Stop SATs in 2017

To improve the British Education for our pupils and reduce mental health issues on the part of adults and pupils

There are so many flaws with the current assessment system and it tests the most narrow aspects of attainment. The whole purpose of primary education needs a root and branch review.

I signed this petition as I see the impact of high stakes testing on schools, colleagues and above all on pupils. Schools are forced to narrow the curriculum in order to ensure that pupils receive enough English and Maths teaching to enable them to 'prove' that they are capable readers and writers. I see teachers drowning under the pressures of daily changes to expectations and I see children pressured by expectations of parents, losing a love of learning in the years that they should be fostering it.

I signed this petition because, whilst I firmly believe in the need for effective assessment of pupil progress, our current SATs system is too challenging for many pupils who are made to feel like they have 'failed' at an age where they are extremely vulnerable to being turned off education completely. Sadly, and very regrettably, many colleagues have felt forced to tailor their curriculum and teaching style to SATs preparation and this is, again, turning off many of our young learners. I believe in rigour and high standards, but such is the pressure on me as a Headteacher to achieve even more demanding results that I feel my health (mental and physical) is suffering and I am giving serious thought to leaving the profession I love. I do not exaggerate the case and I do not say this lightly. PLEASE DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE.
Thank you.

The whole system is in chaos and children are not being served properly, parents are being misinformed about their child's true achievements, and due to the link between sats outcomes and ofsted outcomes, Heads are losing their livelihood and facing humiliation on the basis of spurious test outcomes.

I totally agree that the tests were chaos this year and many of our children were extremely upset as they found them far too hard.

What is happening in schools is not putting the needs of the children first - mental health needs are escalating and children see themselves as failing when facing tests which do not test true understanding - maths tests in particular flies in the face of academic research - we have gone back 20 years to teaching children rules without understanding -

It isn't only the SATs that we need to boycott; there needs to be a boycott of the entire poorly-designed, ill-conceived curriculum that has been forced upon us and our children. The whole system from curriculum to assessment without levels to the tests to progress measures is nothing short of a total joke. We have gone from a Primary system to be proud of to one that must be the laughing stock of the rest of the world at huge cost to the children's self esteem and staff confidence and morale. After a career of passionately working to improve the life chances of my children never have I wanted to leave education more than I do currently. I'm still fighting against a ridiculous system imposed by those who have never taught but every day that fight is extinguished a little bit more by the combined efforts of the Government, Ofsted, HMI and the DFE. Nothing makes any logical sense, nothing fits. The whole system is one whereby we are being asked to fit square pegs into round holes and no matter how many discussions we all have, the square pegs won't fit in the round holes. Give us back our curriculum, our levels, our language of assessment so that as a group of professionals we can communicate effectively with each other and with our children and with their parents for the academic good of all children in this country and aim improvements where they belong, at the secondary sector (with notable exceptions) many of whom have been allowed to fail our young people for decades.

I have been in teaching since 1984 and remember a time with no SATs where teaching was spontaneous and fun.
Although in our school we aim to give the children a broad and balanced curriculum with lots of enriching experiences, we are judged against school that restrict the children's experiences just to be able to achieve as many 'working at greater depth' as possible. I'm fed up with it. My two children have both gone into secondary teaching and I see they really struggle to have any real balance in their lives.

These tests are detrimental to pupils learning. They cause a high level of anxiety to the children & an inordinate amount of pressure on teachers & schools

I agree with all the concerns in this petition and it is time for this damaging system to be put aside and the learning needs of each pupil be at the forefront of educational policy.

Certainly something needs to be done so that those who somehow appear to think they know best are asked to face the actual harm they do to the mental well being of those in schools,children,teachers and parents....This is not about not being bothered about standards. BUT it is the way some people think it is OK just to pick a standard out of the sky and say,''That is the standard for today'',...No surprise that the so call National Standard for 2014/15 was in excess of 80% in 2015/16 it has dropped dramatically so were the children academically SO much worse than the year before....this is not what should happen so who takes the responsibility for this at the highest level in Government or do they wait to brush it under the carpet again.... AND then blame schools once again BECAUSE it can't be their fault and we need someone to blame....No wonder more Heads are saying enough is enough and leaving too early and that we are losing the next generation of teachers who we are training and they are leaving for other jobs or to work abroad...A fantastic resource we are losing....So sad for our children and grandchildren

I signed this petition because what has been going on in schools has to stop.

A complete shambles of a system that harms not only the mental well-being of our already fragile children but that of staff and parents too.

There is too much pressure on teachers and children, the tests are not realistic for the age of the children. I'm not against tests as long as they are appropriate and not a tool with which to beat the teaching profession.

I want teachers to teach.