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Teachers to vote on Sats boycott Legal dispute over Sats boycott
(about 8 hours later)
Teachers are expected to back a boycott of Sats tests for children aged seven and 11 in England - unless ministers agree to scrap the exams. A proposed boycott of Sats­ tests by two of England's main education unions would be unlawful, the government says.
National Union of Teachers members, meeting in Cardiff for their annual conference, are preparing to vote on planned joint action with headteachers. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) is due to debate a motion proposing a boycott of the 2010 tests at its annual conference on Saturday.
Union leaders say the tests are damaging to pupils and demean staff. A similar proposal is due to be considered by the National Association of Head Teachers next month.
The government says it will review Sats but will not scrap them, viewing the tests as vital for parents and schools. The government said head teachers had a statutory duty to administer the tests. The NUT said there was no legal issue.
It has described the proposal to boycott Sats as "irresponsible". The motions call for a ballot of members on a boycott of the statutory national curriculum tests at Key Stage 1 and 2 (ages seven and 11) "once all other reasonable avenues have been exhausted".
Last year's tests were dogged by marking problems, which caused delays in results being sent out and gave fresh impetus to those who opposed to them. 'Child abuse'
Schools Secretary Ed Balls later scrapped Sats for 14-year-olds in England, but kept the tests for younger pupils. Speaking ahead of the NUT conference, the union's chief solicitor, Graham Clayton, said: "If there were any serious question about the lawfulness of action involving a boycott of Sats we wouldn't be proposing it."
'Biggest battle' And he said that even if there were, those minded to try to stop the union through the courts "can't gag... the feelings and protests of teachers about doing things in the course of their employment which they feel is bad for the children and the education service".
The government says they allow parents and schools to track pupils' progress.
Hundreds of thousands of 11-year-olds are preparing to sit Sats exams in maths, English and science next month.
HAVE YOUR SAYSats for 11-year-olds are essential because they give an indication of a child's ability in the core subjects... they also highlight strengths and weaknesses within the primary schoolHeather Morris, Shropshire Send us your comments HAVE YOUR SAYSats for 11-year-olds are essential because they give an indication of a child's ability in the core subjects... they also highlight strengths and weaknesses within the primary schoolHeather Morris, Shropshire Send us your comments
The National Union of Teachers' has proposed to boycott the tests in 2010 jointly with the National Association of Head Teachers. The union's outgoing president, Bill Greenshields, said he was confident a boycott would be successful.
Both unions say the tests damage children's education because teachers are forced to "teach to the test", narrowing the curriculum. "We will end this child abuse," he said.
However, other unions have not joined the call. But a spokesman for England's Department for Children, Schools and Families said the tests were essential to raising standards.
BBC education correspondent James Westhead said the promise of a review was unlikely to satisfy teachers "set to embark on one of their biggest battles yet with the government". "They give parents and the public the information they need about the progress of every primary age child and every primary school," he said.
"Independent research shows they are valued by the clear majority of parents.
"The motion proposed by the NUT leadership calling for a boycott of next year's statutory tests is irresponsible, it is unlawful and it is out of touch with what parents and teachers want. They should think again."
He said head teachers had a statutory duty to administer the tests and teachers would be in breach of their contracts if they failed to comply with instructions to do so.
League tables
The NUT's chief complaints about the statutory tests involve what the acting general secretary, Christine Blower, called the "backwash effect" of children being tested only in English, maths and science.
This means a narrowing of the curriculum to the detriment of a more rounded education, the union argues.
We absolutely do want to talk to government Christine BlowerNUT
This is compounded by what it regards as the invidious effect of publishing schools' results from the 11-year-olds' tests in "league tables".
Ms Blower said the whole debate might have been headed off by the report of the government's expert group on testing, which had been due in mid-February but has been postponed to May.
She said Schools Secretary Ed Balls had said "quite helpful" things about Sats "not being set in stone" - though there have been problems in the pilot versions of new single level tests which Mr Balls had held out as a possible replacement.
She added: "We absolutely do want to talk to government."
Welsh experience
The NUT annual conference is being held this year in Cardiff.
Sats were abolished in Wales between 2002 and 2005, though they were replaced by a skills test at the age of 10. Official tables of schools' performances were ended in 2001.
NUT Cymru secretary David Evans told BBC News that if parents really felt they needed to know how different schools were performing they could ask local authorities, which would have their own assessments.
He said prior to the abolition of league tables one of the major problems was that a school could suffer from a mere perception that it was not as good as another.
Mr Evans said his elder daughter, who is about to take her GCSEs, was among the year group who were the last to take Key Stage 2 Sats at the end of primary school.
When she did, parents and teachers alike felt under pressure, he said.
His younger daughter, now 11, was not having to do them.
"I wouldn't say she had a poorer education but she didn't have that pressure, she enjoyed school more.
"I don't think there has been any deterioration at all."