A group of parents from Suffolk are planning to take their children out of school for the day in a show of protest against SATs exams.

Ipswich Star: Pupils and Students outside Bealings Primary School where they are planning to boycott classes next Tuesday as a protest against SATS.Pupils and Students outside Bealings Primary School where they are planning to boycott classes next Tuesday as a protest against SATS.

The strike on Tuesday is part of a nationwide campaign named Let Our Kids Be Kids which is calling for a return to teacher-led assessments.

More than 20 parents and their children from Bealings Primary School will spend the day in Playford Woods, walking, sketching, discovering nature, cooking and singing.

Min Clough, whose two children aged five and seven attend Bealings, said: “It is a clear message to say that we’ve had enough of SATS testing and teaching to the test. We wish to return to a curriculum based on the joy and wonder of learning.

“We do not need or want our children drilled and endlessly tested so that they can simply pass SATs.

“Teachers should be given the autonomy to teach our children to become bright and well-rounded individuals who will think freely and contribute effectively to our society and to assess them.”

Ms Clough said the boycott would be a protest against the Government’s education secretary, Nicky Morgan, and not against Bealings Primary School or its teachers.

The Let Our Kids Be Kids campaign was started by a group of parents who feel the new tests introduced this year are too difficult for Year Two children, who are aged six and seven, causing them “stress” and “confusion”.

These parents created a petition addressed to Ms Morgan asking her to put an end to a “dry” curriculum aimed solely at passing tests. It has gained more than 27,000 signatures.

Ms Clough added: “I want my children to be confident, creative, inventive, original and to love learning – I don’t want them to be able to repeat things like parrots and I am not sure I see the relevance of so much knowledge of possessive apostrophes, active nouns or embedded clauses. Bealings is a school that truly believes in the value of the joy of learning and we don’t want to see that eroded due to government policy.”

Ms Clough is calling for other parents who feel the same to make a stand on Tuesday.

Bealings Primary was not contactable for a comment.

A Department for Education spokesman said: “We have updated the Key Stage 2 tests to reflect our new, more rigorous curriculum which will help every child fulfil their potential regardless of their circumstances.

“Tests help teachers identify and provide the support pupils need as well as giving parents a picture of how their child is doing.”