(1) It’s Monday afternoon and Kate Turner is teaching a class of 11- and 12-year-olds French. Last week they wrote a set of descriptive sentences about animals and today they’re going to turn their descriptions into picture books.
(2) “Once you’ve finished with your sentences, you’re going to illustrate them to reflect what you’ve written,” she tells the class.
Silence.
“Any questions?”
A hand pops up.
“Do we have to draw the pictures? Can’t we just write the sentences?”
“You need to draw the pictures as well. You’re making a picture book, remember?”
“But I can’t draw, Miss.”
(3) A ripple of agreement spreads around the room. Heads shake. One boy goes under his desk and refuses to come out for 10 minutes. Kate spends the lesson encouraging and cajoling them to give it a try.
(4) The trouble is, they’re right. Most of them can’t draw. Their illustrations wouldn’t look out of place in a reception classroom when kids are four or five and just start school. Cats, cows, pigs and mice all appear the same – round heads and bodies drawn with four stick legs poking out. And it isn’t just this particular class. With few exceptions, the pattern is repeated in every year group that we all teach. And this is already middle school.
(5) According to the primary national curriculum, we should be teaching children to become “proficient in drawing”. But what’s going on in actuality? “There just aren’t enough hours in the day,” says the school principal. “And that’s the end of that.”
(6) It’s not just art. Music is sidelined too, as are languages. Children are removed from French lessons for extra reading and writing interventions; school productions are shelved due to lack of practice time; opportunities for drama are reduced to the odd English lesson.
(7) And why is it all happening? Teachers are under pressure to improve outcomes for reading, writing and maths, particularly in year groups where SATs (standard assessment tests) are the only tool for assessing children.
(8) Most teachers find themselves in that position, being forced to make changes to timetables they’d rather not. Every January they would sit down together with their colleagues and take a red pen to the timetable they’d carefully crafted in September, replacing music with extra comprehension or swapping French or any other foreign language for additional spelling sessions.
(9) In a recent survey, 97% of the union’s teachers agreed that SATs preparation did not support children’s access to a broad and balanced curriculum, saying the time taken to prepare children for assessment in maths and English has squeezed out other subjects and activities. The problem doesn’t stop when our children leave primary. The proportion of 13 up to 15- and 16-year-olds taking subjects like music and drama has fallen to its lowest level in 10 years. The study of
GCSE1 modern foreign languages at is also in decline.
(10) Most teachers feel strongly that our schools are missing a trick. Feversham Primary Academy in Bradford recently made headlines for its focus on teaching the arts, particularly music, drama and art into every part of the school day. Seven years ago Feversham was in special measures and making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Today it is rated “good” by Ofsted and is in the top 10% nationally for pupil progress in reading, writing and maths, according to the most recent data.
(11) Improving outcomes aside, Kate Turner and lots of other teachers worry about the message we’re sending our children when we push arts and languages into the background. They say we’re creating a gulf between children whose parents can afford to take them to private music lessons, language clubs or the theatre, and those whose access comes mainly through the school curriculum.
(12) But more than all this, we should all remember an Einstein quote – the one that says that if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will spend its life thinking it is stupid. There are children who struggle to read but come to life on the stage. There are those who just can’t concentrate at other lessons but will sit and paint for an hour without leaving their seat. If our schools are only interested in children’s progress and attainment in a limited range of subjects, how can we ever hope to build on the potential of those whose strengths lie elsewhere?
(13) The trouble is that creativity, increased confidence or a love of the arts aren’t easily measured through standardized tests, data analysis or league tables. Maybe that’s why, ultimately, certain subjects are sidelined. Perhaps this may sound idealistic, but this is an issue that bothers teachers today. And it should bother school leaderships and government too.

In Kate Turner's classroom the kids are tasked to
1. write sentences using words denoting animals.
2. create pictures to accompany their writings.
3. write sentences to illustrate the given pictures.
4. create a picture book for the whole class.
What is the kids' reaction like to the task they get?
1. They are unwilling to do it.
2. They eagerly agree to fulfill the task.
3. They encourage each other to do it.
4. They stay indifferent to the task.
The words “reception classroom” in Paragraph 4 refer to
1. the class Kate Turner is teaching.
2. the opening class of a new subject.
3. the first class in primary school.
4. the class that starts a new academic year.
What is the main idea expressed in the text?
1. Teaching basic skills is given priority over creative classes.
2. French classes need more hours to practice writing and reading.
3. Drama classes are taught in the English language only.
4. Language classes should be substituted by drama and music classes.
Which sentence is NOT TRUE about the way teachers deal with their timetables?
1. Teachers are not eager to change the timetables they made at the start of the academic year.
2. Teachers integrate extra classes to prepare students for SATs into their timetables.
3. Teachers have to adjust their timetables for students to achieve better scores at exams.
4. Teachers have to substitute a number of classes in favour of SATs subjects.
According to the research, the situation with arts and languages in primary and secondary school
1. has greatly improved.
2. has got much worse.
3. has remained the same.
4. has got slightly better.
The example of Feversham Primary Academy shows that
1. the focus on creativity has improved results across the school.
2. the focus on creativity has improved results across the school.
3. Ofsted will encourage teaching arts on a daily basis at school.
4. the school is largely praised by the printed media.
Teachers think that limiting arts and language classes
1. leaves more time for family communication.
2. gives students more free time.
3. divides students into social strata.
4. provides students with more choice.
What is the meaning of the quote by A. Einstein?
1. We can’t judge everyone on the same scale.
2. Children should try themselves in different fields.
3. Some children have an inborn talent for the arts.
4. There are students who never succeed at school.
What is the main idea expressed in the text?
1. The main aim of schools is to get top results at exams by all means.
2. Schools should have an individual approach to every student.
3. Art, music and drama should be optional subjects at school.
4. Standardized tests should not be used for assessing students' abilities and skills.

Reading 1