But I think SATS are hugely damaging; they not only give an unfair few of a school, but they massively compromise the experience for my pupils, who become defined so early on, for something that seems to decide the rest of their education.

I feel like we have no other choice, which is sad, when it’s not a choice I ever wanted to make in the first place.

I don’t think SATS are really benefitting my pupils anymore, and most of my colleagues are definitely only concerned about how they affect our league tables. Not our standards. All the work we do in school is to make sure the average of our SATS are good enough so we beat the rest of the schools in the area; not that each child is achieving what it should be.

To be honest, they don’t work for the schools, and I’m not sure they work for the pupils either.  But is there a better alternative?