SATs tests blamed for 'turning primary pupils into little robots'

Children are being turned into 'little robots' by the primary school testing regime, it was claimed yesterday.

Teachers warn that staff no longer have time to read stories to pupils, hear their news from home or help with problems.

Lesley Ward, a teacher with 32 years of experience, said primary schools have been turned into mini versions of secondaries with a rigid 'almost Stalinist' timetable.

Mrs Ward blamed SATs tests and pressure on teachers to maintain league table positions.

She said that while there could be no return to 1970s-style education, where teachers could largely do as they pleased and thousands of pupils failed to learn the three Rs, the changes had gone too far.

'We need to take the best bits from the present and the past,' said Mrs Ward, vice-president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

She said that when she first started work, teachers had more time to care for children.

'If they were upset they used to come and sit on your knee and tell us,' she said. 'Now they can't.

'We have turned them into little robots that have got to be a certain level by a certain age and it's horrible. The problem is with SATs and league tables. It is a mini-secondary curriculum.' 

She added that children are tired by 3pm, yet Government childcare policies can see them spend ten hours a day at school.

Children who attend breakfast clubs can start at 8am, while afterschool care and clubs and societies often finish at 6pm. 

Mrs Ward, who began teaching in 1975, said that pupils could be rigorously assessed without the need for externally marked tests. 'It's almost a Stalinist regime,' she said.

Her concerns were echoed by Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers.

He said: 'The pendulum has swung too far. We need to recognise the value of taking time to enjoy and create freedom into the curriculum.'

A spokesman for the Department of Children, Schools and Families said: 'Of course primary schools need to strike the right balance between learning, play and other activities and the best schools do this well.

'The National Curriculum offers teachers considerable flexibility in how they structure the school day.