That Letter to Children on SATS Week

At Independent Thinking, we've been fans of the work of Rachel Tomlinson and her colleagues at Barrowford Primary School in Lancashire for many years.

She leads her school with integrity, compassion and bravery, doing what is right by her community, one of the poorest socio-economically speaking, in the country.

A big advocate of restorative approaches to relationships and behaviour, it was Rachel's children who caused a bit of a stir at the Educational Festival a few years ago talking about how they were not punished in school.

Of course, the Daily Mail hates her #badgeofhonour

The letter she sends to each of her Year Six children every SATs week is another cause of indigestion in certain quarters and, after we saw it recently in her post on LinkedIn, we asked for permission to reproduce it here.

See what you think:

Dear...

Before you take part in your tests, we just wanted to remind you of the following.

We know that you demonstrate huge amounts of commitment and will do your best in many different ways, especially during the tests. 

However, we want you to remember that these tests do not assess all of what it is that make each of you special and unique.

The people who create these tests and score them do not know each of you the way your teachers do, the way I do and certainly not the way your families do.

They do not know that many of you speak two languages.

They do not know that you can play a musical instrument or that you can dance or paint a picture.

They do not know that your friends count on you to be there for them or that your laughter can brighten the dreariest day.

They do not know that you write poetry or songs, play or participate in sports, wonder about the future, or that sometimes you take care of your little brother or sister after school.

They do not know that you have travelled to a really exciting place or that you know how to tell a great story or that you really love spending time with special family members and friends.

They do not know that you can be trustworthy, kind or thoughtful, and that you try, every day, to be your very best... 

The scores you get will tell you something, but they will not tell you everything.

So enjoy it as an opportunity to show us what you know and be very proud of the effort and determination you are showing but remember there are many reasons that you are of massive value to all of us.

Well done!

For us, it reinforces at a young age the phrase we encourage all secondary schools to use around results time - you are not your exam results. [ITL]

Headteacher Rachel Tomlinson