Feb 05 2009
Is the Best Start Programme a Good Idea?
My daughter, along with all the other new children in the kindergarten classes, will be assessed next week as part of the ‘Best Start’ programme in the state of New South Wales.
The asessment is not meant to be a test. Instead, it is designed to find out how much each child knows in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics and communication. Once the assessment has been completed, the teachers can more effectively target learning activities that meet the individual needs of each child.
Initially, I was quite surprised that my daughter would be ‘tested’ so early in her school career. I thought it was a little too early to subject children to the pressure of tests.
However, now that I know more about the assessment, I can see the reasons behind it. There is a huge difference between a four-and-a-half year old, who has never been to pre-school and who has English as a second (or perhaps a third) language, and a six-year-old who has completed three years of pre-school and has English as a native language. It is quite possible that two such children would be in the same kindergarten class and that they would have very different needs in terms of educational activities.
So, I have concluded that it is a good idea to carry out this assessment. I haven’t mentioned it to my daughter, though, as I don’t want her to feel under any pressure to do well. I just want her to enjoy her first few weeks at school and I hope that the assessment will mean that she will be able to learn more effectively in the rest of the kindergarten year and beyond.
