Commenting as the national data from this year’s SATs results are
published today, Paul
Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:
“Teachers and school leaders have worked incredibly hard
throughout the pandemic to minimise the impact of disruption on
pupils’ learning. It’s important to remember that the support
schools have put in place has not only been focused on academic
progress, but also on social and emotional recovery too. They
should be congratulated on their ongoing efforts to ensure every
pupil is able to achieve and thrive in school.
“We need to be very careful with the conclusions we draw from
SATs data this year. The disruption caused by Covid impacted
children in many different ways, with some families and school
communities hit far harder than others. This means that attempts
to compare SATs results between schools is a pointless endeavour.
It is impossible to discern the extent to which differences in
results are reflective of changes to the quality of education
provided by the school or simply indicative of the degree of
disruption experienced.
“What this data does seem to show at a national level is that
government needs to do more to support schools with childhood and
educational recovery of our nation's young people. Further
analysis is needed to ascertain precisely how much the attainment
gap has widened between children from poorer families and their
more affluent peers. With rising costs and dwindling resources in
schools, the government's decision not to invest in plans drawn
up by their own 'Catch-up Tsar' may yet prove a costly decision
for the life-chances of those children hit hardest by the
pandemic.”
