Ofsted boss warns school heads they shouldn’t ask pupils about exams in case they ’cause anxiety’
SCHOOL heads should not ask pupils about their exams in case they “ratchet up” pressure on them, Ofsted’s boss warns today.
Amanda Spielman, 58, says too many kids are being left stressed out by their SATs.
She claims well-meaning headteachers who pat children on the back and ask them about the tests risk fuelling their anxiety.
The chief inspector’s alert comes as hundreds of thousands of primary school kids aged ten and 11 sit the exams this week. Ms Spielman says she was concerned by what she saw at one primary “not long ago”.
She recalls: “The head was clapping Year Sixes on the shoulder saying, ‘So are you feeling OK about the test? Is everything going well for you?’
“I thought maybe that is well-meaning, but maybe that’s actually subliminally encouraging children to feel anxious.”
She insists the “mere act” of talking about exams by anyone other than the classroom teacher risks piling pressure on kids.
Her warning comes as Ofsted launches the biggest shake-up of inspections in nearly five years. From September, schools will be assessed on what pupils learn, not exam results.
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They will also be judged on how well they enforce discipline — as a standalone category.
But Nick Brook, of school leaders’ union NAHT, branded the changes “unworkable”.
He said: “Inspectors are being asked to do too much with too little resource and with too great a degree of subjectivity.”
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