National Curriculum (Hansard, 25 October 1990)

§ Mr. MacGregor

I asked local education authorities in 1989 to set aside two or three of this school year's existing school closure days for training to prepare teachers who will undertake the first national assessments of seven-year-olds in 1991. As a result, most local education authorities have already developed coherent plans for such training. I am encouraged by the commitment and professionalism of primary school teachers as they prepare for the implementation of the national curriculum assessment arrangements.

However, not all LEAs are equally well-prepared. In response to representations, particularly from the NAHT, and in order to ensure the success of training arrangements in all local education authorities, I therefore intend shortly to make regulations to permit primary schools, if they wish to do so, to close for one extra day in the spring term of 1991 for the purpose of training teachers in the assessment of seven-year-olds and the development of school policies for reporting the results to parents.

I stress that this is an exceptional step. It responds to the unique challenge facing primary schools who have never before been involved in comprehensive national assessments. I also wish to emphasise that this is solely to make the option of an extra closure day available to those local education authorities for whom it will be helpful. It is not obligatory. Many local education authorities and schools with already settled training plans may see no need to exercise the option and will be under no compulsion to do so. The availability of an extra day in the spring term will provide those schools that need it with useful additional flexibility to exploit effectively the training materials shortly to be issued by the School Examinations and Assessment Council and to promote the development of effective school arrangements for reporting the results of assessments to parents.