We were right

For those of us who boycotted the SATs for many years and have always argued that they were less about education and more about schooling students to jump through hoops, say proudly, “We told you so”.

The announcement today from Mr Balls is news to gladden my heart. At last, here’s an opportunity to re-new the curriculum in Year 9, returning it what it always was before the whole nonsense of high-stakes testing warped it beyond all educational recognition. Yes, there will be some half-baked new scheme that teachers will have to make practicable but at least we won’t be forcing fourteen year-olds to engage with a system of assessment that meant little and lead nowhere (love that past tense). It’s a shame it took the ill-advised fiasco of out-sourced marking to bring our government to the same realisation that those of us who’ve worked in education for some years have long known in our hearts.

Long suffering colleagues will probably not gloat but I cannot resist the urge to say, “So, we were right then.”