There was a little slot on the Wright Stuff, a television programme on Channel 5, about SATS and testing of primary school. It's a subject that often comes up when I am working with over 16 years of age dyslexics. So I rang the programme up and was lucky enough to be the first person to be selected to have my say on air.
Before I became an inclusion and dyslexia specialist I wanted to become a primary school teacher. Whilst I was at university I became a volunteer with the East London Connection. I basically went into primary schools mentor and support struggling kids. It was such a positive experience I decided to become a primary school teacher.
So after I past my 4 year Hons degree I decided to take a one year full time teacher training course in inclusive education. I totally loved the course and the teachers and all the others on the course.
As part of the course you have to go into a couple of school for work experience and to put what you have learned on the course into practise.
On the second work experience I was told to sit with a six year old girl when she was doing her SATS test. The girl was sat in a room by herself and I could see just from looking at her she was in distress even before the test was taken. As soon as she started the test even I could see, as a trainee teacher, that she was going to really struggle with this. For example she was mirror writing, she was really struggling with her spelling and writing and everything just took her a long time to do.
By the end of about half an hour the child was in deep distress and I just wanted to cry myself. It put me off of primary school teaching as a career completely.
Now as an inclusion and dyslexia specialist I would have been better prepared to work with this child. But back then, as a trainee novice teacher, I was put into a situation I was totally unprepared for. It was after this experience I decided I didn't want to be a primary school teacher.
Today I work with dyslexic young people and adults and for many school was a nightmare. All the testing did for many was to prove to them as kids that they were stupid and educational failures. I, like many other dyslexia specialist are left to pick up the pieces.
For me there has to be a better way to find out how well kids are doing at school.
School should be a fun place to be. It should be about encouraging kids to learn. About enabling and supporting kids to achieve according to their abilities. The main focus of any school should be on the children and about doing the best for them.
I think I read somewhere that primary school kids are tested 14 times between the ages of 6 and 11. School has become a place where teachers are forced to drill kids for tests so a school can get a high place on a league table.
Were you aware that kids are now cheating to pass these tests. Over 40% of kids have sleepless night worrying about these tests. Nobody knows how many dyslexic kids are failing at these tests and at school because they have not been assessed as being dyslexic and are not receiving any support for their dyslexia.
They used to say school days were the best of your life......Today, for many to many kids they are not.
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