P-05-891 National Reading and Numeracy Tests for children from as young as age 6 need to be discontinued with immediate effect, Correspondence – Petitioner to Committee, 13.01.20

I have nothing new to comment, the education minister is clear that the tests are to support the teachers' understanding of the pupils' level so I think there is fundamental disagreement with the way a teach assesses a young child's ability. At such a young age the teachers clearly know their pupil's (for example) literacy level through the time they spend siting reading and discussing with the child and not through a test (paper based or online).

If the tests are purely for the teachers benefit, it would be very useful to have an anonymous survey of primary school teachers in order to determine whether they find the data useful for their individual pupils' needs.  The informal feedback I have had from teachers is that the data is not helpful and feedback from parents states that the tests cause undue stress and can damage the child's confidence.

Kind regards,