Primary school curriculum asking too much of children

[Ipsos]

Hi,

I wondered if I might ask what others think of the pace of work in the primary school curriculum in England the Wales?

My son has been struggling at school and I went to talk to the senco. I said I felt that they were asking too much of ds.

The senco agrees and says that she doesn't know any teacher who thinks that the current fast paced learning is healthy or appropriate for little kids of their age. She says people are always talking about mental health problems in young children as if it was some kind of mystery where it comes from, when in fact it's obvious that it's caused by the school system.

She said there is little that the school can do to shield him from this as they have to meet targets or they will be marked down in their ofsted assessment.

I feel really sad for ds that he is being put through this in his early years, which should be a time of free play and freedom to think and develop naturally.

I wondered if anyone might have ideas on how to solve this problem? If people generally agree that the curriculum is too fast paced, could we perhaps start a petition or something?

Thanks!

I like his progression. And the jumpstart grammar book. It makes sense in terms of reading and writing.

I'm not convinced all the stuff in reception is necessary though.

For those who say their kids are finding it fine, do your children all have birthdays at the beginning of the year. Or are some of you talking about kids with summer birthdays, or English as a second language, or issues of prematurity, or any other other caveats that make things difficult, but are very much the norm?

Mine is May birthday and was a slow starter - couldn't hold a pencil, never drew anything before he started reception etc. He is bright though (we think). I think the finding it fine may also be partly to do with his school taking it in a laid back sort of way, like the school OP mentions. We've definitely been prepped that many of them won't pass on everything and they'd rather that than cram them in yr 2. They will make sure they've "seen" (sic) all the new syllabus before the tests.

Same as with Ambroxide's school. We recently had a meeting organised by the Year 2 teacher to answer any questions that we might have about the SATs. The teacher also agreed the curriculum is very demanding, but reassured us that the results only indicate where the children are at their learning path at that time and that by no means can be considered as an indication of failure. She had a completely relax attitude towards it.

Also, similarly to what Ambroxide said, the new curriculum is not demanding for DS, and the teacher said this to us when we had the parents evening. In DS's case, the teacher said he could have taken the test early in the year and breeze through it, and that he was already working a year ahead to what the new curriculum expected from a Year 2 child.

For those who say their kids are finding it fine, do your children all have birthdays at the beginning of the year. Or are some of you talking about kids with summer birthdays, or English as a second language, or issues of prematurity, or any other other caveats that make things difficult, but are very much the norm?
DS's birthday is not at the beginning of the school year, more like in the middle, and when he started school English was his second language, although right now his level is comparable or more advanced than his peers, and equal to his other language. Not sure what the relation between this and the fact that he finds the new curriculum fine might be.

Cat that sounds like a good approach. Our school is definitely not laid back about anything and wants ds to get everything on board asap. My ds is also May, also did not hold a pencil before reception started.

Elle That sounds like a good relaxed attitude too. I think the year 2 test should be more like a gathering of statistics to find out whether too much is being taught, rather than a benchmark that all children should aim to hit, on time.

It's the bloody stupid assessment system ipsos.

I think they should have worked out what skill it was important that children had achieved by the end of ks1 to giving them a good grounding for ks2 and beyond and stuck that as the expected standard. I doubt much of the stuff is a good predictor of future outcomes in either literacy or numeracy.

My summer born DS in year 6 is not stressed about it at all and actually likes knowing the names and rules for everything, believe it or not this stuff can suit some children. I find the SPAG bewildering but never learnt more than a verb being a doing word so of course I find it hard. They are being taught the SPAG and tested on it like any other subject would be. I'm pleased he knows what an adverb is, I certainly don't!

Whilst I agree the teachers seem to be under huge pressure because noone knows what's going on with assessments, the children in our class all seem fine. I'm relaxed about it so wonder if that's made a difference, he's in his 1st choice secondary school so for me the SATs (aka whatever) don't matter except for him to try his best. He is reasonably able, maybe I'd feel differently if he really struggled but would that be different from previous years?

I also have a year 2 child and they don't even know they're going to do "official" tests so that's good too. Maybe they aren't now, I'm not entirely sure any more!

They may not be.

BBC are reporting that NUT have voted to ballot on boycotting this years tests. They are calling for this years tests to be scrapped too.

I think it'd be a real shame if there were no tests because I like the idea of a test at the end of the key stage. I think they should stop making changes though and just crack on with what they already have. They should've done that months ago.

I'd have two children with no "official" progress points from start to end of KS2 but tbh I think I'd get over it. I'm happy with my DC's progress though and the school, I might not be so relaxed if I had concerns over either.

IMHO this years tests are a mess and need a rethink burin general I don't have a problem with tests just the purpose they are used for.

I think it's a bit of a non-starter, tbh. And the BBC article is a bit confusing.

It seems like the TA would still happen, which doesn't really solve much. And its next year's tests, not this years. It's this year's they seem to be asking the DfE to scrap. Presumably because it's too late to do much about this year's. Pigs will fly before that happens.

And they seem to be focusing on baseline assessment.

My teacher friends have said that they are confused about the whole assessment

No one has a clue what's going on.

What they should have done was to cancel this years testing in the Autumn term when it became apparent that they had got it wrong. Then they could have had an additional year to sort themselves out. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if we hadn't tested yr 6 for a year.

But since the DfE can't apologise for anything, they've just ploughed on making it worse with every new release.

The NUT can talk about boycotts and strikes but unless the head teachers unions take action it's just talk.

The amount of homework my 7 year old gets is ridiculous. We try and do a bit m-t. Sunday she has a tutor as apparently shes behind. We dont do homework in the holidays.

She is also supposed to attend school 15 mintues early for extra maths everyday.

She is being monitored for attendance dropping to 91%.

Shes 7

I was wondering about that.

Gosh. There's no way I'd want a tutor for my 7 year old or agree to extra lessons.

We only have small amounts of homework which I still disagree with on principle. If there was lots a letter would go in.

How to put kids off education :(

Effectively parents are subsidising the schools desire to remain "outstanding" /top of the league tables!

Parents are choosing these schools based on results not realising they will have to hire a tutor to maintain those results it would be hilarious if not so sad for the children

That's bonkers Shutupandshop. What a lot of pressure for a little kid.

You're right mrz. Loads of kids in primary that I know have tutors too. As if secondary wasn't enough, they now have it in their childhood years too.

Why do you think parents fight to get their children into these schools rather than schools that provide a more balanced experience?

I think that before the parents are in the system they don't realise what it's like. They assume that ofsted would assess schools on providing a mentally healthy education for their children rather than just grammar cramming.

I think it's not just before children start school, parents don't really understand in general how OFSTED assess schools. When my daughters school went into sm 95% had not even considered it a possibility despite an absent seemingly for no reason HT....... They just saw it as a good school (which to be fair it is really ). Parents were like this .

I would suggest all parents should read the Ofsted Framework. They do not set the National Curriculum. They are not really assessing on grammar cramming. Good teaching is assess over time and Ofsted want to see progress. They cannot dictate what is taught (grammar) or how it is taught. The National Curriculum and SLT of the school is responsible for that. It is up to SLT to work out how the children should be taught to ensure prgress.

We do not have children being taught for an extra 15 minutes at the start of the day at our school, but children who need more revision before they start a new topic are given it as part of a lesson. They then can build on this revision and access the new topic. The parents who are desperate for a grammar school place tend to have tutors.

Many parents do not know what a good school looks like. They have little experience of a variety of schools to compare. An absent Head is obviously a red light. It would make me wary because it compromises the school having effective senior leadership. Surely parents must have wondered about this?

With all that hassle, I am not surprised your DD has poor attendance, shutup. I would back off and try and get her to enjoy school or change schools.

Noooo! The pace is too slow especially in the last 2 years of primary , please don't wish for it to be any slower!!

Bojorojo how do we find out about the ofsted assessment system and the SLT? I don't know anything about either of those.

I only wish that the children had more time for free play in class. My very best year in primary was primary 6 when we had a huge amount of free play, but it was free play with cuisinaire rods and origami and electric motors. I made more progress in that year as a human being than in any other by a long shot.