NO DOUBT thousands of pupils in Huddersfield schools will be delighted they are not taking their SATs exams next month.
And many teachers will be mightily relieved too.
After all, headteachers seem united in their view that SATs for 11-year-olds are a waste of time and heap undue pressure on both staff and pupils.
The results are there predominantly to fit the schools into league tables. But schools, like life in general, are not all positives or negatives but a mixture of both.
Exam results do not tell the whole story and, in some schools, probably barely scratch the surface of the excellent work that goes on there. Children at schools which have, on the face of it, poor exam results may be exceptionally happy.
Youngsters at schools which appear to be doing very well may feel overwhelmed by the pressure of work heaped on them and the ethos of the school may not be one that allows them to make the most of their all-too-fleeting childhood years.
The children have been assessed throughout their years at primary school – particularly their final year.
SATs results add very little.
But, perhaps, there is an argument for some form of assessment for the all-round care and learning a school provides which parents can easily understand.
