The Bottom Line

Formal assessments in Reception will not be welcomed by all, but the mum in Rachel Dowling can’t help but feel pleased...

When I was pregnant with my son I remember being utterly astonished by the number of people who commiserated with me that I was having a summer-born baby – and a boy to boot (gasp!). Having never before thought about family planning in terms of school-readiness, it was news to me that my unborn child was already at a disadvantage.

Four years and a month later, as my baby boy skipped into his Reception classroom on a bright, sunny morning (drowning in his new school uniform in-spite of my best hemming efforts) I suddenly got what they were on about. I thought he could cope with school socially, but had major concerns about his academic readiness. My attempts to teach him basic numeracy and literacy skills thus far had been met with an impressive display of passive resistance. Knowing that he was still unable to sing the alphabet song, or count to 10, or even correctly name colours, I was concerned that from the very start of his school career he would already be behind his peers and that the situation would only get worse.

Another year on, and I realise that my worries overlooked two important factors. One: that my son was not the only summer born child, boy or otherwise, in the class, nor indeed the only one who hadn’t yet mastered his ABCs. And second, that my son was fortunate to have a very experienced, caring, and wonderful teacher, who had come across enough boisterous boys over the course of her career to know that he just needed time. Even so, at the mid-year parent-teacher consultation, the teacher explained to me that when progress ceases to be linked to age (as in the EYFS), and instead becomes linked to year-by-year criteria (as in the NC levels) – my son would appear, if only on paper, to be lagging behind.

I believe she meant simply to warn me not to put too much emphasis on the numbers. However, it left me fretting somewhat about whether next year my son will feel as though he is falling behind and lose heart; and whether his new teacher will be understanding (or so under pressure to deliver results that she will end up viewing my son as a nuisance – a blight on her progress reporting). It was hard not to feel slightly indignant at the system.

It seems arbitrary to expect all children to reach the exact same level within the exact same time frame each year. Hence, while I disagree with ‘testing’ 4 year olds in any format that would be intrusive or stressful, my son’s situation has highlighted to me the potential benefit of a more child- centred approach to benchmarking progress that allows the system to absorb the peaks and troughs of each individual’s learning, so that children are not penalised for failing to reach the finishing line en masse.

Reception benchmarking already takes place across the country in the form of teacher observations. It seems only a small stretch to make that a more formalised and consistent process nationwide. While I can understand that there are legitimate concerns around what form this test might ultimately take – I don’t feel we should take an absence of information (so far) as evidence that the key questions won’t be thought about and resolved. I believe that digital technology (touch screen in particular) can play a huge part in answering many of those worries: software means that the test can be administered by anyone (not taking teachers away from the rest of the class), automatic data capture reduces the risk of ‘cheating’ and ensures consistency of reporting, and computer graphics can be used to make children feel like they are playing a game rather than taking a test.

I do hope that I am not being naïve, and that the baseline check won’t simply become another administrative and costly burden for schools, or a new stick to beat teachers with. However, if done in the spirit in which I hope it is intended, it seems to me that a baseline assessment is a positive for everyone, relieving some of the pressure on teachers to squeeze all their pupils into little progress boxes. And as the new curriculum talks often about helping all children to achieve higher standards, it is logical to have a system in place that allows teachers to be rewarded for their impact on each individual child – whatever their starting point.

About the author

Rachel Dowling is a mother who works in the education industry, in close connection with primary schools.