Alliance criticises reception assessment plans
27th March 2014
The Pre-school Learning Alliance has voiced serious concerns over plans to introduce compulsory baseline assessments at the start of the reception year.
The proposals follow the government’s response to a consultation launched by the government in July 2013.
Commenting on the proposals, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, said:
“This announcement is yet another indication of the ongoing schoolification of the early years. It is deeply concerning that policy-makers appear to attach little value on childhood and the basic right of our young children to play, explore, and experience the wonders of the world they are growing up in. Instead we are seeing a gradual but determined movement towards a more formal, rigid approach to early learning, which anyone who works in the early years will know is far from being in the best interests of the child. It is remarkable that we seem to be adopting a statutory approach to testing before there is a legal obligation to attend school.
“The sector has been very clear about its opposition to the formalisation of early education and care. The majority of consultation respondents were opposed to this proposal, and yet their concerns appear to have been disregarded. Rather than engaging in productive discussion and debate, the government simply dismisses the view of anyone that opposes the current movement towards an earlier school starting age, many of whom have dedicated their entire lives to understanding childhood development — not long ago, these opponents were labelled “prophets of dumbing down” and “the powerful and badly misguided lobby who are responsible for the devaluation of exams and the culture of low expectations in state schools” by senior education ministers.
“We of course recognise that appropriate assessments looking at all areas of learning are an important way of monitoring a child’s development and ensuring adequate support is being provided. However, many in the sector believe that the real aim of the baseline assessment will primarily be to compile data and statistics in order to compare and rank classes, schools and local authorities, when the focus should be on supporting professionals in planning for the next steps of each individual child’s development. Indeed, the consultation response describes the baseline test as “the starting point from which to measure a school’s progress”.
“Early years policy must always, without exception, have the needs of the child at its centre; otherwise, we are in danger of creating a system where children are viewed as commodities to be used to boost our position in the ‘global race’, rather than people in their own right.”
Neil also questioned how accurate the results of the proposed baseline assessment would be, commenting:
“The start of school is already a stressful time for many children as they try to settle into new routines, and so the results of any assessment that takes place so early on in the year are likely to be skewed and unreliable. It’s also important to remember that some of the children being assessed will be only just-turned four, and as much as 11 months’ younger than their some of their peers. We would therefore be keen to know how the government intends to account for this within the assessment process.”
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Notes for editors
- The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest voluntary sector provider of quality affordable childcare and education in England.
- Through direct provision and its membership of 14,000 nurseries, sessional pre-schools and parent and toddler groups, the Alliance supports over 800,000 children and their families in England. The Alliance also develops and runs family learning programmes, offers information and advice, runs acclaimed training and accreditation programmes and campaigns to influence early years policy and practice.
- For information about the Pre-school Learning Alliance, visit our website: