New reading tests to be introduced for Welsh children

As I’m sure you all know, ELHQ is based in the city of Swansea (the home of Wales’ only premiership football team). As such we take a keen interest in matters affecting Education in Wales. There has been concern for some time about the standard of Wlesh schools and the attainment of pupils in comparison to their English counterparts. With this in mind the education minister Leighton Andrews today announced plans to introduce annual reading tests for children aged 6 to 14 as well as a new system to grade schools. The reading tests will be introduced on a voluntarily basis from September but will become mandatory the following year. Similar numeracy tests will be introduced in 2012.

These changes are being phased in some seven years after the abolition of SATS in Wales and some 10 years after league tables for schools were scrapped.  Underlying the abolition of SATS was a belief that the pressure and bureaucracy they imposed had a negative impact on the quality of education. In particular it was felt that teachers were teaching to the tests to the detriment of other aspects of the curriculum.

Whilst it is true that these tests are on a much smaller scale than SATS, they will no doubt attract similar criticisms. I’ve talked a lot recently about the value of play in early childhood and its link to educational attainment as well as long term emotional wellbeing. The move to reintroduce a form of standardised testing for children as young as 6 does not sit comfortably with this concept. It seems clear that there is a need to drive up standards in Welsh schools and to help children reach their potential but it is highly dubious whether this will be achieved by putting children and teachers under more pressure and introducing more red tape.