Here is an open letter to Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for Education, about the expected standards for Year 6 in England:
One primary teacher's open letter to the government: 'The standards expected are now untenable'
Emily Gazzard
24th February 2016
https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/br ... pected-are
The publication of the new primary assessment materials was the straw that broke the camel's back for this English coordinator. She decided she had to write an open letter to education secretary Nicky Morgan
Dear Nicky Morgan
I have been considering writing to you for some time and have decided, in the light of the publication of the exemplification materials by the Department for Education that I cannot leave it any longer. I am writing to complain about the standards now expected of Year 6 pupils at the end of key stage 2. I had hoped that your recent video on Twitter would address some of my concerns and queries, but unfortunately it has compounded them. In this letter, I will raise all of my concerns relating to this topic and would very much appreciate you sharing your responses with me.
I am currently an English lead at an outstanding three form-entry primary school in London. We have consistently outstanding attainment and value added at KS2. I have led English in a variety of schools since 2001, have worked as an expert literacy teacher in Tower Hamlets and also as a local authority moderator. As an English specialist I feel passionately that children need to learn to read and write with fluency before moving onto secondary school. I have seen many government-led changes: national literacy strategy, primary strategy, the Year 6 grammar test, the 2014 new curriculum and abandonment of national curriculum levels. I have worked with all these but feel that the situation we have reached now is untenable. This is primarily because the standards expected are unrealistic.
Do read the whole letter.
I have a lot of sympathy with the contents of this letter.
In the endeavour to raise standards, it is possible to go from one extreme to the other. This may well be the reality in England.