education

Primary schools holding Easter holiday revision classes for kids as young as six

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Pupils as young as 6 ‘could come in at half term for SATs revision class’
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Despite being branded an ‘extraordinarily bad idea’ pupils as young as six are being asked to spend their half-terms revising.

Primary Schools are inviting them to revision classes during the Easter holidays to get them through standardised Stats exams.

Teachers place lots of importance on the controversial tests, which are designed to show the overall performance of schools rather than pupils themselves.

They have been criticised as ‘getting in the way’ of children’s education rather than helping, with some calling for them to be scrapped altogether.

Pupils as young as 6 ‘could come in at half term for SATs revision class’
getty

Despite the condemnation, a north London primary school has asked year two pupils to come to voluntary revision sessions for half-term next week.

The maths, literacy and grammar tests they will be studying for won’t be held until May.

Meanwhile another primary school in Birmingham is offering free childcare while year two pupils undergo maths and English revision classes in the mornings and sports and cooking lessons in the afternoons, the Guardian reports.

NASUWT teachers’ union acting general secretary Chris Keates called the sessions an ‘extraordinarily bad idea’ and said it was ‘beggar belief’ that more and more schools are considering adopting them.

He added: ‘Children should have the opportunity to spend their free time playing with their friends and spending time with their families, not stuck in pointless Sats drilling sessions that, in any event, are very unlikely to have any positive lasting impact on their educational progress and achievement.’

National Association of Head Teachers director of policy James Bowen said the sessions demonstrate why the exams at the end of year two ‘need to be scrapped altogether’.

He added: ‘A high-stakes assessment halfway through a child’s time in primary school is an unnecessary distraction and actually gets in the way of learning rather than supporting it.’

A DfE spokesperson said: ‘Pupils in year two should not be spending their holidays revising for key stage one assessments.

‘They are only used so we can understand how primary schools help pupils to progress.

‘They have no bearing on individual pupils other than showing where they may benefit from additional help.

‘We trust teachers to administer and prepare for these tests in an appropriate way and this does not include encouraging revision during holidays.’



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