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Andrew Aalders-Dunthorne Liberal Democrat Candidate for the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich ConstituencyCampaigning news |
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Andrew Aalders-Dunthorne Liberal Democrat Candidate for the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Constituency <info@csnilibdems.org.uk>
Andrew backs NAHT ballot to boycott SATS testing
March 17, 2010 8:00 PM
As ballot papers land on the door mats of members of the National Association of Head Teachers and the National Union of Teachers, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Andrew Aalders-Dunthorne has backed plans to boycott SATS testing this May.
Mr. Aalders-Dunthorne, who is a member of the National Association of Head Teachers commented "I have voted YES to boycott SATS testing this May, I have no problem with the accurate assessment of pupil progress but I strongly object to the way in which this government have used the data to penalise schools, especially those who serve communities in most need."
Performance at school is still too often determined by the financial circumstances of a child's family. The Labour Government has failed to address this and the poorest children currently fall behind before they even start school and often fail to catch up - they are ultimately only half as likely as their better-off classmates to get five good GCSEs including English and maths.
"Labour has become fixated on target driven league tables that simply don't address the underlying issues of attainment for many of our children nationally and here in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich" added Andrew.
The Tories will not provide new money to the schools system - Liberal Democrats believe that we will only achieve a fairer society if we break the link between social background and school performance, every child should be given a fair chance to succeed in school which has the capacity to help them realise their potential.
Andrew commented "We would invest an additional £2.5 billion in the state education system, paid as a pupil premium to schools for each of the poorest 1 million children. This cash would be used as the school feels fit in reducing class sizes, improving discipline or providing more one-to-one tuition."
This is real change that works for schools, for teachers, for pupils and for the communities in which they live. Scrapping of the discredited SATS testing regime and a move towards allowing the front line professionals to make professional assessments and professional judgements will help build a fairer Britain.
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