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Anxiety 'haunts primary schools' Anxiety 'haunts primary schools'
(about 1 hour later)
Primary school children and their parents are suffering from "deep anxiety" about modern life, according to a study of education in England.Primary school children and their parents are suffering from "deep anxiety" about modern life, according to a study of education in England.
The Cambridge-based Primary Review's first interim report says concern about Sats tests is causing stress and distorting the curriculum.The Cambridge-based Primary Review's first interim report says concern about Sats tests is causing stress and distorting the curriculum.
Researchers conducted 87 in-depth discussion sessions with groups of children, parents, teachers and others.Researchers conducted 87 in-depth discussion sessions with groups of children, parents, teachers and others.
In all, 750 people attended the discussions in locations in England.In all, 750 people attended the discussions in locations in England.
"Today's children, it was generally felt, are being forced to grow up too soon, and the prospects for the society and world they will inherit look increasingly perilous," the report said."Today's children, it was generally felt, are being forced to grow up too soon, and the prospects for the society and world they will inherit look increasingly perilous," the report said.
Climate concerns
Among those quoted in the Primary Review report are children themselves.Among those quoted in the Primary Review report are children themselves.
Children thought Sats tests were "scary", the report said
Many expressed concern about climate change, global warming and pollution, the gulf between rich and poor, and terrorism.Many expressed concern about climate change, global warming and pollution, the gulf between rich and poor, and terrorism.
They were "no less anxious" about local issues such as traffic, safe play areas and gangs. "The children were no less anxious about those local issues which directly affected their sense of security - traffic, the lack of safe play areas, rubbish, graffiti, gangs of older children, knives, guns," the report said.
"Yet where schools had started engaging children with global and local realities as aspects of their education they were noticeably more upbeat." "Some were also worried by the gloomy tenor of 'what you hear on the news' or by a generalised fear of strangers, burglars and street violence."
They thought the Sats tests were "scary" but felt the results informed people about how they were doing. But the report added: "Where schools had started engaging children with global and local realities as aspects of their education they were noticeably more upbeat."
Children worry about global as well as local matters The children thought the Sats tests were "scary" but felt the results informed people about how they were doing.
'Golden age'
Teaching assistants and parents complained, among other things, about "the pervasive influence of electronic media and gadgetry".Teaching assistants and parents complained, among other things, about "the pervasive influence of electronic media and gadgetry".
They felt parents had little control over such things as mobile phones and the internet, through which children had access to material regarded as ranging from the "unsuitable" to the "pernicious".They felt parents had little control over such things as mobile phones and the internet, through which children had access to material regarded as ranging from the "unsuitable" to the "pernicious".
They also spoke of a "loss of childhood", the report said.They also spoke of a "loss of childhood", the report said.
Many harked back to a golden age not so long ago "when they roamed the streets, fields and woods unsupervised and without regard for traffic or strangers, and had ample time to do so".Many harked back to a golden age not so long ago "when they roamed the streets, fields and woods unsupervised and without regard for traffic or strangers, and had ample time to do so".
The health of a national educational system can't be fully captured by the term 'standards', critically important though standards are Robin Alexander Primary Review
Teachers condemned the tests and deplored "the national obsession" with celebrity, transient values and consumerism.Teachers condemned the tests and deplored "the national obsession" with celebrity, transient values and consumerism.
Primary Review director Prof Robin Alexander said its first interim report was only one piece in the jigsaw and did not tell the whole story. Primary Review director Professor Robin Alexander said that, having travelled around the country to speak to people "inside and outside of education", he and his team had found "unease about the present and pessimism about the future".
"But it takes the educational temperature on these and other matters at a critical time, and it reveals what teachers, parents, children and communities are most concerned about." Improving school "standards" - through tests and Ofsted reports - was not the same as raising the quality of education, he added.
He added: "For a government which is consistently and publicly committed to raising educational standards, there is a battle for hearts and minds to be won." One of the policy issues raised was whether school standards and quality could be equated, he said - with a "pattern of claim and counter-claim" about whether government initiatives were delivering improvements. "The health of a national educational system can't be fully captured by the term 'standards', critically important though standards are.
"Standards may have been too readily equated with quality."
It was time to start exploring the difference between the two, he said.