Bexley mum slams 'soul-destroying' over-examination as she takes son, five, on primary school pupils strike

More than 48,000 people have now signed a petition, created by teachers, to boycott the controversial Year 2 Sats – whilst scores of parents kept their kids off as part of the Let Our Kids Be Kids campaign.

Mum-of-two Kirsty Meekings, a child minder, spent the day in Bostall Woods with five other families, to protest against the tests and allow their kids to make nature art and enjoy the outdoors.

Mrs Meekings, who has a two-year-old daughter and five-year-old son, told News Shopper: “We do not agree with the increase in difficulty.

“I feel children are cramming for the Sats which they wouldn’t have done in the past.

“I do not have a problem with raising the standards if they are useful, but I do not feel this year’s Sats are like that.

“I will be incredibly concerned for my son’s health and mental wellbeing if this carries on.

“We have got a lot of guinea pigs at the bottom of the school, which is not really fair on our children.

“My son was taken out of science and art lessons to do extra phonics. He was coming home upset, saying ‘I don’t understand science anymore’.

“These are crucial building blocks they are missing out on.”

The 34-year-old former teacher said the strike was not about protesting against specific schools, but the government’s policies.

Mrs Meekings added: “One woman who came along, her family is Danish.

“They do not start school until they are six, but they top the achievement tables and also the happiness survey.

“Why treat our kids like robots and then suicide rates are higher?

“I would like to see more teacher assessments conducted, and the first formal testing at the end of Year 6.

“Anyone can see the statistics, it doesn’t help anyone and the children aren’t any better as a result.

“It takes out all the creativity. I would much rather my son came home and told me about a story he had written.

“It’s just soul destroying. You can see the pressure the children are under.”

Meanwhile, former children’s laureate Chris Riddell wrote an open letter to education secretary Nicky Morgan, published in the Guardian, in support of the strikes.

He warned kids were being put through “hell” with testing.

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However, the chief inspector of schools defended the Sats, saying they were crucial in identifying kids falling behind in essential subjects such as maths and English.

Sir Michael Wilshaw added: “Children who fall behind in the early years of their education struggle to catch up in later years.

“If by the age of seven, a child has not mastered the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics, the odds will be stacked against them for the rest of their lives.

“This is especially the case for poorer children.”