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Teachers jeer children's minister | Teachers jeer children's minister |
(40 minutes later) | |
Teachers at a conference have jeered a minister after she talked about league tables and tests in schools. | Teachers at a conference have jeered a minister after she talked about league tables and tests in schools. |
The flashpoint involved Children's Minister Beverley Hughes at the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) conference, in Liverpool. | |
During a question-and-answer session, she said teaching was a great job, but was jeered again by a large proportion of the teachers in the hall. | |
Ms Hughes said she was welcomed but "there will be differences of views". | |
She denied that she had been jeered and said there had been "a very constructive discussion". | |
Where testing was concerned, the minister said: "We are not going to take away the ability of parents to know how their children are doing." | |
Well-being duty | |
The issue of Ofsted inspections was also raised. | |
Research by the NAHT suggests Ofsted inspection pressures deter talented teachers from taking on the top jobs in schools. | |
A survey of 500 members found 86% thought the impact of Ofsted meant potential head teachers were put off applying. | |
Ms Hughes said next year "Ofsted will be consulting with schools about how we can make progress in terms of the regime", such as using shorter tests. | |
She said she wants the inspections to be less "narrow" in order to reflect all aspects of schools, such as their "well-being duty" where efforts are made to ensure that children "stay healthy". | |
"I want to see schools rewarded for those activities, so we will be looking to see how far the inspection regime can reflect what schools are already doing," said the minister. |