Opinion: Letters

HOW DOES IT MATTER?

I wholeheartedly agree with Margaret Edgington's open letter to Beverley Hughes (Opinion, 28 May). I felt an identical disturbing reaction to Progress Matters. I believe the tick-box method emphasises perceived levels of under-attainment - what a child has not yet been assessed as achieving, rather than the more positive approach of celebrating each individual's achievements. Is it helpful to parents or practitioners to share children's records of 'progress' where a child has been assessed at a level below that described for their age, in the Development Matters guidance?

Before Progress Matters I wondered why OpenEye was making such a fuss over the EYFS, as we have found it not to be over-prescriptive and actually a helpful and supportive framework. Progress Matters adds a deeply worrying, Orwellian dimension to it. In this context, what is the meaning of 'Matters', that extremely overused term? I am left with several questions. What is Progress? How on earth do we measure it objectively against the Development Matters (that word again) targets, goals or aspirations? Who does this progress matter to - children, parents, practitioners, local authorities, the government? What is anyone going to do with this information? I start to imagine league tables for nurseries, training in how to base-line a three-month-old and initiatives to improve progress. Where will it all end?