ANGRY South Lakes parents protesting exam pressure on primary children boycotted school for a day.

Dozens of pupils attended alternative learning activities in the area on Tuesday organised by those involved with the nationwide Let our Kids be Kids campaign.

The campaign was organised in support of teachers and schools pressured by the government to teach children using an 'Ofsted driven, dull, dry curriculum aimed solely at passing SATs'.

Diane Birks organised an event in Serpentine Woods, Kendal, offering children the opportunity to build dens, take part in an alphabet trail, make sculptures and do a scavenger hunt.

"The day went really well. We were blown away by the amount of people that turned up. We had 114 people there at one point," she said.

"We have had people coming up to us and saying well done for doing it. We just decided to do it and had our fingers crossed that people would turn up.

"Word of mouth is a great thing when people are passionate about something."

Another event in the South Lakes took place in Grasmere park and saw 27 pupils from Grasmere primary school attend.

Becky Heaton Cooper, who organised the event, said: "I think it was an amazing day. There are thousands of people all over the country who feel disgruntled as a parent like I do."

The Let our Kids be Kids campaign was set up to oppose the government imposed curriculum which focuses on literacy and numeracy, with major importance placed on SATs results.

Those campaigning feel that expectations on primary school pupils are too high, and that the curriculum should focus on helping children to enjoy learning.

At the event in Serpentine Woods were Vicarage Park school pupils Bethan Lachmann and Maddi Birks, who also felt that school was too pressured.

"We just do the same things again and again. We practice for SATs all the time," said Maddi. "I'd like schools not to have to make a big deal out of them. Every day we have to come to school to do more and more tests."

Bethan added: "We had to miss PE to do hard maths. Sometimes we have lots of tests in the same day."

Support for the boycott from parents was vocal. Catherine Blyth, whose children attend Ghyllside Primary School in Kendal was in Serpentine Woods.

"I was at the event because I feel really strongly about what is going on at schools," she said. "I work in a school and education is not just about SATs. However the government is making it like that at the moment.

"I feel that children are being pushed to be tested too quickly and we need to say something about it."

However other parents have come out in opposition to the boycott, and hold the opinion that the government knows best when it comes to organising childrens' education.

Erika McKay, whose child is in reception at a school in Kendal, said: "I know a lot of parents who feel strongly that SATs are important. They keep check of standards.

"I 100 per cent support SATs even though my child is the youngest in the class. The government education system is a good thing and testing is a good thing.

"I didn't feel I needed to send my child to private school because the government is making such progress and taking state education in the right direction."

Schools in the South Lakes have stressed that they do their best to provide children with holistic learning experiences, however feel the pressure to meet targets dictated by exam success.

"There's no doubt that when the government looks to hold schools to account, one of the first places they look is at the test results," said Stramongate primary school headteacher Michael Poole.

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"However, schools and parents all agree that schools are much more than just academic places and children are much more than just their SATs results."

Peter Hicks, headteacher of Heron Hill Primary School in Kendal, said: "Fifty-nine children were absent from Heron Hill on Tuesday as a result of the ‘Let our Kids be Kids’ campaign. It is a shame that it has come to this, where parents feel they have to demonstrate in this way.

"I agree with parents that overly testing young children can be a negative experience for them. Unfortunately though, the Government's Department for Education considers test results to be of great importance and, through Ofsted, judges schools mainly on test data.

"The implications of low test scores can be hugely damaging for the school, often meaning they can be labelled as failing schools without the wider positive work of the school being taken into account.

"The government tells us often enough that parental choice is very important and that parents should be able to choose which school they send their children to. Surely then, it follows that parents should have some say in how the education system would best suit their own children?"