Sats for seven-year-olds set to be scrapped

[Taf]

I started giving them home tuition but got a very snotty letter from the school about the methods I was teaching them. Then I was told to attend a meeting with their maths department to explain my actions. I duly attended and gave them merry hell. As did other parents at the meeting. Nothing changed though.

Complaints to each head teacher in turn over the years met with blank looks and empty promises. So I complained to our local council and councilors. More blank looks and empty promises. Our MP never replied to any letters, and was "too busy with other things" at the few meetings I managed to attend.

I requested homework I could guide them though, but none ever appeared.

The only homework either of them ever got was to colour in a picture for RE in secondary school!

Starting from before school age I taught them to read and spell so that they were in the top 10% of their years, despite their disabilities. My daughter has ADHD and Dyscalculia, so it's only been in the past couple of years that arithmetic has started to sink in. Her Statement of Special Education Needs promised specialist aid to overcome Dyscalculia, but guess what? None ever appeared!

I still teach them bits and bobs most days. From general knowledge (which seems to so lacking these days) to DIY, cooking, Home Economics type stuff, gardening, etc. But first we had to set firm foundations with all the basics they should have been taught in school.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Taf

I started giving them home tuition but got a very snotty letter from the school about the methods I was teaching them. Then I was told to attend a meeting with their maths department to explain my actions. I duly attended and gave them merry hell. As did other parents at the meeting. Nothing changed though.

Complaints to each head teacher in turn over the years met with blank looks and empty promises. So I complained to our local council and councilors. More blank looks and empty promises. Our MP never replied to any letters, and was "too busy with other things" at the few meetings I managed to attend.

I requested homework I could guide them though, but none ever appeared.

The only homework either of them ever got was to colour in a picture for RE in secondary school!

Starting from before school age I taught them to read and spell so that they were in the top 10% of their years, despite their disabilities. My daughter has ADHD and Dyscalculia, so it's only been in the past couple of years that arithmetic has started to sink in. Her Statement of Special Education Needs promised specialist aid to overcome Dyscalculia, but guess what? None ever appeared!

I still teach them bits and bobs most days. From general knowledge (which seems to so lacking these days) to DIY, cooking, Home Economics type stuff, gardening, etc. But first we had to set firm foundations with all the basics they should have been taught in school.

[Julian]

Originally Posted by Taf

I started giving them home tuition but got a very snotty letter from the school about the methods I was teaching them. Then I was told to attend a meeting with their maths department to explain my actions. I duly attended and gave them merry hell. As did other parents at the meeting. Nothing changed though.

Complaints to each head teacher in turn over the years met with blank looks and empty promises. So I complained to our local council and councilors. More blank looks and empty promises. Our MP never replied to any letters, and was "too busy with other things" at the few meetings I managed to attend.

I requested homework I could guide them though, but none ever appeared.

The only homework either of them ever got was to colour in a picture for RE in secondary school!

Starting from before school age I taught them to read and spell so that they were in the top 10% of their years, despite their disabilities. My daughter has ADHD and Dyscalculia, so it's only been in the past couple of years that arithmetic has started to sink in. Her Statement of Special Education Needs promised specialist aid to overcome Dyscalculia, but guess what? None ever appeared!

I still teach them bits and bobs most days. From general knowledge (which seems to so lacking these days) to DIY, cooking, Home Economics type stuff, gardening, etc. But first we had to set firm foundations with all the basics they should have been taught in school.

Complete respect for you and the perfect answer to the question.

My brother has said basic skills have been on the decline in school leavers noticeably for the last fifteen years and that he's reluctant to employ them as the extra time need to raise literacy and numeracy to acceptable levels before they can start the job training is cost prohibitive. I've seen for myself the attitude of secondary and upper schools as they were then binning kids that wouldn't return a favourable GCSE result putting them into mobile classrooms watching videos. We have a major problem in our education system and it's failing a lot of kids and all the teaching unions and politicians do is pass the damn buck neither willing to admit cause on their end and so nothing gets resolved, it's pathetic and it needs to stop.

I'm not defending poor or bad teaching BUT I do blame this and previous governments for pursuing ideological and political aims. The funding available per child in the system is pitiful and yet there is plenty of money for pet schemes like free schools and academies and apparently grammar schools. It's all vanity stuff to try and win votes without ever really sorting out the whole system so it provides a fair,free,effective and available to all education.

Tick box education doesn't work because staff have no time to go back and repeat where their students are not grasping a particular skill or facts but have to move on to the next stage on the curriculum because that's what's expected..I did get very frustrated by that aspect myself.To keep running out of time before a subject has been thoroughly covered because there is a timeline involved just seems like failing those individuals who need a little extra time.

[Taf]

It's failings in the timeline that has caused the most upset for many pupils. "Not grasped that? Tough we have to move on..."

One-to-one help for those falling behind was withdrawn (no money), then the same happened for Statemented pupils. Both our twins had to share time with a teaching assistant, and I saw paperwork that showed the 100% help had been whittled down to as low as 15% with the T.A. flitting from pupil to pupil and class to class.

Having complete control of their budgets should have helped many new Academies, but many are spending the money on buildings and maintenance rather than on lessons and students.

We need well-educated people coming out of schools, not fodder for the service industries.

Originally Posted by Taf

It's failings in the timeline that has caused the most upset for many pupils. "Not grasped that? Tough we have to move on..."

One-to-one help for those falling behind was withdrawn (no money), then the same happened for Statemented pupils. Both our twins had to share time with a teaching assistant, and I saw paperwork that showed the 100% help had been whittled down to as low as 15% with the T.A. flitting from pupil to pupil and class to class.

Having complete control of their budgets should have helped many new Academies, but many are spending the money on buildings and maintenance rather than on lessons and students.

We need well-educated people coming out of schools, not fodder for the service industries.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Taf

It's failings in the timeline that has caused the most upset for many pupils. "Not grasped that? Tough we have to move on..."

One-to-one help for those falling behind was withdrawn (no money), then the same happened for Statemented pupils. Both our twins had to share time with a teaching assistant, and I saw paperwork that showed the 100% help had been whittled down to as low as 15% with the T.A. flitting from pupil to pupil and class to class.

Having complete control of their budgets should have helped many new Academies, but many are spending the money on buildings and maintenance rather than on lessons and students.

We need well-educated people coming out of schools, not fodder for the service industries.

One of the reasons we didn't object when Osem Jnr #2 had to go to a special school. In our experience classroom support in mainstream education was flaky to say the least and often left very needy children not getting the help they required.

[Taf]

What is written in the Statement is legally binding AFAIC, but no-one was able to deter the schools from cutting allocations that were agreed. And they get extra funding for requirements specified in the Statements. Ring-fencing of those extra funds never happens!