all, when else will they be able to take part in a nativity play? Unless they become an infant teacher that is and spend the rest of their working lives gathering up tea towels etc .......
Im very sad to think Christmas is off the menu in some primary schools.

I do wonder how people know so much about what goes on at school too! Never worked at a school that has 3 or 4 days of DVDs or one that rights off December. Every head I've worked for (8) would not have allowed it. Except maybe one, who actually had no clue about what was going on, but that's another story.

The making of the Xmas tree by 3 children would've been a collaborative job- team skills. Agree with the poster who said about speaking and listening skills, learning about how to engage an audience etc. so much to gain from a production. Even just being proud at performing to a real audience is a real experience.

School is about so much more than maths and literacy lessons.

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