The NUT and NAHT joint campaign to end SATs is something we all need to focus our energies on over the coming months, especially as both unions plan to ballot members for a SATs boycott if the government fails to listen to reason by scrapping the SATs. 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.

Notts NUT believes that this is a good time for a campaign because we know that parents are in agreement with us that SATs are dominating their children’s lives and their education. Notts NUT members have already been out on the streets of Nottingham and Mansfield to seek support for our campaign and quite frankly the response has been overwhelming. 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.

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.”

It is vital for the success of this campaign that, if the government refuses to change its mind and we are forced to ballot to boycott SATs in 2010 , members vote for the boycott and raise the profile of the campaign by talking to colleagues, parents and governors.

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. Below you can see some pictures of the stalls held at the end of the Summer Term and beginning of the Autmn Term 2009.