PUPIL testing has become a bitter battle between those charged with the responsibility of shaping young minds and politicians who argue it is necessary for accountability.

As 11-year-olds across the country get ready to sit the Key Stage 2 Sats, members of the National Association of Headteachers have threatened to boycott the exams next year despite protests from ministers. ELIZABETH PEARS finds out why one headteacher in Haringey would like to see the tests scrapped for good.

Last week Evelyn Davies, headteacher at Coldfall Primary School, in Coldfall Avenue, Muswell Hill, supported by MP for Hornsey and Wood Green Lynne Featherstone, went to visit Jim Knight, minister for schools, to share her thoughts about the controversial tests. She took with her the results of a survey which showed that 90 per cent of parents who responded, were also opposed to testing.

Ms Davies said: "Parents come up to me in the playground and tell me how stressed their children are about the exams. There is a pressure to do well and the children feel it. A few parents have asked if they can withdraw their children from sitting them. They can’t because it is a statutory requirement."

She adds: "My main concern is that it is not appropriate for young children. They should love learning. A number of children taking Sats say they hate it."

Year 6 pupils sit three exams in core subjects of English, maths and science which combined takes up to five-and-a-half hours to complete and are marked by an independent body.

The Government requirement is that the average pupil should achieve a Level 4.

Results are often used by secondary schools to stream pupils and place them into different sets according to ability. It is also used to compile 'league tables' which often becomes a measure of how well a school is doing.

"Sats is an attempt to quantify an entire primary education with just a few limiting tests. It is not an accurate reflection on how pupils have developed", Ms Davies said.

The "high stakes nature" of Sats results means pupils’ final year in primary school is completely focused towards preparation for the Sats, said Ms Davies, though at Coldfall teachers try to use the first half of the day for revision with creative lessons in the afternoon.

She added: "Learning how to answer questions in a certain way is not learning. The pupils do not enjoy it and teachers don’t enjoy teaching it. Many teachers do not want to take on Year 6."

Ed Balls, schools secretary, has acted on calls from teachers to reform the current system — but will not abolish the Sats completely. The body of experts are expected to recommend swapping traditional exams in favour of investigations and assessment by classroom teachers.

The National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) and the National Union of Teachers say if the changes are not satisfactory, they are prepared to vote on whether or not they will start Sats preparation in September. A ballot found that 94 per cent of NAHT members back the motion.

Mick Brookes, general secretary of the NAHT, confirmed a letter for parents who children are due to take the tests next year would be sent out "fairly soon."

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, said: "Something is terribly wrong when you have primary school children being made ill from the stress of these tests. Whilst not fully representative – this survey is a good straw poll of what parents think.

"With the testing regime currently under review, it was a good time for the minister to hear what the real experts have to say. It is vitally important that politicians never become disconnected from the reality of what goes on in schools."