Primary school pupils in England should not face compulsory tests on phonics, times tables or grammar and punctuation, an influential headteachers’ union has advised the government.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) told the government’s national curriculum and assessment review that there was an “urgent need” to reconsider the phonics check of reading ability, along with the multiplication check and tests of spelling, grammar and punctuation, as a potential waste of school time and funding.
The statutory phonics check for five- and six-year-olds was introduced in 2012 by the then education secretary, Michael Gove, to ensure that schools were using synthetic phonics techniques to introduce reading to infants.
But the NAHT argues that the use of phonics is now embedded within England’s primary schools, making compulsory assessment of year 1 pupils no longer necessary. It also said that multiplication is repeatedly taught throughout primary schools and does not need a separate test.
“The statutory phonics screening check and multiplication tables check should be ended. It is disingenuous to suggest that [they] are needed to identify which children need further support in these areas – teachers know this about their pupils without a statutory test,” the NAHT’s submission states.
The union was also highly critical of the current requirements for teaching grammar in primary schools, another policy introduced by Gove. It called for the year 6 Sats assessment of spelling, punctuation and grammar to be scrapped.
“The content of the [key stage 1 and 2] grammar curriculum makes little contribution to children developing effective writing skills nor their grasp of the English language, and goes beyond what most would consider to be what is needed to establish a strong foundation in English,” it said.
The review of the curriculum and assessment was ordered by Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary. The review is headed by Prof Becky Francis, the chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, and public submissions close at the end of this week. An interim report is to be published early next year, with a final report and recommendations in autumn.
The review is expected to focus on the education of children with special needs and disabilities, as well as the one-third of pupils in England who fail to achieve good GCSE grades at age 16.
The government’s guidelines say the review should consider reducing the burden of exams and assessments “where feasible and appropriate, while continuing to recognise the socially progressive benefits of public examinations”.
A submission by the AQA examination board advises the review to cut down on the number of GCSE papers sat by students, and reduce the amount of content to be taught in some subjects.
“Trimming some subject content and reducing the number of exam papers, on a subject-by-subject basis, would free up teachers and students to develop wider skills that would help them get on in life, study or work,” AQA said.
