Opinion: Education in Derbyshire - does it need reform?

I was quite a bright child but struggled at school. Primary school was an absolute joy, and I went to an inner-city school that wasn’t particularly known for being very good. Then I went to secondary school in the nicest area of Sheffield, and things went downhill for me. I struggled socially and lost interest in learning. No help was offered, and it wasn’t until I skipped school for a few months (without my parents' knowledge) that the school intervened.

Now I am a parent, I see it from the other angle. My daughter has struggled at times and is currently undergoing assessment for autism. The markers for being successful at school are her results in Maths and English. Why?

We are a country that is known the world over for our creative achievements - musicians, artists, directors, and writers. Yet from what I have seen so far, the availability of creative outlets seems to diminish as children move through the education system. They are in a machine, pumping out children who will leave school, hopefully, with a good grasp of the language and maths skills. I feel sorry for them.

When I look at some of the most important careers that our children can go on to do - police, nurses, teachers, social workers, etc, they need great communication skills, leadership, and empathy - all of which are the very last thing the Department for Education seems to want to offer.

I don’t blame the teachers at all, along with nurses they are one of the most underpaid and undervalued professions in the UK and I support them striking. The curriculum passed down from years of neglect from the government has left them with no choice - your children have to pass the exams, or you’re a failure.

There has been a massive rise in homeschooling in the UK. For some parents, they are realising that for their children to get a more broad and varied education as well as be happier, they have to stay at home. There have been reports of a teacher crisis, young people aren’t interested in going into teaching - it doesn’t pay well enough and the pressure isn’t worth it.

We should be allowing our primary school-aged children the freedom to learn in different ways, not for them to be assessed at every opportunity. In Scandinavian countries they don’t start their arbitrary testing until much later, some schools don’t even start testing until they are 16. Learning shouldn’t be a competition.