Heads down, tools at the ready

20th April 2007, 1:00am

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Heads down, tools at the ready

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/heads-down-tools-ready
SAM Learning User Pack. Online Sats revision pack in English, maths and science for key stages 1 to 3. To book a consultation call 0845 130 4160. School licences pound;900 to pound;1,900. www.samlearning.com

Don’t be put off by the cumbersome folder aimed at facilitating training (it lacks the idiots’ guide that I would have welcomed); the website is accessible and well organised. The lack of graphics and sound effects could be its selling point.

This makes the resource quicker and easier to navigate and will keep children thinking about curriculum content. Particularly in the maths activities, the SAM materials provide a plain course of Sats revision action.

Like any online resource for Sats, the activities can only cover basic facts. Dragging and dropping answers into boxes won’t evaluate and engage with children’s thinking.

Isn’t it a shame that the plainness of a resource makes it something to recommend? That’s not the fault of the resource, which is, sadly, well matched to the test-focused system in which we operate

Huw Thomas is head of Emmaus Primary School, Sheffield

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