My academic records show that I got A*s in English literature and English language at GCSE, an A in English at A level and a 2.1 degree in English from Bristol University. I taught English in secondary schools and I am now a children’s author with multiple book deals. But despite this, I scored 40 per cent on an English Sats test.
I am not against exams, nor am I against working hard. In every school visit, my message is one of resilience, perseverance and grit, both in exams and life.
But I am against the pedantic, restrictive and irrelevant testing of children. The Sats papers demanded a knowledge of fronted adverbials and subordinating conjunctions, and I feel that with this mechanical approach to learning we risk putting an entire generation of children off writing.
Accurate spelling, grammar and punctuation are important. Precision and confidence in expression empower us. But getting children to parrot back complex grammatical concepts is education at its most futile, and at its most depressing. It is reminiscent of the Gradgrindian education system that Charles Dickens satirises in Hard Times.
More than grammar
A system that champions modal verbs over creativity stifles pupils’ imagination and individuality.
I am not a writer because I knew what fronted adverbials were when I was at school. I am a writer because the wild landscape of my childhood filled me with wonder. I am a writer because learning made me curious and adventurous. I am a writer because books carried me to new worlds and language filled me with delight. I am a writer because I refused to quit when my books were rejected.
Language is fluid and playful (thank you, Roald Dahl for “snozzcumbers”). I learnt invaluable lessons about empathy, courage and hope from the stories I read as a child. Lyra Belacqua taught me to be brave and Mildred Hubble taught me that you don’t need to be the brightest or prettiest girl in the room to be the heroine of a story.
So, kids, your worth is not quantified by your Sats scores. Learn the power of language, but remember that the best writing is original and brave. Like Shakespeare’s - another writer who wouldn’t have passed that test.
Abi Elphinstone is author of The Dreamsnatcher and The Shadow Keeper, both published by Simon and Schuster Children’s UK
This comment piece appears in the cover feature in the 3 June edition of TES. This week’s TES magazine is available in all good newsagents. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here
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