Not sure really - i think ch start FORMAL education too soon. Ch r put under too much pressure to write and achieve addition sums etc. Our ch start at 4/5 and by the age of 7 are sometimes not achieving, yet in norway, scandinavia etc the emphasis is on play, speaking and listening etc until about 7yrs old and they achieve similar if not better results than us in ks2
I heard on the news today that some schools are going to fine parents £50 a day for taking their children out of school for holidays. Some people cannot afford to go on holiday i suppose unless they go in low season.Some people are very limited as to when they can have holidays due to factory shut down periods etc. I assume that some people take their children out of school just because they can. What do you think about it? Is it wrong to take your child from school for maybe just one week a year.Should some leave be allowed or is fining the way to go??
Sorry angararadstevens, strike this week isn't by teachers. It's support staff (ta's, cleaners, kitchen staff etc) so schools r off cos of health and safety reasons. But anyway. I completely understand ppl taking ch out of school but this is most definitely the fault of the holiday companies grr. But i dont think it is a good idea for ch to miss school - 2 weeks is a long time and it can be very disruptive for the child.
Tests are important - they mean that teachers, parents and children can see where they are, what progress they're making and need to make. But there is too much emphasis on tests. I believe that ch are very stressed and it is partly because of the constant pressure of testing and pressure to achieve the 'next level'. Tests can be motivating, but what about the children who are not good in tests? I have seen children cry during tests because they are under too much pressure.
Is testing just setting kids up for what will happen when they enter the work place depending on what sort of role they take. If you take a sales role you normally have targets and are expected to meet them weekly or monthly and if you don't measure up results wise you are on performance management or fired so doesn't testing in schools prepare children to a degree for the pressures that they will face as an adult in the real world. Testing is obviously necessarily as a guide as to whether the child has learned or developed the necessary skills and knowledge, I don't know if they have too much testing though. Regular tests on material are easier than have 1 or two big tests as with regular tests you are only having to focus on smaller amounts of learned material whereas left frequent tests require you to cover more material and therefore retain more information so isn't regular testing actually easier on the children with them having to cover less material?
