Enough!  I am now over National Standards and have moved through all of the stages of grief and am now on to ‘acceptance’…

I accept that these standards will:

• Make Schools and teachers accountable (I am convinced that this is the ‘not so hidden’ agenda) for nationwide student achievement
• Allow the Government to standardise reporting on student achievement
• If used well, could inform school improvement
• Be implemented regardless of the fuss kicked up by the sector and other experts
• Lead to ‘plain language’ reporting to parents
• Will lead to direct comparison of ‘perceived’ school performance
• Detract from teaching and learning as we build the learning around the assessment, rather than the assessment around the learning.

And as part of my ‘acceptance’ our team will implement these in a way that is morally responsible for our learners and ensuring that our learning culture and learning focus is at the forefront of what we do.

I will speak no more of these ‘Stand DUD s’ in this forum.

Here endeth the lesson.