Heads Oppose New Punctuation And Spelling Test

Head teachers say they will disrupt a new spelling, grammar and punctuation test to be introduced in England's primary schools next summer.

The SPAG test will be sat by pupils at the end of primary school as part of their national curriculum tests (SATs). But the National Association of Head Teachers said the new tests were "a waste of taxpayers' money". Ministers said too little attention had been paid to spelling, punctuation and grammar in recent years.

But the association has voted to explore ways of ensuring "this flawed test does not take place". Introducing a motion to disrupt the "technical English" tests, Milton Keynes head teacher Tony Draper said teachers should be left to assess pupils in spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Mr Draper said the new test from 2013 would cost millions of pounds to administer - money that would be better spent on teacher training and learning. "It will lead to further narrowing of the curriculum, teaching to the tests and increased misery for our year six students and their families already sick of a diet of practice SATs and drills.

"Trust us to assess all our children's writing this year and every year or we will not cooperate with any future tests." The conference voted almost unanimously (98.8%) to find ways of stopping the test going ahead.

The vote came as NAHT general secretary, Russell Hobby, said the association could boycott a controversial new reading test for six-year-olds in England if it was used as "a stick to beat schools".

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