Kirklees teachers collect anti-Sats petition

May 7 2009 By Hazel Ettienne

TEACHERS in Kirklees are backing a national boycott of government tests for primary school pupils.

Members of Kirklees National Union of Teachers were in the centre of Huddersfield, collecting signatures for a petition to abolish the tests next year.

Many 10 and 11 year olds due to sit the tests next week, and adults also wrote down their thoughts about Sats, as part of the document which is to be sent to Gordon Brown and the Children, Schools and Families minister Ed Balls.

Hazel Danson, a Kirklees primary school teacher and National Executive Committee member, was among those talking to parents and children about Sats and giving out “Say NO to SATs” balloons.

Hazel put forward the motion, passed unanimously at the NUT National Conference at Easter, committing the Union to organise for a boycott of the primary tests in 2010.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) also opposes Sats and passed an identical motion at their Conference last Saturday.

Ms Danson said: “Teacher assessment should form the basis of National Curriculum Testing for key stages one, two and three.

“Teachers have always known and cared about the progress of their pupils. Sats are bad for children and for education. Schools feel pressured to spend ridiculous amounts of time preparing for tests and coaching children on border lines instead of teaching children and helping them develop a love of learning.”