First rule to learn – children are people

Parenting matters with Louise and Sarah

Idon’t usually ‘do’ politics. The hypocrisy and divisiveness of those “in charge” holds little appeal, but with recent events where parents are making a stand against SATS in schools maybe it’s time I took an interest.

This post, however, was not prompted by SATS. It was triggered by a recent experience of the regular parent-teacher consultations at my son’s primary school.

If I am completely honest, it was not something I was looking forward to, and in the days running up to this particular meeting I grew increasingly anxious about the conclusions that his teacher, and indeed the entire education system, would draw about my son’s abilities and the effects of my parenting on his learning.

I am no stranger to the world of education. I belong to a family of educators and I am a trained teacher and early year’s practitioner.

I have worked within the short-sighted restrictions of the National Curriculum and I have been frustrated at the complete disregard shown to children’s learning outside of the core subjects and the “incidental learning” that happens all the time.

The conclusions drawn by the class teacher were that my son is “progressing” in most subjects. Brilliant! But this is nowhere near a true representation of who my son is or what he knows.

I’m not interested in levels, scores and the irrelevant judgements of this ridiculous system, I’m interested in how my son is developing as a whole person. I am interested in all of the things that frustrated teachers are not able to assess and comment on, the things that make my son unique. So I have written my own report on his progress:

Bryn has been in the world for just eight years so far and in that time he has achieved some astonishing feats. From learning a language for communication and decoding printed symbols, to developing fine motor skills so precise he can build and paint complex, intricate Airfix models.

He is able to read and write, although this is not his favourite pastime, and he is far more inspired by his military magazines than the adventures of Biff, Chip, Kip and the gang.

He is extremely creative and his artistic skills are beyond his years. He has also recently discovered that he has an ear for music and plays the ukulele and the keyboard with relative ease.

Bryn has a fascination for science and engineering. His skills in these areas far exceed my own and were inspired by a love of fabulous people like Fred Dibnah and Guy Martin as well as a good dose of Mythbusters, where physics suddenly makes complete sense!

In PE, I’m afraid Bryn gets his sporting prowess from his mother (sorry Bryn!). However, in karate, which is not in the curriculum, he is a blue belt!

History is Bryn’s passion. He is obsessed with the Second and First World Wars and he knows the inner workings of the Sopwith Camel and the Spitfire like the back of his hand. He lives and breathes history. He talks about it like a professor and he truly amazes me.

As a little boy, Bryn is kind, caring, funny and interesting. He has lots of friends and is loved beyond the moon and back by his family. He is a fabulous big brother and has the patience of a saint at times. At other times he is a menace. He is inquisitive, intelligent and has a zest for life. He is a very special boy.

I am not intending to criticise teachers with this post – I am one! I just wanted to make some suggestions for David Cameron, Nicky Morgan and the other out-of-touch politicians, who seem to believe that they are qualified to make judgements on how children are educated.

Nicky Morgan, a solicitor by profession, has a degree in law from St Hugh’s College, Oxford. Before that she attended Surbiton High School, an independent school where the motto is “Inspire, Encourage, Empower,” which is, in my view, exactly what education should do, and exactly what our state system is failing to do.

Here are my own thoughts on improvements that could be made to the school system. Maybe the first one should be a Secretary of State of Education who actually has some experience of working in education?

Remember that children are people.

The curriculum should nurture, inspire, encourage and enable children to develop their interests whatever they are. Teachers must be allowed to support children in this without fear of retribution for missing 10 minutes of literacy. Stop comparing. The only person a child needs to be compared to is themselves. If a child has made progress, moved forwards, learned something new, developed a passion and interest in different subjects, then they are learning. Every child is unique, they will all grow into very different people.

Let children ask questions… and find out the answers.

Children ask fantastic, valuable, thought-provoking questions. They demonstrate their own understanding through the questions they ask and would be able to develop their own understanding much more if they were given the space and time to discover the answers for themselves.

The restrictions of the National Curriculum and SATS and the endless demands of Ofsted and the government for teachers to justify themselves results in a very narrow view of the whole child.

Our children are so much more and deserve so much more, and our teachers deserve a medal. Here ends my foray into the world of politics!

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Bryn in an aeroplane he built with his dad