Primary Schools: Targets (Hansard, 26 February 2003)

§ Baroness Sharp of Guildford
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they agree with the view reported to have been expressed by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools that targets for primary schools are becoming counter-productive and narrowing the curriculum.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)
My Lords, I do not think that those reports are an accurate reflection of the chief inspector's views. Target setting at both national and local level makes an important contribution to raising standards of attainment. The dramatic rise in standards in primary schools since 1998 is evidence of that. We will continue to support schools to achieve their targets as part of our strategy to improve teaching and learning across a broad primary curriculum.

§ Baroness Sharp of Guildford
My Lords, can the Minister tell us why she and other Ministers in the department are so obsessed by tests and targets? Is she aware of the damage this is doing to the broader curriculum? There is too much emphasis on the narrow curriculum on maths and English, which is tested, and not enough on the broader subjects. Can she assure us, in the light of views not necessarily expressed by the Chief Inspector of Schools but which clearly come from among those close to him, that the department is looking again at how useful these targets really are in primary schools?

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, I do not accept the premise that we arc obsessed with targets. My ministerial colleagues and I certainly are not. We want a broader primary curriculum in every school, as we have said consistently when speaking about the enrichment of the curriculum. But we are also of the view that teaching children to read, write and do mathematics are core and fundamental things that they need to acquire at primary school if they are successfully to make the transition to secondary school. Local and national targets are good measures of ensuring that we are moving in that direction.
Of course we look constantly at what we are doing. We are looking all the time at the primary curriculum and at our strategies to make sure that we do it in the right context.

§ Baroness Howe of Idlicote
My Lords, does the Minister agree that, if used sensibly and sensitively, targets are one way—by no means the only one—of pinpointing schools in need of greater help and support in the vital job they do?

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Howe, completely that some of the work we have been doing in our target 243 setting is to establish the schools that need additional support. Our leadership incentive grant, for example, will be targeted to add additional support to schools where they can work collaboratively with other schools to provide that fundamental need of leadership, which we know is a core requirement to success in schools.

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, does the Minister agree that with assessment and testing already established by the previous government and built on by the present Government, it is enough to leave the governors and the parents to set the targets for their schools and for the Government to get off the back of schools? They should stop being obsessed with national targets but leave schools to be accountable for the performance of their own school and for the information to be made public to parents and the wider community.

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, I believe that there is a key importance in having local targets and that schools are involved, as they are, in the process of establishing those targets. We are, of course, in dialogue. My colleague, Stephen Twigg, is currently talking to thousands of teachers across the country at key stage 2 level to ascertain their views and talk around how we develop further our national strategies.
A national target is an important statement of what the Government wish to achieve. We want to see every child arriving in secondary school capable of accessing the curriculum in the core subjects. I believe it is a notable and worthy aim.

§ Baroness Thomas of Walliswood
My Lords, I share the Minister's ambitions for the children of this country, but is it sensible to submit children to very stressful exams at the age of 11? Is it sensible to submit them at a very early age to a method of coaching which tends to eliminate or may be in danger of eliminating things which are not relevant to those exams? How does the Minister react to the knowledge that, after a large increase in accomplishment at the beginning of the Government's term in office, the level of achievement is now more or less static in English and mathematics and has been for about three years?

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, we are clear that we do not want or require any child to be put under stress regarding these examinations. They are not the equivalent of examinations that determine success or failure; they are our opportunity to see what level of progress children make individually and collectively, which is important. I do not desire to see schools coach children. Ofsted's work shows clearly that the most successful schools can be determined by those who have the broad and balanced curriculum and are creative in the way in which they introduce literacy and numeracy strategies and the science curriculum across the broader curriculum. That is the direction in which we wish to go.
On static levels of achievement, I agree with the noble Baroness that we need to look carefully at what those figures tell us. The first cohort to have had the literacy and numeracy strategies from the beginning is 244 now coming through, and it will be interesting to see the effect. I am sure that the noble Baroness would accept that we must look at what we do to support the children who are not quite reaching that level. This is the largest cohort of children at level 3 who could become level 4. Finally, given the number of children with special needs, this is our opportunity to try to provide additional support for children who can be helped in that way.

§ Earl Russell
My Lords, I thank the Minister for some of the points in that last reply. Has she any personal experience of the atmosphere that develops among pupils about to face a key test? Does she agree that that atmosphere is no more conducive to clear thinking than a fire alarm is to an orderly exit from a crowded theatre?

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, I currently have a child in year six, so I do have personal experience. As a stepmother and mother, this is my fifth experience. My daughter, I have to tell your Lordships, is looking forward to her SATs exams with great gusto.
A fire alarm, of course, is a crucial indicator to people that it is time to leave the theatre. I find it difficult to make an analogy, except to say that it is important that we are ambitious. I accept what noble Lords are saying about always needing to be careful to ensure that our strategies work. But I also believe that the whole House endorses our desire to make sure that every child is successful.