School children across England are on strike today in row over SATS exams for 6 year olds

School children of 6 and 7 years old are on strike across England today in protest against SATS exams.

The controversial exams have caused widespread upset amongst parents and teachers alike, leading to a petition against the exams getting more than 40,000 signatures so far.

The petition and strike have been organised by the Let Our Kids Be Kids campaign, which calls for an end to the over-testing of children and too much emphasis being placed on exam results and league tables. Many parents taking part in the protest feel that their children are getting over stressed at increasingly young ages, and the impact is that they are left disengaged with school altogether, which will have a huge negative impact on their education.

Some parents have reported that their children have been losing sleep and breaking down in tears over the SATS exams and that their is no evidence that the exams improve education at all.

The Government doesn’t agree though, and instead claims the tests are vital to ensure children gain basic literacy and numeracy skills.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said: “These tests are vital in helping schools to ensure that young children are learning to read, write and add up well. If they don’t master literacy and numeracy early on, they risk being held behind and struggling for the rest of their lives.”

What do you think? should children start getting tested as young as 6 years old or should school take a more relaxed approach and not start the tests until later? Let us know in the comments section below or on the Facebook page.