It's time to rebuild our education system. Who's with me?

Just pick up a newspaper, turn on the news, look at your Facebook or twitter feed and you will find endless stories about the absolute mess our education system is in.  Our schools are facing forced academisation, no one is quite sure what on earth is expected in Yr 2 and Yr 6. The exemplifications published just before the tests are to be administered are moving goalposts out of the football pitch and down the road somewhere that no one can quite find, but are hunting for madly.  Children's heads are being filled with information and facts like empty buckets whilst creative, independent thinking is clearly something there is simply no time for in days where Ms Morgan's "Leading Curriculum" must be delivered.  Her beloved curriculum is indeed leading.  Leading in causing mental health problems in children. Leading in switching off learners. Leading in being totally developmentally inappropriate. Leading the way in teachers feeling that they cannot go on any longer. 


Teachers are walking way from a career they once loved, but that now is making them ill. One told me "I'm not retirement age...but if I don't leave now, it will kill me". Parents are now standing together and taking their children out of school on May 3rd in protest at what is happening, sick and tired of the "stress and test" agenda of this government and how its affecting their children at the age of 6! https://letthekidsbekids.wordpress.com/


Surely something has to give? In my career I have seen many changes, growing up I saw strikes in the days of Margaret Thatcher.  But nothing like this...Parents, carers, teachers, unions, researchers and other experts saying NO! Enough is enough! We are told our children are failing compared to their international peers and the solution given by a government, who has shown they know nothing about education, is to continue to raise expectations.  All the research in the world tells us this is not the answer, but the government have quite clearly not met the Early Learning Goals in language and personal, social and emotional development as they are clearly not listening and respecting the views of others. Views of those who know....


So lets go back to basics....Sir Ken Robinson talks of education not needing reviewing but reforming. If we really want to solve the problems in our education system then we need to strip it back and rebuild. 


We living in one of the few countries in the world where our children start school at the age of 4. Children around the world, including Wales, and hopefully Scotland very soon (thanks to the Upstart movement) start formal schooling at 7.  The countries we are seen as lagging behind, let children learn through play and focus on essential skills til 7. Then at 7 when formal learning begins children suddenly and very quickly learn to read, write and do maths, because the essential building blocks are in place.  In England these types of formal approaches sadly start far to early for many children before they are ready. Resulting in switched off children who believe they have failed..at the age of 4 or 5! Reception teachers find themselves pressured to get children ready for Yr1. So for too many children play stops and they spend their days at tables writing in books and doing worksheets in those precious days when being outside, moving, playing, learning, exploring, imagining, taking risks and talk is what matters the most.


Lets take a step back.  If we consider what our future generations need, we will see they need strong communication skills, strong personal, social and emotional development, strong physical skills, embedded literacy and maths skills alongside technological skills, an understanding of their world and creativity. Just as important are characteristics such as resilience, perseverance, creative thinking, independence, risk taking, confidence and the ability to learn from mistakes. The irony of all of the above is that we have a curriculum in England that delivers all this and more.


So please, please let's extend the EYFS curriculum and the term "Early Years" to encompass children from birth to 7 or even 8...as it did on my teaching degree and in my nursery nursing qualification. It's time to extend the EYFS into ks1, With a focus on areas of learning AND development, not just subjects AND with a focus on the statutory Characteristics of Effective Learning! Let's make sure practitioners working in these proposed Early Years understand child development, how children learn and the power of play for all children!


But hey, what would I know...I'm just a teacher, a nursery nurse who studied child development, a mother, an early years consultant and the author of books and articles aimed at teachers promoting early mathematics through play... of course this government would know far more than me...more than all of us, more than Montessori, Froebel, Isaacs, Piaget, Steiner, Bowlby  about what young children need!


Let's stop the testing, stop the inappropriate practice and make a change for our children, their families and our educational workforce. Let's make a change for the future. WB Yeats stated that: "Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire". It's time to find the matches...


I have launched these two petitions.  The government one needs to reach 100k to be considered for discussion.  The Change one includes many comments from supporters which illustrates just why this matters so much. Please sign and share.  Enough is enough, our children deserve better and they are entitled to better.  It is not their fault that they are born into an era of a government who doesn't understand them!


https://www.change.org/p/sam-gyimah-mp-extend-the-early-years-foundation-stage-from-birth-to-5-to-birth-to-7


https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/121681