Head wants Sats scrapped after pupils 'broken'

A head teacher is calling for Sats to be scrapped after she said her primary school pupils were left "broken" by their latest test.

Kerry Forrester, from Tarporley CE Primary School, in Cheshire, said there were tears from many of the children.

She has written an open letter to her local MP, Edward Timpson, and said in an accompanying tweet "Sats must go".

The assessments have a "vital role" in tracking pupils' progress, a Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said.

Ms Forrester's post on Twitter has been retweeted more than 900 times and drawn hundreds of comments, many supportive and one described it as a "heartbreaking" letter.

Year 6 children at the school sat their reading test paper on Thursday and Ms Forrester described them as "all capable readers".

But when they opened it "they were broken", "tears flowed" and "stress levels rose", she said.

"This was the most challenging reading test I have seen in my 29 years as a teacher and my 14 years as a head teacher," Ms Forrester wrote.

Sats are a series of tests in English, Science and Maths used to measure how children in Year 2 and 6 are doing in English primary schools.

Pupils put themselves "under immense pressure" to do well in them and it has a "negative impact" on their mental health and wellbeing, the head teacher added.

Ms Forrester said she wanted a "more balanced approach to education" and called on Mr Timpson, the Conservative MP for Eddisbury, to take action on the issue.

Mr Timpson said he was contacted by several local head teachers about the difficulty children faced with the Year 6 Sats reading paper.

"[I] have sent their correspondence directly to the secretary of state for education, as I know this is a more widespread concern," he added.

The assessments were used to identify pupils who may have fallen behind in their education and need extra support, the DfE spokesperson said.

"It's important that schools encourage pupils to do their best but preparing for these exams should not be at the expense of their wellbeing," they added.