Poll: Should pupils as young as four have to take school tests?
Schools should consider refusing to take part in "damaging" new tests for infants, teachers have said. What do you think?
Young children are being left tearful and frustrated by the Government's literacy and numeracy checks, which risk harming youngsters' self-esteem and their future education, according to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT).
Around 2,000 schools in England did not administer the tests - which are taken by four- and five-year-olds just weeks after they start school - when they were trialled for the first time last autumn, the unions said, and urged more to follow suit.
The checks, which are officially introduced this September, are technically optional, but will be used to chart children's progress throughout the seven years of primary school and to hold schools accountable for pupils' progress over that time. There are three approved firms providing the tests and schools can choose which to opt for.
Ministers have insisted that the move will help ensure children leave primary school with a good standard of reading, writing and maths.
But a report commissioned by the ATL and the NUT concludes that many teachers and school leaders have serious doubts about the accuracy of the assessments, with just 7.7% of union members polled saying the data gathered was an accurate and fair way of assessing children.
