Statement on Primary Review's findings on literacy and testing

2 November 2007

The Professional Association of Teachers (PAT)  has  welcomed the latest findings of the Primary Review  published today (2 November 2007). 

PAT General Secretary Philip Parkin said: "We mustn't forget in all the negative media headlines that there is much that is positive in these latest reports, including pupils' positive attitudes, improvements in mathematics and high standards in primary reading and science.  Overall, pupils get a 'good deal' from their primary schools and get on well with their classmates. These successes are due to the hard work and professionalism of staff in schools.

"The  Government needs to place more reliance on that professionalism, freeing schools up to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum and  abandoning the current stifling testing regime. The Review's findings on literacy and testing demonstrate the need to move away from the target-driven testing culture.  

"Schools should be about educating children, not teaching them to pass tests in an inflexible, mechanical process; shoe-horning them into a process that suits the Government’s agenda not the interests of pupils.   

 "Pupils who love reading love learning. Over-testing the mechanical skills of reading and learning demotivates both students and teachers.    

"Tests have a place in education but our pupils are currently over-tested.  PAT is calling for much  greater use of teacher assessment, as this would allow teachers to exercise their professional skills for the benefit of pupils’ education.

"We need to move education away from rigid teaching to tests - which has narrowed and devalued the curriculum, caused excessive pressure and stress for pupils and done little to raise standards - in order to allow more accurate measures of individual pupils’ performance and development.

" Tony Blair's 'education, education, education' has become 'testing, testing, testing' and 'targets, targets, targets'.  Education is about more than results. Schools are not exam factories."