Home >> News >> 2010 >> May >> ‘Sat tests stop children being children – they’re a bad idea’ - Award-winning primary head Mary Caven says exams ‘create anxiety’
‘Sat tests stop children being children – they’re a bad idea’ - Award-winning primary head Mary Caven says exams ‘create anxiety’
Published: 21 May 2010
by PETER GRUNER
THE headteacher crowned with the Lifetime Achievement Award in the EC1 Pride in our People 2010 Awards said this week that she is against Sat tests for children and “never reads” school league tables.
Mary Caven, the inspirational head of Prior Weston junior school, was speaking following last week’s a glittering award ceremony hosted by BBC journalist Kate Silverton at St Luke’s Church, home of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Ms Caven is due to retire in July following almost 30 years with Prior Weston, in Whitecross Street, Finsbury, where she started as a probationary teacher, becoming deputy head and then headteacher.
A popular figure in the community, which is well known for its street market, Ms Caven is remembered fondly by generations of pupils who have attended the school.
But more recently she was instrumental in helping to launch the bid for the new building that the school moved into two years ago.
“There have obviously been good and bad things in education,” she said. “We have a lot more independence than we ever had before. But there are also Sat tests and exams for the young, which can create anxiety and stop children being children. As for school league tables, they are not a good idea and I never read them.”
The school is known for its “vibrant, fun and caring atmosphere”, much of it as a result of Ms Caven’s extraordinary influence.
She added: “Most importantly children should like to learn.
“I’m proud that we have a good school, good staff and an excellent parents and teachers association. The children and families take advantage of everything we offer, whether it is play projects at home or book week.”
What does she plan to do on retirement? Ms Caven said: “The children say I should paint my nails, build a boat and travel down a river where I may end up in a cave... and then my adventures will really begin.”
n Another winner in the EC1 Pride in our People Awards was grandmother Liz Smithson, 45, who was named Volunteer of the Year.
She was determined to encourage the boys on her King’s Square estate to learn English and maths. So she made an offer they couldn’t refuse: “Come to our after-school lessons and I’ll arrange for Arsenal football coaches to run matches after class.”
It was the carrot and stick approach but it worked. Liz, who raised £10,000 for private teachers and sports coaches, now gets 60 to 70 children coming to the scheme.
She also served for more than 10 years as governor at Moreland Primary School and is the secretary of her local tenants’ association.
Teacher of textiles is a cut above the rest
SOMALI-born mother of four Rakhia Ismail may not be a fully qualified teacher, but her after-school classes in textiles and design have become popular with girls wanting to learn about fashion.
Ms Ismail, whose own children are aged from nine (twins) to 13, lives off Goswell Road. She was named Teacher of the Year in this year’s EC1 Pride in our People Awards.
A former classroom assistant at Highbury Grove, Ms Ismail has a degree in textiles and design from the
University of Arts. She runs a Back to Basics crafts, textile and fashion class for girls aged 11 to 19. She said: “The boys have their youth clubs where they play snooker. But the girls have nothing to do after school. I set up the project because I’m a mother with young children and EC1 is quite a deprived area.”
Now the girls make their own clothes and many of them plan to enter a design career thanks to Ms Ismail’s influence.
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