Thousands of parents consider withdrawing primary school children from Sats exams over mental health concerns

‘Too many of our children and young people at school are experiencing failure after failure after failure. This is just unethical and immoral’

Primary school pupils in Bristol, England. Matt Cardy/Getty Images (Getty)

Parents across the country are preparing to withdraw their 10 and 11-year-olds from tests over concerns about their mental health.

Families are becoming increasingly worried about the number of practice papers and revision classes that Year 6 children face during the Easter holidays, The Independent understands.

Thousands of parents have downloaded a letter which sets out plans to stop their children from taking the Sats exams next month because of the “pressures of a high stakes testing system”.

It comes as teaching unions warned about the “damaging” impact of assessments in primary school.

Just last week, the National Education Union (NUT section) voted to explore ways of disrupting the pilots of the government’s new literacy and numeracy tests for four-year-olds.

A spokesperson for campaign group Let Our Kids Be Kids told The Independent: “Teaching unions are right to suggest there’s a moral basis for boycotting these high stakes tests – so widely recognised as being pointless and damaging – but parents want action now.

“Parents are furiously sharing photos of practice Sats papers that 10-year-olds are sent home with and teachers are describing the frustration they feel at being ignored by the government.”

Last month, Anne Milton, skills minister, wrote in an answer to a parliamentary question that “children attending school are not legally required to sit the national key stage tests”.

Following these comments, Let Our Kids Be Kids has published a template Sats withdrawal letter for parents to send to their school – and it has already been downloaded more than 2,000 times.

“As my child’s headteacher I understand that you have a duty of care for my child. I urge you understand my desire to put the wellbeing of children ahead of school data,” the letter says.

It adds: “The professionals whom I trust to educate my child are deeply concerned about the primary curriculum and the associated tests.

“It would be irresponsible of me as a parent not to express my concern … Any action I take is in support of teachers and schools and for an overhaul of a broken system.”

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: “Parents are very concerned about the amount of teaching time that is being taken up with Sats preparation.

“I have had feedback from parents complaining that their children are coming home for their Easter holidays with massive amounts of past papers to practise on.

“And that the test is just seen as dominating the whole of their lives when they are in school – and at home at the weekend and in the evenings. That can’t be right.”

She added that the system had become more pressured because of accountability pressures from government.

Earlier this year, Nick Gibb, the schools standards minister, said children should take tests earlier on to help them cope with exam-related mental health problems in later life.

Mr Gibb told a joint hearing of the Education and Health Committees that exam pressure had always been a part of school life and had always led to anxiety among young people.

Dr Bousted added: “The Right will say pressure is good for children because it prepares you for life. But that is not true. Resilience isn’t built up by failure. Too many of our children and young people at school are experiencing failure after failure after failure. This is just unethical and immoral.”

“There has been an explosion in child and adolescent mental health and I think much of that is related back to the pressure we are putting them under when they can’t stand it.”

Children’s mental health will be a key focus of the annual conference of the ATL section of the National Education Union in Liverpool, which starts today.

A motion on the increasing incidence of suicide among young people is set to question whether assessment has contributed to the experience of “hopelessness” among young people.

Joanne Boofty, a mother of two primary school children, told The Independent that she decided to move her 11-year-old out of the state school system to ensure she did not have to do Sats.

She said: “They were teaching towards the Sats and she was already talking about them in Year 1. We just told her it was league table stuff and not to worry about it.”

And Ms Boofty, who is a secondary school teacher in Hove, plans to withdraw her five-year-old from future exams in his state school.

She said: “I want to teach my child the love of learning. [Sats] put everyone under extreme pressure.”

Rowan Davies, head of policy and campaigns at parenting forum Mumsnet, said: “We see quite a lot of unrest about some children finding Sats extremely stressful.

“One of the most common complaints is that the whole of Year 6 is pulled out of shape by the looming tests, so simply avoiding the test dates doesn’t necessarily deal with the root of the problem.

She added: “It’s notable, though, that wholehearted support for the current Sats system is pretty rare among Year 6 parents on our forums.”

Schools could start to receive the Sats withdrawal letter from parents this week as pupils in some areas of the country return from the Easter break.

James Bowen, director of NAHT Edge middle leaders’ union, said it was “highly unlikely” that parents would be fined for a “short one-off absence” – such as withdrawal from Sats.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Thanks to our reforms and the hard work of teachers, 1.9 million more children are in good and outstanding schools than in 2010. The Key Stage 2 tests are vital in helping to ensure children are learning to read, write and add up well, which lays the foundations for success at secondary school and beyond.

“We trust schools not to put undue pressure on pupils when administering these assessments, and certainly not at the expense of their wellbeing.”