P-05-891 National Reading and Numeracy Tests for children from as young as age 6 need to be discontinued with immediate effect

P-05-891 National Reading and Numeracy Tests for children from as young as age 6 need to be discontinued with immediate effect

This petition was submitted by Tanya Beer having collected a total of 256 signatures.

Text of Petition

National Numeracy and Reading Tests for children as young as 6 are not fit for purpose and should be discontinued as soon as possible. Young children who have been encouraged to learn through play are not best assessed through sitting for up to 40 minutes to complete a test.

Although Welsh Government recommends that no preparation is required, schools inevitably take time out of normal learning to familiarise children with the format of the tests and frequently children struggle to understand what is expected of them. This results in loss of confidence and enjoyment of learning at such a young age which could be detrimental to their ongoing learning.

The Donaldson Review (Successful Futures, 2015) recommended that any assessments should be 'as light-touch as possible', 'avoid unnecessary bureaucracy', include 'holistic assessments of achievement' and use 'both self-assessment and peer assessment' to 'encourage children and young people to take greater responsibility for their own learning'. Four years have passed since this review and still these tests are ongoing, as a result the current format of structured assessment needs to be discontinued with immediate effect.

Status

This petition was considered completed by the Petitions Committee at its meeting on 21/01/2020.

The Committee considered further correspondence and agreed to close the petition on the basis that the Minister for Education has provided her rationale for providing standardised assessments to measure children’s ability in literacy and numeracy starting from Year 2, and in light of the fact new online personal assessments are currently being rolled out.

Full details of the consideration of this petitions by the committee and related documents can be seen on the Meetings tab above.

It was first considered by the Petitions Committee on 09/07/2019.

Assembly Constituency and Region

• Torfaen
• South Wales East

Further information

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