Re: S a t s
I and I am sure many others here had to do the 11 plus exam, to decide which kind of school would give us the best education. I remember it was a bit scary but we were told to do the best we could and only discovered how well we had done when we received the list of schools we could choose to apply for. I don't recall any of us being over stressed by this exam.
I am afraid we are all becoming over protective of children and looking for excuses as to why they don't do so well, but if we don't encourage children to cope with exams, how can we teach them to deal with the many more tests that they will encounter through life?
I often attend children's shows at my local primary school and am always impressed by the fact that every child in the school does something, like some do the music and sound effects, some do the lighting, some prepare and sell the snacks for the interval and all the tiny ones play parts like flowers or rabbits to fit the story. The children love the excitement of doing this, they all play out at break times and they are taken to learn how to swim... but they also need to learn the main reason they are at school, and that is to learn and show how much they have learned.
It is the governments fault that these exams are disliked, because they are seen as a way of laying blame on pupils and teachers rather than acknowledging that the real problem with education is lack of money to provide it.