LET OUR KIDS BE KIDS
Dear Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for Education
I am writing to explain why Pevensey Bay Life will be joining the parents of Pevensey and Westham Junior School whose children will be absent from their school on Tuesday 3rd May, to be alongside them at Abbots Wood in Polegate on that day as part of their national protest.
A great number of parents nationwide are growing extremely concerned by the attitude taken by the Government towards the education of our children. We feel strongly that initiatives such as constant and early testing and academisation are being implemented without due consideration for the implications, and that as a result our children face unnecessary testing and a curriculum that limits enjoyment and real understanding.
In particular we feel that the KS1 National Curriculum tests represent a needless pressure on children as young as 6, who in many cases are not yet readyeducationally or emotionallyfor such testing.
In many countries these children would not yet have started school; here we condemn them to tests that have the potential to convince them that they have already failed in their school career. The tests are too hard, given too early an d seem to hold no value for the child. With the current concerns over the mental health of our teens, it seems amazing that our Government would encourage children to begin feeling the stress of exam pressure and results at such an early age.
It would seem that currently our children are seen merely as numbers to the government; data on a page to be assessed. But that is not the case. These are our children and they are individuals.
What we ask is that teachers be allowed the autonomy to teach our children in the way they know will develop an enthusiasm for learning, wonder of the world and a real,embedded understanding of the skills they will need in the future. We want our children to be allowed to enjoy learning and to develop a lifelong passion for it rather than feeling they are stifled and demotivated through continuous and unnecessary testing.
It seems that we have reached a point where action needs to be taken; we are aware that some teaching unions will be balloting members with a view to boycott the upcoming ‘SATS’ and hope that you and your colleagues will be a part of this –an action that would receive huge backing from parents across the UK. However, we also feel that it is time that parents join teachers in taking a stand. These are our children and we must stand up for their rights.
As such, a day of protest by parents,‘LET OUR KIDS BE KIDS’,is supporting the actions of parents who choose to withdraw their children from school on Tuesday 3rdMay 2016 for a day of ‘fun learning’ in opposition to the KS1 National Curriculum tests. This we hope will send a message to the Government about the serious concerns held by so many parents with regard to the prescriptive methods currently used to teach our children.
This will likewise send the message that we are fully prepared to boycott the upcoming test also.
We also hope that this will demonstrate to teachers the support available to them from parents across the country. This is NOT an attack on teachers for whom we have the greatest respect; instead we want this protest to demonstrate the trust that we have in the teaching profession and our desire, surely the same as your own, that teachers be allowed to teach effectively and without constant constraint in order to embed a life-long love oflearning in our children.
These exceptional circumstances I feel provide a worthy reason for Pevensey Bay Life to be joining the parents of Pevensey and Westham Junior School whose children will be absent from their school on Tuesday 3rd May, to be alongside them at Abbots Wood in Polegate on that day, an absence by the childern of the school which I hope you feel able to endorse fully.
Kind regards,
Simon Montgomery, editor Pevensey Bay Life
. . .
BA Hons, English (Sussex, 1978), PGCE (Sussex 1979)
teacher, 36 years
LET OUR KIDS BE KIDS
with thanks to local parent, Elizabeth Nicholson, for use of her template letter to schools as part of the national protest: TEMPLATE LETTER TO SCHOOLS, 3 May Absence letter
