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"The reform of assessment is a subject very dear to the GTC’s heart because of the ways in which we assess pupils have such a powerful impact on their learning, their enjoyment of learning, on school life and on teachers’ practice.
It is also a subject very dear to teachers’ hearts. We had a huge response to our conference advertisement. The conference was fully subscribed on the first day that we advertised it – we should probably be meeting in the Albert Hall today!
I would like to extend a very warm welcome and thanks to all our speakers today. We hope that you will have a really stimulating conference and will take away two very clear messages:
Firstly - that the GTC’s proposals for reforming assessment would support pupil learning better than the current regime – and are workable and coherent;
Secondly – that our proposals build on a wide consensus within the education community that the time is ripe for change and that we – teachers, parents and policymakers – share the same vision for improvement and reform.
I am going to say a few brief words about why the GTC is working in the field of assessment. The GTC is the professional regulatory body for teaching in England. We were created by the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1988 and given a statutory remit to contribute to improving standards of teaching and the quality of learning.
We do this in a number of ways.
We register qualified teachers – this gives parents and employers the assurance that our children are being taught by qualified teachers of good standing.
We uphold high professional standards – by promoting effective practice and by regulating the tiny minority of teachers whose conduct or competence brings their fitness to practise into doubt.
We support the professionalism of teachers by providing professional networks through which they can share and exchange good practice and through our Teacher Learning Academy which recognises the development our teachers undertake at school and classroom level and provides a rigorous national structure that helps ensure that this learning has the greatest possible positive impact on pupil learning.
We work in the public interest at all times – through our professional register, our regulatory procedures and our dialogue with parents and the wider public.
A vital aspect of the GTC’s remit is to give advice to the Secretary of State and others on a huge range of matters that relate to standards of teaching and the quality of learning. We prepare that advice by taking evidence. Indeed we are totally committed to marshalling the best possible evidence available. That comes from research in the field. It comes from our partners – other national agencies like the QCA and Ofsted – it comes from parents and governors and it comes from the testimony, expertise and experience of practising teachers
We have already advised the Secretary of State that we need a radical overhaul of the assessment system. We know that our views are shared and endorsed by colleagues throughout the education community – because we worked with those partners to develop our proposals in the first place.
There have been some shifts in Government thinking. But they have not gone far enough. And we do not limit ourselves to giving advice and then moving on to a new topic. This issue is too important for that. We are doing our utmost to encourage the momentum for change that already exists – by your presence here today you are proof of the level of interest in this issue.
So we will talk to everyone with an interest in the topic and seek support as widely as possible. We are particularly delighted with the very positive response we have received from the Education and Skills Select Committee to our concerns on assessment. The Chairman of the Select Committee, Barry Sheerman, will be addressing you this afternoon and we also warmly welcome fellow Select Committee members David Chaytor MP, Fiona Mactaggart MP and Stephen Williams MP.
The Select Committee has given the best possible boost to our conference proceedings today by announcing, as it did yesterday, that it is to hold an Inquiry into assessment during the summer term.
We know that the Education Select Committee has a deep knowledge and understanding of the education service and that its reports pack a powerful punch. So we will do our very best to provide the Select Committee with a compelling case for change.
I am not going to stray into the detail of the need for change – you are going to give the issues a very thorough airing today, but I would like to end by saying that as an experienced classroom teacher, I have seen the distorting effects of our overloaded assessment system – on schools, on teachers and most importantly on pupils. We have now held a number of events with teachers on this topic - all around the country from Bradford to Bristol and we know that the profession is hungry for change because we want to do the very best for our children and young people – they need this change – let’s make it happen."
