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Families are set to challenge the government in court over its controversial test for four-year-olds in the first few weeks of primary school as they worry the assessment will “harm” pupils.
Parents claim the baseline assessment – which is due to be piloted in thousands of schools from September – could cause distress to children in Reception, making them anxious and stressed.
The 20-minute test, which will assess children’s communication, language, literacy and mathematics skills, is due to be rolled out across all primary schools in England in 2020.
Families will be asking a high court judge on Wednesday to allow a judicial review against the government’s pilot scheme of the tests before the national roll-out next year.
Lawyers, acting on behalf of the three families from the North West, say they are worried about the longer-term impact of the test feedback being used to label children at a young age.
1/50 23 July 2019
Boris Johnson holds his acceptance speech after he is announced as the new Conservative party leader. The former London mayor and foreign secretary was confirmed as the winner in the party contest to replace Theresa May as leader of the Conservative Party. He will also take up the post of Britain’s prime minister on 24 July
EPA
2/50 22 July 2019
New Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson addresses the audience onstage after she was named as Sir Vince Cable’s successor. Swinson beat fellow candidate Ed Davey by 47,997 votes to 28,021 votes
Getty
3/50 21 July 2019
Adam Peaty broke his own world record in the men’s 100 metre breaststroke at the World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. The 24-year-old smashed the previous record of 57.10 seconds he set at last year’s European Championships to win in 56.88. In doing so, the Britain achieved one of his career goals of becoming the first man to break the 57-second barrier in the event
Reuters
4/50 20 July 2019
London artist Helen Marshall’s People’s Moon project, a giant photographic mosaic shown at the exact hour 50 years ago that Apollo 11 landed the first people on the Moon, at Piccadilly Circus, London
PA
5/50 19 July 2019
Players from Uganda and Malawi during their Netball World Cup match at the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
PA
6/50 18 July 2019
Artist Steve Messam poses next to his monumental landscape artwork ‘Hush’ which hangs in the moors of Teesdale on July 18, 2019 in Barnard Castle, England. The outdoor installation is inspired by the geology, mining history and landscape of the area. The North Pennines AONB Partnership commissioned the installation which hangs over Bales Hush, a deep gauge in the terrain created when miners flushed the area with water to reveal the geological riches below. Hundreds of metres of recyclable saffron yellow fabric blow in the wind.
Getty
7/50 17 July 2019
Buckingham Palace staff arrange the dining table, a copy of Queen Victoria’s reign dessert table, as part of an exhibition at Buckingham Palace, in London. The exhibition marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria
AP
8/50 16 July 2019
The Inveraray pipe band parades through the town at the start of the Highland Games in Inverarary, Scotland
Getty
9/50 15 July 2019
Extinction Rebellion Activists block roads near the Tron Clock tower in Glasgow
Getty
10/50 14 July 2019
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic raises the winner’s trophy after beating Switzerland’s Roger Federer during their men’s singles final on day thirteen of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club
AFP/Getty
11/50 13 July 2019
The referee counts Nathan Gorman out as Daniel Dubois looks on during the British Heavyweight Title fight between Daniel Dubois and Nathan Gorman at The O2 Arena in London
Getty
12/50 12 July 2019
Giant Panda, Yang Guang, exploring his new home at Edinburgh Zoo after moving in last week
RZSS/PA
13/50 11 July 2019
England’s captain Eoin Morgan, left, celebrates with teammate Joe Root after winning their Cricket World Cup semi-final match against Australia at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The host nation blew away their rivals by 8 wickets with 107 balls remaining
AP
14/50 10 July 2019
Andy Murray and Serena Williams talk as they play Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar during their mixed doubles third round match of the Wimbledon Championships. The star-studded pair went out in three sets to the top seeds
AFP/Getty
15/50 8 July 2019
Fifteen-year-old Cori “Coco” Gauff serves to Romania’s Simona Halep in a women’s singles match during day seven of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London. The youngest woman to qualify for Wimbledon in the open era defeated Venus Williams in her opening match and made if through to week two. Halep ended the teenagers dream run at the tournament in their round 16 match, 6-3, 6-3
AP
16/50 7 July 2019
A competitor takes part in the Red Bull Soapbox Race in Alexandra Park, London. The soapbox race is an international event in which amateur drivers race homemade soapbox vehicles on a downhill course
PA
17/50 6 July 2019
Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community take part in the annual Pride Parade in London
AFP/Getty Images
18/50 5 July 2019
Andy Murray fives mixed doubles partner Serena Williams at a practice session during day five of Wimbledon
Getty Images
19/50 4 July 2019
Chelsea’s newly appointed head coach Frank Lampard gives a thumbs up as he poses at Stamford Bridge. The Blues confirmed a dramatic return for one of the club’s greatest ever players. He has signed a three-year contract with the Premier League club, where he spent 13 years and became the team’s all-time leading scorer with 211 goals
AFP/Getty
20/50 3 July 2019
A grey seal named after Sir David Attenborough is released back into the wild after months being treated at RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre in Norfolk after it was found with a plastic frisbee disc embedded in its neck
PA
21/50 2 July 2019
The Kirby Estate in London is decorated with St George flags ahead of the Women’s World Cup semi-final match between England and the USA
PA
22/50 1 July 2019
People sleep as Glastonbury Festival 2019 comes to an end
SWNS
23/50 30 June 2019
The crowd enjoys the atmosphere as Years & Years perform on the Pyramid Stage during day five of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 30, 2019 in Glastonbury, England
Getty
24/50 29 June 2019
A couple make their way across the sand with their belongings as people enjoy the sunshine and hot weather on Bournemouth Beach in Dorset. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday June 29, 2019
PA
25/50 28 June 2019
A lion-tailed macaque stays cool in the hot weather by eating frozen treats with fruit at Camperdown Wildlife Centre, Dundee
Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS
26/50 27 June 2019
A festival goer dance with LED hula hoops on the second day of Glastonbury Festival 2019
PA
27/50 26 June 2019
Festival goers warm up prior to the gates opening at 8am on the first day of Glastonbury 2019
Adam Gray / SWNS
28/50 25 June 2019
An early glimpse of this year’s Glastonbury Festival is given in this picture taken by a local who glided over the site in their paramotor
James Pearce / SWNS
29/50 24 June 2019
The interior roof of a Tesco shop collapses under the torrential rain in Stirling, Scotland on 24 June
James Charity
30/50 23 June 2019
Steph Houghton celebrates with teammates after scoring England’s first goal during the Women’s World Cup round of 16 match against Cameroon at the Stade du Hainaut stadium in Valenciennes, France
AP
31/50 22 June 2019
Pride marchers at a rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh
PA
32/50 21 June 2019
The sun rises between the stones and over crowds at Stonehenge where people gather to celebrate the dawn of the longest day in the UK. The neolithic Wiltshire monument is built along the solstice alignment of the summer sunrise and the winter sunset. On the longest day of the year, the sun rises behind the Heel Stone, the ancient entrance to the Stone Circle, and rays of sunlight are channeled into the centre of the monument
PA
33/50 20 June 2019
Frankie Dettori celebrates with the trophy after winning the 4.20 Gold Cup on Stradivarius as Queen Elizabeth looks on
Action/Reuters
34/50 19 June 2019
Endangered Amur tiger cub Makari plays with a pinata which was given to him and brothers Dmitri and Czar as they celebrate their first birthday this week at Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable
PA
35/50 18 June 2019
Eoin Morgan celebrates his century with Joe Root during England’s ICC Cricket World Cup match against Afghanistan at Old Trafford in Manchester. Morgan hit 17 sixes and set a new record in one-day international cricket, which saw his side win by 150 runs
Getty
36/50 17 June 2019
Worcestershire County Cricket Club’s New Road ground fully submerged by floodwater following heavy rainfall in the area. Worcestershire switched next week’s County Championship home game with Sussex to Kidderminster due to the threat of flooding at the ground
PA
37/50 16 June 2019
Dominic Raab (left) and Rory Stewart during the live television debate on Channel 4 for the candidates for leadership of the Conservative party, at the Here East studios in Stratford, east London
PA
38/50 15 June 2019
Great Britain celebrate their first place on the podium during the Accenture World Triathlon Mixed Relay at Nottingham Embankment
PA
39/50 14 June 2019
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks at a service of remembrance at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire
PA
40/50 13 June 2019
Community member Desi Cranenburgh attaches her latest homemade tribute near to the site of Grenfell Tower in London, a day before the second anniversary of the fire which killed 72 people
Getty
41/50 12 June 2019
Boris Johnson during the launch of his campaign to become leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party and Prime Minister at the Royal Academy of Engineering in central London
PA
42/50 11 June 2019
Strip club dancer Celia Lister protests with other demonstrators to oppose moves to close a branch of Spearmint Rhino in Sheffield. Dancers marched through the city centre after a row developed over whether to renew Spearmint Rhino’s licence for the premises. The debate deepened after reports a video had been filmed by private investigators of sex acts taking place in the club
PA
43/50 10 June 2019
A peregrine falcon chick calls out during ringing and data collection by RSPB expert handlers in the tower at Salisbury Cathedral. Four newly hatched birds of prey are nesting along with mum and dad on the South tower.
PA
44/50 9 June 2019
England’s forward Ellen White celebrates after scoring during the France 2019 Women’s World Cup Group D football match between England and Scotland. White’s goal was England’s second of the match, which they went on to win 2-1
AFP/Getty
45/50 8 June 2019
Jason Roy celebrates his century with Joe Root. He went on to hit 153 as England scored their highest Cricket World Cup total of 386. The hosts beat Bangladesh by 106 runs to bounce back from defeat to Pakistan in their previous match
Action/Reuters
46/50 7 June 2019
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn celebrates with newly elected labour MP Lisa Forbes at Cathedral Square, Peterborough following her victory in the Peterborough by-election. The newly-formed Brexit Party lost out to Labour by 683 votes
PA
47/50 6 June 2019
Veterans observe a two minute silence at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, in Staffordshire, for a service to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings
PA
48/50 5 June 2019
French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Britain’s Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, front row from left, watch a fly past at the end of an event to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Portsmouth
AP
49/50 4 June 2019
Anti-Donald Trump protesters gather with a Trump baby blimp flying over Parliament Square for a protest against the US president’s state visit to the UK
EPA
50/50 3 June 2019
Queen Elizabeth II views a display of US items of the Royal collection with US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump at Buckingham palace
AFP/Getty
1/50 23 July 2019
Boris Johnson holds his acceptance speech after he is announced as the new Conservative party leader. The former London mayor and foreign secretary was confirmed as the winner in the party contest to replace Theresa May as leader of the Conservative Party. He will also take up the post of Britain’s prime minister on 24 July
EPA
2/50 22 July 2019
New Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson addresses the audience onstage after she was named as Sir Vince Cable’s successor. Swinson beat fellow candidate Ed Davey by 47,997 votes to 28,021 votes
Getty
3/50 21 July 2019
Adam Peaty broke his own world record in the men’s 100 metre breaststroke at the World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. The 24-year-old smashed the previous record of 57.10 seconds he set at last year’s European Championships to win in 56.88. In doing so, the Britain achieved one of his career goals of becoming the first man to break the 57-second barrier in the event
Reuters
4/50 20 July 2019
London artist Helen Marshall’s People’s Moon project, a giant photographic mosaic shown at the exact hour 50 years ago that Apollo 11 landed the first people on the Moon, at Piccadilly Circus, London
PA
5/50 19 July 2019
Players from Uganda and Malawi during their Netball World Cup match at the M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
PA
6/50 18 July 2019
Artist Steve Messam poses next to his monumental landscape artwork ‘Hush’ which hangs in the moors of Teesdale on July 18, 2019 in Barnard Castle, England. The outdoor installation is inspired by the geology, mining history and landscape of the area. The North Pennines AONB Partnership commissioned the installation which hangs over Bales Hush, a deep gauge in the terrain created when miners flushed the area with water to reveal the geological riches below. Hundreds of metres of recyclable saffron yellow fabric blow in the wind.
Getty
7/50 17 July 2019
Buckingham Palace staff arrange the dining table, a copy of Queen Victoria’s reign dessert table, as part of an exhibition at Buckingham Palace, in London. The exhibition marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria
AP
8/50 16 July 2019
The Inveraray pipe band parades through the town at the start of the Highland Games in Inverarary, Scotland
Getty
9/50 15 July 2019
Extinction Rebellion Activists block roads near the Tron Clock tower in Glasgow
Getty
10/50 14 July 2019
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic raises the winner’s trophy after beating Switzerland’s Roger Federer during their men’s singles final on day thirteen of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club
AFP/Getty
11/50 13 July 2019
The referee counts Nathan Gorman out as Daniel Dubois looks on during the British Heavyweight Title fight between Daniel Dubois and Nathan Gorman at The O2 Arena in London
Getty
12/50 12 July 2019
Giant Panda, Yang Guang, exploring his new home at Edinburgh Zoo after moving in last week
RZSS/PA
13/50 11 July 2019
England’s captain Eoin Morgan, left, celebrates with teammate Joe Root after winning their Cricket World Cup semi-final match against Australia at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The host nation blew away their rivals by 8 wickets with 107 balls remaining
AP
14/50 10 July 2019
Andy Murray and Serena Williams talk as they play Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar during their mixed doubles third round match of the Wimbledon Championships. The star-studded pair went out in three sets to the top seeds
AFP/Getty
15/50 8 July 2019
Fifteen-year-old Cori “Coco” Gauff serves to Romania’s Simona Halep in a women’s singles match during day seven of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London. The youngest woman to qualify for Wimbledon in the open era defeated Venus Williams in her opening match and made if through to week two. Halep ended the teenagers dream run at the tournament in their round 16 match, 6-3, 6-3
AP
16/50 7 July 2019
A competitor takes part in the Red Bull Soapbox Race in Alexandra Park, London. The soapbox race is an international event in which amateur drivers race homemade soapbox vehicles on a downhill course
PA
17/50 6 July 2019
Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community take part in the annual Pride Parade in London
AFP/Getty Images
18/50 5 July 2019
Andy Murray fives mixed doubles partner Serena Williams at a practice session during day five of Wimbledon
Getty Images
19/50 4 July 2019
Chelsea’s newly appointed head coach Frank Lampard gives a thumbs up as he poses at Stamford Bridge. The Blues confirmed a dramatic return for one of the club’s greatest ever players. He has signed a three-year contract with the Premier League club, where he spent 13 years and became the team’s all-time leading scorer with 211 goals
AFP/Getty
20/50 3 July 2019
A grey seal named after Sir David Attenborough is released back into the wild after months being treated at RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre in Norfolk after it was found with a plastic frisbee disc embedded in its neck
PA
21/50 2 July 2019
The Kirby Estate in London is decorated with St George flags ahead of the Women’s World Cup semi-final match between England and the USA
PA
22/50 1 July 2019
People sleep as Glastonbury Festival 2019 comes to an end
SWNS
23/50 30 June 2019
The crowd enjoys the atmosphere as Years & Years perform on the Pyramid Stage during day five of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 30, 2019 in Glastonbury, England
Getty
24/50 29 June 2019
A couple make their way across the sand with their belongings as people enjoy the sunshine and hot weather on Bournemouth Beach in Dorset. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday June 29, 2019
PA
25/50 28 June 2019
A lion-tailed macaque stays cool in the hot weather by eating frozen treats with fruit at Camperdown Wildlife Centre, Dundee
Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS
26/50 27 June 2019
A festival goer dance with LED hula hoops on the second day of Glastonbury Festival 2019
PA
27/50 26 June 2019
Festival goers warm up prior to the gates opening at 8am on the first day of Glastonbury 2019
Adam Gray / SWNS
28/50 25 June 2019
An early glimpse of this year’s Glastonbury Festival is given in this picture taken by a local who glided over the site in their paramotor
James Pearce / SWNS
29/50 24 June 2019
The interior roof of a Tesco shop collapses under the torrential rain in Stirling, Scotland on 24 June
James Charity
30/50 23 June 2019
Steph Houghton celebrates with teammates after scoring England’s first goal during the Women’s World Cup round of 16 match against Cameroon at the Stade du Hainaut stadium in Valenciennes, France
AP
31/50 22 June 2019
Pride marchers at a rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh
PA
32/50 21 June 2019
The sun rises between the stones and over crowds at Stonehenge where people gather to celebrate the dawn of the longest day in the UK. The neolithic Wiltshire monument is built along the solstice alignment of the summer sunrise and the winter sunset. On the longest day of the year, the sun rises behind the Heel Stone, the ancient entrance to the Stone Circle, and rays of sunlight are channeled into the centre of the monument
PA
33/50 20 June 2019
Frankie Dettori celebrates with the trophy after winning the 4.20 Gold Cup on Stradivarius as Queen Elizabeth looks on
Action/Reuters
34/50 19 June 2019
Endangered Amur tiger cub Makari plays with a pinata which was given to him and brothers Dmitri and Czar as they celebrate their first birthday this week at Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable
PA
35/50 18 June 2019
Eoin Morgan celebrates his century with Joe Root during England’s ICC Cricket World Cup match against Afghanistan at Old Trafford in Manchester. Morgan hit 17 sixes and set a new record in one-day international cricket, which saw his side win by 150 runs
Getty
36/50 17 June 2019
Worcestershire County Cricket Club’s New Road ground fully submerged by floodwater following heavy rainfall in the area. Worcestershire switched next week’s County Championship home game with Sussex to Kidderminster due to the threat of flooding at the ground
PA
37/50 16 June 2019
Dominic Raab (left) and Rory Stewart during the live television debate on Channel 4 for the candidates for leadership of the Conservative party, at the Here East studios in Stratford, east London
PA
38/50 15 June 2019
Great Britain celebrate their first place on the podium during the Accenture World Triathlon Mixed Relay at Nottingham Embankment
PA
39/50 14 June 2019
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks at a service of remembrance at St Helens church, London, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower block fire
PA
40/50 13 June 2019
Community member Desi Cranenburgh attaches her latest homemade tribute near to the site of Grenfell Tower in London, a day before the second anniversary of the fire which killed 72 people
Getty
41/50 12 June 2019
Boris Johnson during the launch of his campaign to become leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party and Prime Minister at the Royal Academy of Engineering in central London
PA
42/50 11 June 2019
Strip club dancer Celia Lister protests with other demonstrators to oppose moves to close a branch of Spearmint Rhino in Sheffield. Dancers marched through the city centre after a row developed over whether to renew Spearmint Rhino’s licence for the premises. The debate deepened after reports a video had been filmed by private investigators of sex acts taking place in the club
PA
43/50 10 June 2019
A peregrine falcon chick calls out during ringing and data collection by RSPB expert handlers in the tower at Salisbury Cathedral. Four newly hatched birds of prey are nesting along with mum and dad on the South tower.
PA
44/50 9 June 2019
England’s forward Ellen White celebrates after scoring during the France 2019 Women’s World Cup Group D football match between England and Scotland. White’s goal was England’s second of the match, which they went on to win 2-1
AFP/Getty
45/50 8 June 2019
Jason Roy celebrates his century with Joe Root. He went on to hit 153 as England scored their highest Cricket World Cup total of 386. The hosts beat Bangladesh by 106 runs to bounce back from defeat to Pakistan in their previous match
Action/Reuters
46/50 7 June 2019
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn celebrates with newly elected labour MP Lisa Forbes at Cathedral Square, Peterborough following her victory in the Peterborough by-election. The newly-formed Brexit Party lost out to Labour by 683 votes
PA
47/50 6 June 2019
Veterans observe a two minute silence at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, in Staffordshire, for a service to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings
PA
48/50 5 June 2019
French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Britain’s Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, front row from left, watch a fly past at the end of an event to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Portsmouth
AP
49/50 4 June 2019
Anti-Donald Trump protesters gather with a Trump baby blimp flying over Parliament Square for a protest against the US president’s state visit to the UK
EPA
50/50 3 June 2019
Queen Elizabeth II views a display of US items of the Royal collection with US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump at Buckingham palace
AFP/Getty
Lisa Richardson, of law firm Irwin Mitchell, which is representing the families, said parents are concerned that “going through the assessment process could put their children at risk of harm.”
She added: “They are worried about the immediate distress experienced by some children in the assessment process itself, and the longer-term impact on their education of schools potentially using the feedback they will get from the assessment to label or stream children at such a young age.
“They are concerned that being asked to complete tasks that are unfamiliar or too difficult could cause children to feel anxious and stressed and to associate that feeling with being at school and learning.”
Families are also worried that the feedback the government will provide to schools about how their children perform in the assessment could be used to group them by ability in maths and literacy.
The parents are calling on the education secretary not to proceed with the baseline assessment pilot scheme until the families’ concerns have been properly considered and addressed.
A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said the assessments would not be used to “judge or label individual pupils”.
They added: “To suggest that the reception baseline assessment could cause harm to children is nothing more than scaremongering.
“This sort of alarmist language describing an assessment that children should not even realise is taking place, is extremely unhelpful.
“The reception baseline assessment is a quick check of a child’s early language and ability to count when they start school to help inform teachers – nine in ten schools already carry out on-entry checks.”
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