Has Jim Knight, schools minister, been taking advice from the Church of England on responding to tricky questions posed by teachers or independently minded MPs?
The thought occurs in the wake of last week’s report from the House of Commons children, schools and families select committee on assessment, which criticised the testing regime.
Published evidence shows how Mr Knight tried, when questioned on the subject, to dismiss concerns that testing made children anxious.
He argued: “I think that life has its stresses, and that it is worth teaching a bit about that in school.”
Now comes news that the Church is publishing prayers that teachers and pupils can use during the exam period.
One of them reads: “God of all time, we are in the midst of stressful times. Give us grace to see that it is the making of our success, the making of our characters, the making of our real selves.”
Mr Knight’s religious views are unclear. But have his prayers, that someone would support the Government in the testingleague tablestargets debate, been answered?
