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Education

Nine steps to getting maths mastery right in your primary school

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

maths mastery

Adopting a maths mastery approach is easier and more beneficial than you might expect, says this head of maths and Maths Hub mastery lead

I’m head of maths in a very large inner-city primary. We have 745 children, all of whom have English as an additional language. We’re not short of challenges to tackle. So why did we choose to introduce maths mastery?

Some people still believe that teaching for mastery is about learning by rote: dull, and difficult to teach. But it isn’t. Some believe that shifting to this approach means a significant overhaul of the school. It doesn’t.

Mastery has been an amazing success at our school and helped to improve our SATs results.

So how do you go about introducing teaching for mastery in your school and what are the potential pitfalls? Here are nine essentials you need to consider.

1. Don’t be half-hearted about maths mastery

I really immersed myself in teaching for mastery. Once I’d had a training session, I was pretty evangelical on the subject. I dragged the deputy head from my school and a colleague from another school to do some training, too. Teaching for mastery needs to be a whole-school approach and one every teacher is enthusiastic about.

2. Get the funding right – even though money is scarce

Engaging with the NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics) and our local Maths Hub enabled us to secure funding from a research project. This allowed us to introduce teaching for mastery in one class and for two teachers to be trained. But I didn’t want just one class in the Year 1 group adopting teaching for mastery. So we decided to find the money to introduce the programme in all three classes and for all the teachers in the year to be trained. Our teachers returned to school from the training sessions saying, ‘Why haven’t we always taught like this?’

3. Training is key if maths mastery is to be successful

One of my roles at the Maths Hub is to support teachers in my region to introduce teaching for mastery in other schools. Each of the 35 maths hubs now has eight Mastery Specialist Teachers, all with the remit of supporting schools as they adopt teaching for mastery. I get contacted every week by schools that have pretty much thrown mastery textbooks at teachers and thought that would do the trick. But if you don’t understand the books, you can’t teach the method.

You need to adopt a really strategic and well thought-out approach; if you don’t understand the pedagogy and have secure subject knowledge, teaching for mastery won’t have an impact on attainment. The starting point has got to be the children.

Unlike conventional approaches to maths, with teaching for mastery you don’t label children as less/more able to learn maths. We have a really firm belief that all our children can do maths. Some might struggle, but we know that they can all get there in the end. The whole-class approach calls for a really big change in attitude and it’s essential to understand the concept behind the pedagogy.

4. Take it slowly

We introduced the mastery textbooks gradually. We chose the Maths – No Problem! series, which has been chosen by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics and the Department for Education for use in the maths hub programme.

5. Lesson structure is key

The lesson structure is very important: it starts with an anchor task, a very practical activity all children can access. The anchor task might involve characters walking along the road picking flowers. The children will be asked how many flowers have been picked.

6. Timing is everything: split lessons

We do two half-hour lessons with a break in the middle. There’s lots of discussion, with ideas ping-ponging back and forth. Children will do some maths and then teachers will question them on it and talk about it. Then we have a break. Children come to the board and explain their working before and after the break to show what they’ve learned. Every time a lesson stops, we can pick up the children who are struggling and provide additional help.

7. Make it practical

Using carefully chosen practical resources, such as base ten materials or counters reveal the mathematical concepts to children and the workbooks help with practice and are particularly helpful with children who may be struggling.

8. Watch for pitfalls

We get inundated with emails from teachers ­– up to 20 a day ­ ­- asking for advice, training and follow-up training. There’s no doubt that the main hurdle that teaching for mastery has to overcome is teachers’ anxiety about teaching maths. Secure subject knowledge is required if teaching for mastery is to succeed. If you don’t have maths subject knowledge you wouldn’t necessarily know what to do with the textbook. I hear horror stories about schools using three or four different text books in a lesson in order to achieve differentiation – but the key principle of teaching for mastery is a whole-class approach! Another common mistake is to use the textbooks but have no practical resources.

We find that one lesson can take three or four days. We don’t move on until all the children have really ‘got it’. But we hear from schools that try to finish a lesson in 15-20 minutes!

9. Get parents on board

It’s a challenge for teachers to get their heads around the mastery method, so imagine how the parents feel! It’s really important to make sure they are kept informed about the style of maths teaching at their children’s school. Every term we invite parents to come into the school for a workshop where they work alongside their children during a lesson. We also run additional bespoke workshops for parents of children who are struggling. We don’t want parents to teach their children maths at home – we believe teaching is our job! The workshops are to ensure that parents are not scared by the maths and don’t feel anxious.

One of the great things about teaching for mastery is its emphasis on communication and the way the children are encouraged to talk about what they’re doing. We don’t accept one-word answers from children in our classes; they have to speak in complete sentences. We find that this increased fluency in spoken language has a knock-on effect on literacy. And as far as maths is concerned, we’ve moved from a SATs score from somewhere in the 60s to 99 per cent in KS2 at level 4 and 100 per cent at KS1 in 2015. Teaching for mastery really does add up.

[Source:- tes]

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Education

Gap between rich and poor primary school pupils wider than it was 50 years ago

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

schoolsv2.jpg

The UK’s education class divide is wider now than it was half a century ago, new research has revealed, with children from poorer backgrounds already eight months behind their more privileged peers before starting school.

A study into international inequalities by the Sutton Trust found the UK falls behind Canada and Australia in terms of the literacy gap between pupils from the poorest and most affluent backgrounds.

Inequality levels are even larger in the US education system, where disadvantaged pupils are around one year behind before they even start primary school.

Five-year-olds in Canada and Australia with less educated parts fall behind their more advantaged peers by approximately six months at the point of starting school – a significantly smaller gap than in the UK.

While inequality has narrowed slightly in the past decade, there is still a noticeably larger gap between social groups than there was for children born 40 to 60 years ago, researchers warned.

The Sutton Trust said greater efforts were needed to reduce the disparity in the UK system, for instance by ensuring that well-trained staff are employed in Early Years settings.

Professor Jane Waldfogel, who led the research brief, said: “We have known for some time that achievement gaps in the US and UK are large. This international research puts them in context – and show that they can and should be smaller.”

By analysing information gleaned from international workshops and recent OECD data, researchers said they were able to compare international practices for better understanding of the best possible policies.

The charity has also called on the government improve access for disadvantaged children to the best early years education and care, ensuring children arrive at primary school on a more equal footing.

Sir Peter Lampl, Founder and Chairman of the Sutton Trust and Chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation, said:  “There is a large difference between the reading attainment of the richest and poorest children in both the US and the UK. Tackling this disparity early on is critical to breaking the cycle of disadvantage and reducing inequality.

“We need to make sure that every child has access to high-quality early years education, so that rich and poor children arrive at school on a more equal footing.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “We want all children to have the best start in life and latest results show the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their counterparts is narrowing but we know there is more to do. We are giving disadvantaged families, including looked after children, extra support through 15 hours of free childcare a week for disadvantaged two year olds, and the Early Years Pupil Premium, which is worth over £300 a year per child.

 “There are already a record number of nurseries, pre-schools and childminders rated as ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’, the proportion of children reaching the expected learning standards continues to rise and more than 16,000 specialist early years graduates have been trained. To build on that success we are creating a workforce strategy to help attract, retain and develop the very best staff and investing more than ever in the sector – £6billion per year by 2020.”

[Source:- independent]

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Education

Primary heads condemn use of ‘meaningless’ test results for judging schools

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Unions raise concerns with MPs about this summer’s primary school assessments

The “unreliable and meaningless” results of this year’s end-of-primary school tests should not be used to single out poorly-performing institutions, a school leaders’ union has said.

The NAHT has called for the floor standard – used by government to define unacceptably low performance – to be suspended in 2016 because of concerns over this year’s Sats tests.

In its submission to a parliamentary inquiry into primary school assessment, the union highlighted the fact that the 53 per cent of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths this year was well below the 65 per cent floor standard set by the government.

The Commons education select committee announced its investigation in September, following a year which saw a government U-turn on baseline tests for four-year-olds, complaints about the difficulty of the tougher new Sats and a high-profile campaign by some parents to boycott the assessments.

In its submission, the NAHT said: “The tests were poorly designed and poorly administered, with Sats papers mistakenly published online ahead of the test; delayed and obscure guidance for teachers; mistakes in test papers; a framework that fails to cater for pupils with dyslexia; tests which were not accessible for all children; and inconsistent moderation by LAs.”

These concerns were echoed by the NUT in its submission. “’Farce’, ‘chaos’ and ‘fiasco’ were the most common words used by teachers when they were surveyed by the NUT about their experience,” the teaching union said.

‘Discriminating against poorer pupils’

The NUT said that, pending a broader review, assessment arrangements for 2016-17 should be suspended because they “undermine, rather than support, an innovative and engaging curriculum for primary children”.

In a separate submission, academics at Education Datalab called for an end to “biased” teacher assessments being used in statutory assessments of schools.

They said teachers used cognitive shortcuts, relying on stereotypes of performance across groups. “For example, if black boys in a class tend to perform poorly in literacy, a teacher is more likely to under-rate the performance of any individual black boy compared to their true capabilities in literacy. This has been shown across numerous academic studies,” the academics said.

“The result is that teacher assessment discriminates against poorer pupils and minorities which, on its own, is a good enough reason not to use it.”

They also called for the government to stop using key stage 1 assessments to measure pupil progress in primary schools, instead calling for “a reliable and unbiased Reception baseline test” that judges children as they enter school.

The responses were among 380 submitted to the inquiry, which is due to hold its first evidence session next month.

Committee chairman Neil Carmichael said: “Primary assessment has seen major reform in recent times and, as a committee, we want to examine the impact of Sats, as well as broader issues of how primary assessment is helping to prepare children for secondary school and assist them in reaching their potential.”

[Source:- tes]

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Education

Primary test agency ‘poor value’, says minister

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

protest outside the DfE

The government agency that sets primary schools tests in England has been “poor value for money” and lacking in “customer focus”, says the minister for school standards.

Nick Gibb’s comments follow an inquiry into the Standards and Testing Agency ordered after a series of problems and security breaches involving primary tests this year.

Claire Burton, the agency’s chief executive, accepted the report’s criticisms and promised “greater strategic oversight”.

Primary school tests faced a series of administrative problems this year – including an English test having to be cancelled after questions had been published in advance on a Department for Education website.

There were also accusations of a “rogue marker” as Sats test questions were claimed to have been leaked online a day before the test was taken.

‘Low morale’

This confusion had prompted an angry response from teachers’ unions, which had warned of a rushed and “chaotic” implementation of changes to primary tests.

Ministers had ordered an “urgent review” into the Standards and Testing Agency, part of the Department for Education, which runs primary school tests.

The findings, published on Wednesday, concluded that the agency was “broadly fit for purpose”.

But it highlighted problems, including a “lack of end-to-end strategy”, a “defensive” culture and “an ineffective assurance process”.

The staff of the agency were described as being “under enormous pressure” and “bruised by recent events and morale is low”. There is a high rate of vacancies.

The report says the agency has an administrative budget of £4m a year and looks after contracts worth £122m.

Mr Gibb says the review “identified clear issues around strategic leadership at the agency, poor value for money and a lack of customer focus”.

“Work is already under way to address those challenges and the STA has assured me it can, and will, make the changes required to prevent similar issues in future.”

Ms Burton, the agency’s chief executive, says: “We fully accept the findings of the review and have already taken steps to respond to the security breaches earlier this year, including restructuring the management team to ensure greater strategic oversight and improving internal processes.”

[Source:- BBC]

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Education

Scottish primary school stops setting homework

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Boy doing homework

A school in the Highlands has stopped setting homework for its 175 pupils.

The decision was taken at Highland Council-run Inverlochy Primary in Fort William after the children and their parents voted to scrap it.

About 80% of pupils and more than 60% of their parents voted in favour of an end to homework.

Instead of homework, the children will be encouraged to read books and comics that interest them and to play.

Highland Council allows head teachers, staff and parents to make decisions on the running of schools.

A spokeswoman for the local authority said: “Highland Council has a devolved school management system in our schools.

“The authority does not have a Highland-wide ‘no homework’ policy in place – this is something that Inverlochy Primary School is trialling in their school.”

‘Independent learning’

Scotland’s biggest teachers’ union, the EIS, said the move at Inverlochy added to a long-running discussion on the setting of homework.

A spokesperson said: “There are a wide range of views and considerable debate within the educational community regarding the value of homework as a learning tool.

Analysis by Judith Burns, education reporter

Inverlochy Primary School is the latest in a lengthening string of schools around the world choosing to scrap traditional homework.

Earlier this year, a high school in Colchester told pupils that it was scrapping set homework in favour of a more independent approach to learning.

Since September, pupils at Philip Morant School and College have selected their own optional tasks with guidance from teachers.

They receive rewards for completed tasks.

Meanwhile, in Spain, “excessive” homework has sparked a rebellion, with pupils from 12,000 schools refusing to do any at weekends for the whole of this month.

Spanish pupils average more than six hours of homework a week, 11th on the global league table, but its pupils perform relatively poorly in international performance tests.

By contrast, pupils in top performing countries such as Finland do less than three hours homework a week.

There is “hard evidence” homework boosts results but there is probably an optimal amount that varies between individuals, Institute of Education experts say, quoting a study suggesting GCSE students who did between two and three hours on every school night were 10 times more likely than those who did none to achieve the government’s target of five A-C grades.

“Certainly, it is important that all pupils develop their abilities to study independently and homework is one – but not the only – method of supporting this type of independent learning.

“Ultimately, it is for individual schools and teachers to determine, based on teachers’ professional judgement and knowledge of their own pupils’ learning needs, how best to structure the delivery of all aspects of the curriculum.”

The spokesperson added: “Engagement with parents – such as through parent councils and forums – is also key in this process.”

[Source:- BBC]

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Education

Primary school for all ‘not until 2042’, says Unesco

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

South Sudan

The target set by world leaders for all children to have at least a primary education by 2030 is likely to be missed on current trends, warns a report from Unesco.

The UN agency says at the current rate of progress it will take until 2042.

It is only a year since the Sustainable Development Goals, which included the promise for schools, were launched.

The Unesco report suggests there are 61 million children of primary age who do not have access to school.

The 2016 Global Monitoring Report, launched by Unesco, shows that without a significant change the global promise for universal primary education by 2030 is unlikely to be reached.

It will be 2084 before all pupils have access to the end of secondary school, says the annual report on international education.

Conflict zones

The most limited access to schools is in the countries which are the poorest or most troubled by conflict.

Niger, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Afghanistan, Mali and Chad are among the nations in which children are likely to spend the least time in education.

The report blames “chronic underfinancing for education” for the lack of sufficient progress – and warns that international aid for education is below the levels of 2010.

The lack of education is also far worse among the poorest communities.

Among the poorest rural girls, only 1% are likely to reach upper secondary school.

Missed targets

The report from Unesco highlights the benefits of wider access to education – helping to build more stable, prosperous, peaceful societies, improving health and reducing child deaths.

It says that inequality in education “heightens the risk of violence and conflict” and that countries with high levels of education are much less likely to face conflict and war than the poorest, least-educated countries.

The study says if there was universal upper secondary education by 2030, per capita income in poorer countries would increase by 75% in the following 20 years.

The lack of facilities in schools is also examined, with a lack of electricity affecting many schools in sub-Saharan Africa.

The promise that all children should have the right to primary education was first made in 1990, with a commitment that it would be achieved in a decade.

When that was missed, another 15-year target was set in 2000.

In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by world leaders, setting development targets to be reached by 2030.

A year later, Unesco is suggesting that the promise of universal primary education is already off track.

If it really does take until 2042, it will be more than five decades after the international community made its first promise.

“This report should set off alarm bells around the world and lead to a historic scale-up of actions,” said Jeffrey Sachs, economist and UN special adviser.

“The gaps in educational attainment between rich and poor, within and between countries, are simply appalling,” said Mr Sachs.

“Today’s children will be retiring before we manage to provide a decent education for every child,” said Vikas Pota, chief executive of the Varkey Foundation, which runs the annual Global Teacher Prize.

“It is truly appalling that between 2013 and 2014 education aid actually fell by $600m – a sign that international political will has dissipated on the subject.”

Separate figures published last week by Unicef showed that Liberia has the highest proportion of children missing out on primary education, with almost two-thirds out of school.

In South Sudan, Unicef reported that 59% of children do not have access to primary school, with many schools shut by conflict. In Nigeria, the UN agency says more than a third of primary age pupils are out of school.

[Source:- BBC]

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Education

St Teresa’s Primary School shut after ‘rat droppings find’

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

St Teresa's Primary School in west Belfast

A west Belfast primary school has been temporarily closed as a precaution due to what the principal describes as a “rodent issue”.

Staff noticed rat droppings in a number of classrooms at St Teresa’s Primary School, the BBC understands.

It is understood that the droppings were found on Wednesday, the day before term was due to start.

Headmaster Terry Rodgers said he hoped the school would open as normal on Monday 5 September.

Parents of the 450 pupils at the school were contacted to advise them of the closure.

‘Deep clean’

“We have had to close St Teresa’s for an additional two days at the start of the new school term due to confirmation we received that the school had a rodent issue,” said Mr Rodgers in a statement.

“I can assure parents that the school is dealing with the problem as swiftly as possible.

“Once we have carried out a deep clean of the school we hope to be open as normal next week.

“I will be in touch with parents to keep them up to date.”

The Education Authority (EA) and Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) had been consulted on the decision, said the school.

[Source:- BBC]

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Education

London pupils strongest in primary tests

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Boy writing

London pupils outperformed the rest of England in this year’s tougher primary school tests, with a 28 percentage point gap between the best and worst performing local authorities.

In the London borough of Richmond, 67% of 11-year-olds reached the required standard in reading, writing and maths, according to provisional results.

But only 39% of 11-year-olds in Peterborough met the standard.

Head teachers’ leader Russell Hobby said it indicated a system in chaos.

New system

Schools minister Nick Gibb said the majority of pupils had performed well, adding that he wanted this success “to be the standard”.

This year’s tests, taken by 11-year-olds in England in May, were more demanding than those in previous years and based on a new curriculum.

Overall, just over 53% of children in state-funded schools met the grade in all three sets of tests.

In 2015, 80% met the standard – but those figures are not regarded as being comparable because they were under the previous system that was dropped this year.

Last year, under the old system, the gap between the highest performing areas, at 90%, and the lowest, at 73%, was narrower than this year.

The detailed provisional figures for this year show the highest performing local authorities concentrated in London, and parts of the North East and South East.

The poorest performing are in the West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands and East of England.

This is a similar spread to that seen in recent years, according to the government statistical release, which also points out that that there was a small number of local authorities with “more extreme values”.

Making the grade by region

  • North East 56%
  • North West 52%
  • Yorkshire and The Humber 49%
  • East Midlands 50%
  • West Midlands 49%
  • East 52%
  • London 57%
  • South East 54%
  • South West 51%

Mr Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers said the results were still provisional but the wide variation between local authorities suggested a system “characterised by chaos and confusion”.

In May the NAHT urged the government to cancel publication of this year’s primary school results in England, warning of “serious mistakes” in the introduction of the new system which would make the results “unpredictable”.

Mr Hobby said today’s figures bear out concerns that the changes were “last minute” and “ill-thought out”.

“The government should work with the profession to create a primary assessment system that works for pupils, teachers, school leaders and parents,” said Mr Hobby, who also warned that data for individual schools, due to be published in December, could be “misleading”.

Mr Gibb said the more rigorous curriculum and tests were designed to “build a country that works for everyone so that all children, regardless of background or ability have the opportunity to fulfil their potential”.

“These figures show that many schools and local authorities have risen to the challenge and have delivered high standards but we want that success to be the standard everywhere.

“The government’s objective is to extend that opportunity so every child has the excellent education they deserve,” said Mr Gibb.

[Source:- BBC]

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Education

Primary schools could boycott ‘chaotic’ Sats tests

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Sats boycott on the cards

The NAHT heads’ union says schools could refuse to administer the tests if discussions with government are not ‘fruitful’

Headteachers are warning ministers that they could boycott Sats next year unless significant changes to primary assessment begin in the next few weeks.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT headteachers’ union, has been outspoken about the “chaos and confusion” of this year’s tougher key stage 2 tests.

Now he wants the Department for Education to take action on three key issues before half-term, including rethinking proposals for resits in Year 7, redesigning the reading test and addressing concerns about the use of “secure fit” rather than “best fit” on the writing assessment.

The government also needs to address the inconsistencies between local authorities on how writing is moderated, he said.

Mr Hobby added: “The long-term picture is to sit down and discuss a more coherent strategy for assessment that could take years to come to fruition. But in the short term there are very serious concerns. A boycott remains a possibility for 2017 if discussions with the government are not fruitful.”

His warning comes as the government is preparing to publish further details on Thursday of how pupils performed in the controversial reading, maths, and Spag tests.

Initial results, published in July, revealed that just 53 per cent of pupils had reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, compared with 80 per cent of pupils who achieved the expected level 4 last year.

‘The tests last year were a shambles’

The government has said that the writing assessment system will stay in place for the coming school year, to give it time to “engage” with teachers before changes are made.

The NAHT’s position is being backed by other teaching unions. Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL, said: “The current regime is not fair, valid or reliable. We would be prepared to look at a boycott.

“The KS2 tests last year were a shambles.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “The improvements that we have made to the primary curriculum and assessments will raise educational standards and help ensure all children leave primary school having mastered the basics they need to succeed.”

They added that the DfE was “working constructively with teaching unions” to “ensure this is done effectively”.

[Source:- tes]

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Education

Almost half of primary pupils miss new Sats standard

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

pupils

Almost half of pupils in England have failed to meet a new tough standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

Official data shows just over half (53%) of 11-year-olds made the grade in reading, writing and mathematics.

This means 47% of pupils are considered not to have made the grade in the 3 Rs by the end of their primary years.

Last year 80% met the required standard in reading, writing and maths – but that was under a system which was dropped this year.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan says lower results should not be interpreted as a decline in performance by pupils.

This year’s tests were more demanding and were based on a new curriculum.

Department for Education statistics show:

  • 66% of pupils met the standard in reading
  • 70% in maths
  • 72% in grammar, punctuation and spelling
  • 74% in the teacher-assessed writing

The overall figure of 53% relates to the number of pupils who reached the expected standard in all three subjects.

Previously, attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 was measured in Levels – Level 4c being the expected standard for pupils in their final year of primary school.

However, in the new tests, the expected level is set at 100 but scores can range between 80 and 120 – this means that anything at 100 or over is, in effect, a pass and anything under is a fail.

Analysis: By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent

If this year’s primary school Sats tests results were put into a graph showing the results over recent years it would look like there had been a disastrous plunge in standards.

The primary sector has been seen as a success story – and last year 80% of pupils met the required standard in maths, reading and writing.

This year the figure has tumbled down to 53%.

So what calamity has happened?

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan launched a pre-emptive strike the day before the results were published saying such comparisons were meaningless.

The tests have been made tougher and the curriculum has changed.

“They simply cannot be compared directly,” said Mrs Morgan, who presumably would be unenthusiastic about being seen as having presided over the biggest ever collapse in results.

And she said it was more honest to accept a dip when the bar was raised, rather than sit back and watch numbers climb like an ever-upward tick.

But teachers’ unions were less sympathetic, saying the introduction of the new-style tests had been “shambolic” and heads claimed that the results were so unreliable that they should never even have been published.

Political opponents were even harsher. Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said primary school pupils had been turned into “lab rats in a big ideological experiment”.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “We have learned today that only 53% of children have met the new expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

“The government has decided that nearly half of pupils have failed at the end of their primary education. This is not representative of the quality of their education, nor of the hard work that students have put in this year.

“It will be impossible for parents not to compare this year’s percentage with last year and not to worry that the new, higher expectations mean that their children appear to have performed worse than children in previous years.”

Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “We are appalled by the shambles of today’s Key Stage 2 Sats results which just compounds the total chaos the government has made of this year’s Sats.

“Even the government must be worried about the impact of the low scores because it’s felt the need to explain the results to schools so they know that all schools will have similarly low results.”

Julie McCulloch, from the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It is essential to understand that the standard pupils are expected to achieve in these tests has been raised significantly from previous years.

“It is therefore meaningless to compare this year’s headline results with those from previous years, and these statistics must be handled with extreme caution in terms of trying to reach any judgements.”

Ms McCulloch said the Department for Education’s introduction of the tests was “rushed and chaotic”.

“The children tested this year have only been studying the new curriculum for two years when it is a programme designed to be studied over four years,” she added.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the Conservatives were “treating students like lab rats in their big ideological experiment”.

“These Sats results show starkly that they are gambling the futures of these young people on Michael Gove’s misty-eyed world view where every school is a prep or grammar school, students are robotic and teachers skip around teaching past participles and antonyms by rote to seven-year-olds.

“It sounds more like an Enid Blyton book than reality.”

This year’s tests were not without controversy – a copy of the spelling, punctuation and grammar (Spag) test was published a day before it was due to be taken by 10 and 11-year-olds by what the government described as a “rogue marker”.

And the government was forced to scrap a Sats spelling test for half a million children aged six and seven after it emerged that it had been posted with practice materials three months early.

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