Dear parent,
You’ve been given this letter by a parent who, just like you, loves and supports their child and wants the very
best for the years they spend in their early education.
You may have heard about the national Let Our Kids Be Kids campaign to keep children off school on 3rd May
in support of a SATs boycott. The person who gave you this letter is considering supporting the campaign.
They’d like you to know why. They know that it is your choice as to whether you support this campaign and
respect your decision to do what you feel is right for your child. They’d like you to have the information so you
can decide for yourself.
The key message is that this is NOT a campaign against your wonderful school or against your lovely class
teacher - it is a direct message to Nicky Morgan, Education Secretary that we've had enough of SATs testing
and Ofsted driven teaching. It is a show of support to heads and teachers everywhere that they will have
overwhelming parental enthusiasm for a boycott of SATS and a return to a curriculum based on the joy and
wonder of learning. It is a campaign to Let Our Kids Be Kids again.
The largest teaching union, NUT, is calling on Nicky Morgan to cancel SATs test in 2016. “Teachers are angry
and dismayed at the primary tests, which they believe are age inappropriate. Teachers are wasting precious
time on preparing children for tests at the expense of offering a vibrant engaging education for their pupils ”.
NUT, 2016
The government isn’t listening. Petitions have been signed, letters have been written but this government seem
determined to destroy our children’s childhoods and turn education into another privatised commodity.
Perhaps a national Kids Strike on 3rd May will show Nicky Morgan that we are IN SUPPORT of teachers in the
fight to stop the SATs? Parents have had enough too… enough of endless testing, enough of teachers not
being trusted to teach, enough of an Ofsted driven, dull, dry curriculum aimed solely at passing SATs.
Parents do not have a union to represent them but they do have Parent Power to keep children off school on
May 3rd a date has been chosen as a probable non testing day in the hope that the tests will be called off in
advance and our kids would be spared them altogether.
We started this campaign with a focus on Year 2 SATS but since then many parents have joined us in support of
a Year 6 boycott and those angry about enforced academies are also joining in on 3rd May as a direct message
to Nicky Morgan that enough is enough. Whatever you decide to do on 3d May we hope that you now have a
greater understanding of why many parents feel strongly enough to take action against the government in
support of teachers all over the country. Thanks, Let Our Kids Be Kids
https://letthekidsbekids.wordpress.com/
www.facebook.com/parentssupportteachers/
Just some of the supportive comments from our Facebook page…
"It's really hard and it's really tricky. In one lesson in phonics we had to underline all the nouns, all the verbs, all the
adverbs, all the prepositions. I don't know what that is mum. We only get free time if we've done everything and just
on a Wednesday. On my table there's like REALLY hard tests with pages and pages to read and the practice questions
are just tricky. It's boring. Some children if they don't finish everything have to miss play. It's horrible. I hate it." Six
year old child via parent
“I'm behind you all the way!! And so are all the other teachers I know!! Enough is enough! Let children be children
and not just products of society being produced to boost the economy of the future!! There will be no future if
children's mental health, happiness, creativity and independence isn't taken into consideration now!!” Teacher
"Bless you all. Thank heavens for sensible parents!” Head Teacher.
“I am writing to give my support to your campaign. For some time I have been disillusioned by the high stakes
testing regime in our schools which acts against an effective primary education. We are in total support of your
campaign and hope that it is successful.” Head Teacher