The Evening Post reported on May 10th that half of primary schools would be boycotting the tests that began that day. The reality now the tests are ‘over’ is even better with about 75% of Notts primary schools reported by the BBC as having supported the boycott.

Notts NUT would like to congratulate all those primary heads, NUT and NAHT, for backing the boycott and showing the level of opposition to the testing regime. Any league tables now produced from the data available will be totally meaningless - they should not be published.

Sadly the struggle against SATs is not over yet. There are still many people in authority who appear to believe SATs have some educational value and provide important information to parents. And the new government thinks likewise.

We all know that SATs are bad for children, bad for education and bad for teachers. They narrow the curriculum, encourage teaching to the test and result in divisive and potentially misleading league tables.

The NAHT survey  earlier this year revealed that 87% of parents want an end to testing but it is now clear that the new government intends to ignore this so as to continue the pointless and divisive system of education which pitches pupil against pupil and school against school. As a result of the Government’s continued intransigence and unreasonable stance on this matter Notts NUT members will continue to take to the streets of Nottingham and Mansfield to seek support for our campaign against SATs. We will not stops until the SATs nightmare is over. It is difficult to find a single member of the public with anything positive to say about the Government’s testing regime. And the stories told to us by children and parents about the extreme stress caused by these tests is heart wrenching.So we see it as our duty to continue this campaign until schools are SATs-Free Zones.

Support for our campaign is also growing amongst academics, authors and celebrities. We’ve been delighted by the messages of support we’ve received during August. As author Philip Pullman says of SATs, “They should be put away at once. Children, their teachers, their schools, and society itself will all eventually feel the benefit.” Michael Rosen, the former Children’s Laureate, simply said, “abolish the SATs, they are utterly useless.”

We encourage NUT members to get in touch with us about this campaign and if

possible join us on one of the stalls in Nottingham or Mansfield. To find out more contact a local officer by phone or email from the contacts page on this website. Dates and times for future stalls will be posted here when agreed after September 2010.