Under the Lens - Testing 4 Year Olds

A Better Education System?

We are constantly being told that we need to raise the standard of our education system to equal that of many countries in the Far East and Scandinavia.

We send out ministers, who come back with the latest wheeze that will transform learning, and boost ministers' chances of advancement up the greasy career pole.

Teachers are told to do this or that because they are useless when it comes to education, and ministers know best. (Independent schools of course do not have to follow any of these diktats).

Testing 4 Year Olds

So, how many of these high performing countries test their 4 year olds in order to provide a good education? - None!

Who thinks the tests for 4 year old are a good idea, apart from ministers? - The companies that are making lots of money out of creating tests! 

Where is there a teacher recruitment crisis? - The UK. 

Outcomes

The likely outcome of the tests is for calls to sack head teachers whose schools are judged below average when the 4 year olds get to age 11. In this way we will supposedly improve education in the UK.

As an aspiring teacher would you want to be part of this madness? Will there be any good teachers left in a few years time?

An Alternative

Maybe we would better improve our education system by investing in our teachers, encouraging able people to join the teaching profession, and allowing children to enjoy learning.

Who Are the Real Computer Nerds?

Teachers are struggling to deliver the computing curriculum, says the chief of the professional body chosen by the government to leads its reforms.

Let's face it, the DfE will never admit that it has ever made a mistake. When it says there have been 15,000 hours of training for teachers to learn Computer Science, that averages out at less than one hour per school over all England's schools. Just about enough time for the trainer to say "good morning everyone". 

So we will have thousands of ICT teachers who will not be able to teach Computer Science, and at the same time they will not be allowed to teach GCSE or A Level ICT, a subject which is several times more popular with students than Computer Science.

You could not make this up!

But then the DfE thinks anyone can teach. No qualifications are required to be a teacher. So how hard can it be to teach Computer Science? You only need degree level Computing to teach it so obviously anyone can teach it.

As for the BCS. These are the nerds who advise the DfE. Of course they believe everyone loves Computer Science and it is easy to pick up.

I have an idea. Why doesn't the DfE start doing some genuine consultation for a change and ask for feedback from working teachers before they embark on yet more ideas based on feedback from a few SPADs.

One things is for sure at the end of all this. It will be the teachers' fault that they cannot teach Computer Science because the government did its bit by putting in a whole £1.5 million per year for 3 years for training! Wow!

Given the slagging off the profession has had for 5 years, and the low pay, anyone who has degree level Computing is hardly likely to go and be a school teacher. 

(A 3 year Computing degree needs about 5000 hours of study, so the government has provided enough training budget to train the equivalent of 3 teachers for 8,000,000 school students. Yes, that sounds like enough Nicky Morgan. Now let's get all those Design and Technology teachers who will be redundant, teaching some French and Spanish because we have made MFL compulsory too.)