Parents support teachers - Boycott Sats - Kids' Strike May 3rd

[SuzieAllkins]

I am hoping that parents have heard of the Kids' Strike on May 3rd which has been set up by an anonymous group of parents who say 'Enough is enough'?' Their campaign supports schools in trying to reach the Government with the message that we need to stop national testing and let teachers teach in the way that they know is best. As a former primary school teacher (who used to administer Year 6 SATs) and a parent of two young children I shall be fully supporting this campaign on 3rd May by taking my school aged child out of school for a fun day of learning. I do not want my children to become stressed and develop a negative attitude to learning. Although the school my eldest attends is wonderful in developing the 'whole child', the pressure is on the teachers to 'perform' and submit figures to reach unreachable targets. It is wonderful to see, on the Letthekidsbekids website that so many head teachers and teachers are supporting this campaign and are saying thank you to parents for helping their voice to be heard. Our children are too young to be put under pressure like this - the new curriculum's demands are bewildering to me! Children at the age of 6 and 10 years are expected to know grammatical knowledge which even scholars in the subject can't answer!! These are not skills which will set our children up for life. There are many around the country who are supporting this campaign. If you haven't heard about it, check out the website to see if you'd like to join in on Tuesday!

Dd had a gymnastics accident which meant she had two days off school. There are times that absence cannot be avoided.

What kind of message does it send a child to skip school when they are healthy because their parents don't like something? Do you honestly think that MPs are going to care or notice if your child has the day off school? The school or teachers don't decide government policy. If you are unhappy with the new curriculum then either write to your MP or send your child to private school.

Writing a letter would make it clear what aspects of the new curriculum you are unhappy with. Ie is the problem with the school, your child's teacher or the curriculum? My child and her friends don't seemed stressed.

My son did the old curriculum and I don't think the new curriculum is that much harder. It's different and in someways is better.

They can if there is a favourable ballot, igoogle. It's too late for this year, but the NUT are balloting for a boycott next year when things like Year 7 resist will make them even worse.

Horsewithnoname, the Letkidsbekids board is stuffed with messages from teachers. We're not arsed about our planning and would rather look at the bigger picture here.

One of the next proposals is too make KS1 tests even more formal by using external markers. This has got to stop. So glad these parents are making themselves heard.

None of the staff in my school view the planned protest as "a long weekend" and all fully understand why parents may choose to take action. A number who have children taking SATs this year are considering joining the action and one is considering home ed.

Do you honestly think that MPs are going to care or notice if your child has the day off school?

Since it's being reported on the news and in the press, certainly. Tory education policy is well and truly unravelling, and this is just one source of protest that the press are pointing to as an indicator.

Another teacher here fully in support of this.

What the government is doing to children is causing me far more stress than my class being absent for a day.

My DC loved SATs and tests at primary school. They were gobsmackingly easy a decade ago and teachers taught to the tests rather than the potential of the children.

Children have more hours outside school than in school and can have fun and freedom then. They also get lots if that in their 6.5 hours a day, five days a week at school. Breaks, lunch times, music, PE, art, events, etc. Perhaps a little bit more time could be dedicated to learning than it is to make achievement easier.

They were gobsmackingly easy a decade ago

Sorry, that's totally irrelevant.

Really Tired as a teacher I quite like the new curriculum but the testing process this year is an absolute shambles. We were promised guidance and exemplifucation in September ...it's been published and replaced in dribs and drabs months later and Reading and Science exemplification were finally released just two weeks ago and schools selected for science testing were informed on the 26th of March.
We are receiving guidance one day which is contradicted by new guidance published the next. Sample tests are published on line one minute then removed, then tests gave to be cancelled because of "human error" ....It really seems that no one at the STA and DfE know what they are doing.

My DS(11) is in a school which has two classes of Yr 6 kids. Apart from PE and music one morning a week during teacher's PPA time they have done virtually no science, history or art. It's been bloody SPAG, maths and writing all day every day And they want the kids to stay for after school booster classes. All of a sudden the HT has found resources for intervention that would have better served the children earlier in their education. The unions should have balloted their members to boycott this year's SATs.

DH is taking DS to the Science Museum on Tuesday

I agree the testing process has been a shambles. Protesting about the fact that assessment is badly organised is different to those like Michael Rosen who want to go back to the days of whole word methods for teaching reading. If a protest is going to work and get public sympathy you have to communicate clearly what is making you unhappy.

Personally I like the emphasis on the basics. You need a strong grasp of maths and English to get anywhere in science. Incidentally my daughter is learning about the great fire of London in history and different materials in science. Both history and science can be used as a vehicle to teach numeracy and literacy.

I agree with Really Tired. It's worrying that universities are having to support students' literacy.

Students at university are more likely to have experienced the type of curriculum Michael Rosen advocates than the new curriculum. It is shocking that universities are having to lay on support for literacy skills. I do not understand how a student with weak literacy skills has got a place at university. I feel it shows that th old curriculum was failure.

Our six year olds need to master the basics whatever they choose in life.

Yes, I've heard and at Malorees Infants in London NW6 we are taking action. Several parents, including me, will keep their children at home and send a letter to the school, their local MP and the Secretary of State to explain the reason of the action. We have talked to the headteacher and the teachers and although they cannot openly support the strike, they were clear that there will be no repercussions. The SATS test is a parody, the papers have been released to schools in a shambolic manner, the focus is on a narrow curriculum, and worst of all the assessment parameters have changed and it's predicted that even the brightest children will be downmarked . Teachers and headteachers are fed up with the constant meddling of the Government. I'm not advocating to skip schools for the sake of it, but keeping a child at home for a day is not creating any problems, especially if on that day you read with them and maybe do some cultural activity. If you want to learn more about the parents' strike letthekidsbekids.wordpress.com/

If a protest is going to work and get public sympathy you have to communicate clearly what is making you unhappy.

They have masses of public support and everyone is very clear about what makes them.unhappy.

I would love the Y2 curriculum to focus on the basics - unfortunately, i have to introduce concepts that the majority are not ready for and that muddy the waters and confuses them.

feenie That's a brave letter from the HT; stating so publicly that the school will record parental 'strike' absence as "educated off site". Is that an LA directive, I wonder?

There are quite a few examples on their Facebook page - support from headteachers and teachers is very strong and matches the overwhelming support from parents.

I'm keen to know who else we can complain to about this. There's been no comment about this from DS's school, unsurprisingly, and our local MP is Nicky Morgan. We have written to her but you could play bingo with the letter she sent back to us, lots of government key phrases and no substance.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/122183

My impression is that teachers and parents are annoyed about a lot of thing from cuts in child tax credits, pensions, OFSTED being focussed on progress, social deprivation no longer seen as an excuse for under achievement, pay freezes, the phonics check, foundation stage baseline profiling and a more challenging curriculum. I don't think the protestors are clear what they want. We won't get an election until 2020 if they want Mr Corbyn ad prime minster. Even then, labour are unlikely to undo all the changes.

I think would be interesting to test children on the 2009 key stage 1 papers to see in this year year 2s do actually know more.

The 2009 papers test completely different things, so aren't comparable.

The message in the press and the media is very clear from this group.

The ballot on boycotting SATs in 2017 is very clear.

Think it's just you who's confused, tbh, reallytired.

My DS is in year 2 and about to sit the KS1 SATS, and his teacher has emphasised that there is no pressure on the kids and they don't even know that they are doing a test. Infact she said that the kids loved doing the mock "tests"and they asked for more.
My own DS likes doing the tests too and to think he's feeling any kind of pressure is laughable!
I fully support the teachers, and can understand the stress they are under with the new curriculum and the government, but IME in our school they haven't transferred this pressure onto the kids or parents.

On the other hand, a friend's DC who goes to a more "high achieving" school, gets mock test after mock test for the KS1 SATS, even had to to practise papers during the Easter hols and IS feeling the pressure.

The group complain of too much pressure and over testing. The have been tests for seven year olds for over twenty years. Doing endless practice papers is the problem rather than the tests themselves. The choice to do endless practice papers is the schools.

No, the problem is the new tests.

There is huge support at our school for this. School have confirmed that absenses will be recorded as an educational visit if parents and children go to the local protest event. The head and teachers are 100% behind it.

There is a middle ground between no grammar teaching (as was my primary school experience in the 80s/90s) and teaching 6/7yr olds to recognise past tense verbs!

"The message in the press and the media is very clear from this group."

Well; I've just looked on the BBC, Guardian, Sky news, Telegraph and Daily Mail websites and there is either nothing on there, or it's buried deep in the education section where few people (other than those already engaged) will find it. I did find it on the bottom half of UK page of the Independent though. Which might explain why no-one I spoke to at the school gates this morning knew anything about it! I've not come across it on Facebook either.

Obviously , people have heard about it, but it's clearly far from everywhere. Is there any reason why is would be more regional? Looking at the map of events on the LKBK website, my area is deserted!