01_R_SATs strike

SATs strike: Teachers [blank_start]turn[blank_end] blind eye to absences as thousands of children miss school in protest Thousands of absences were [blank_start]overlooked[blank_end] by headteachers as parents took their children out of school in protest over tough new exams. A nationwide protest led by the campaign group, Let Our Kids Be Kids, was supported by school [blank_start]leaders[blank_end] after more than 45,000 people [blank_start]signed[blank_end] a petition calling for a boycott of national primary school tests set for this month. Parents of the primary school children argue the new examinations set for Year 2 pupils in particular are “inappropriately complex” and [blank_start]place[blank_end] too much pressure on children. While parents can face fines of £120 for taking a child out of school without permission, several teachers have spoken out in support of the one-day strike, during which families took part in “fun outdoor learning” activities such as nature [blank_start]trails[blank_end], picnics and art workshops. At the National Association of Head Teachers' (NAHT) conference in Birmingham last weekend, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said the campaign was “damaging”. “Keeping children home – even for a day – is harmful to their education and I think it [blank_start]undermines[blank_end] how hard you as heads are working. I [blank_start]urge[blank_end] those running these campaigns to reconsider their actions,” she said. But the school leaders’ union said almost all primary school leaders in the country believed the government’s testing regime to be “chaotic and distracting”, adding that the exams had become “little more than a box ticking exercise for bureaucrats”. “The government likes SATs because they allow them to [blank_start]rank[blank_end] schools against each other. Many parents don’t really [blank_start]value[blank_end] this kind of information, especially when choosing a school for their kids.” Schools Minister Nick Gibb faced [blank_start]scrutiny[blank_end] on Tuesday after failing to answer a SAT level literacy question designed for six and seven year olds. Appearing on BBC Radio 4's World At One, Mr Gibb was questioned over concerns among parents that the tests were too [blank_start]prescriptive[blank_end] and risked putting children off reading. Radio 4 presenter Martha Kearney asked: “Let me give you this sentence: 'I went to the cinema after I'd eaten my dinner'. Is the word 'after' there being used as a subordinating conjunction or as a preposition?” When the minister apparently answered the question incorrectly, he said: “This isn't about me. This is about [blank_start]ensuring[blank_end] that future generations of children – unlike me incidentally, who was not taught grammar at primary school – we need to make sure that future generations are taught grammar properly.”