He went to school quietly. Not necessarily confidently, but knowing he had to do what needed to be done for these tests.
I sent him with a whisper in his ear to not worry, just do his best, and remember Babaji (God) before starting the paper. We always ‘ask’ Babaji to be with us when we do things, so whatever the outcome, we know it was meant to be.
I didn’t see him at school all day.
In the evening when I came home I asked how it went. “Fine.” Stock answer for everything from a 10 year old boy.
Slowly though he began to talk about it. “Mummy, it was so hard, there was lots to,rad but the questions were really difficult. I didn’t even finish it. Lots of people didn’t finish it. Some children were even crying…”
I wasn’t sure how to take the end bit, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he had found it hard.
Coming home, looking at news sites and Facebook, it became apparent that he wasn’t the only one.
Parents posted about how upset or stressed their children had been.
Teachers had stated that in Classrooms across the country, the children classed as ‘more able’ were bursting into tears within minutes of starting the paper, not able to understand the vocabulary used in questions. What hope did our average or ‘nearly there’ students have?
This morning I wake to the news that today’s paper was leaked for a short while, on the suppliers website.
This happened with the younger children’s Key Stage 1 paper three weeks ago, and that has now been withdrawn.
Our kids had got pretty good at the practice Spelling Punctuation and Grammar or SPaG tests. If they say these marks will be discounted, it will dishearten the kids further.
I am even more concerned now of the mental health of these children.
Not just my own, but a whole nation of 10-11 year olds.
I came into teaching to make learning fun, to show children how much fun you can have learning about all manner of things… Thanks to the Education Ministers of the last few years, the fun of teaching and learning has been sucked out of education, instead replaced with unrealistic standards and tests.
Kids will no longer have a thirst for learning, instead they will gag at the thought of being force fed another fronted adverbial or subordinate clause…
Sort it out Government and Nicky Morgan!!
#letourkidsbekids
But I Smile Anyway... 