CHILDREN at two Swindon primary schools will not be opening their test papers today as headteachers play their part in a boycott of national exams.

Standard Assessment Tests – Sats – tests to be taken by Key Stage Two, Year 6 pupils in English, maths and science, will not be going ahead in Goddard Park Primary School and Grange Junior School.

Goddard Park headteacher Mike Welsh said: “The children are spending a great deal of their time revising for tests and that’s not acceptable for 10 and 11-year-olds.”

Tens of thousands of primary school children are expected to miss their Sats nationwide as a boycott of the tests kicks off across the country.

Rising numbers of schools in England have confirmed they will be joining a boycott, with headteachers at more than 1,000 schools already informing their local authorities they will not be administering the tests.

Two of the three major teaching unions are behind the boycott – the National Association Of Headteachers and National Union Of Teachers.

Sats are due to be taken by 600,000 11-year-olds, with the results used to create league tables.

The unions – which together represent about 80 per cent of primary school heads – argue that the tests are bad for children, teachers and education, cause unnecessary stress and lead to the creation of league tables which undermine the work of schools and heads.

Mr Welsh, who is the president of the NAHT, said: “The teacher knows where their children are, we’ll still see children’s progress. By taking this action we want the end of Sats league tables in primary schools.

“We need to end these Sats tests, our children deserve better.”

Swindon Council has confirmed these are the only schools not conducting Sats tests out of 53 schools, 40 of which have members in the two unions.

Instead of the exams, pupils will take part in a day of enrichment activities or complete last year’s papers then rely on teacher assessment to pass on children’s performance to their secondary school.

Mr Welsh was inaugurated as president at a conference in Liverpool last Saturday where he met Ed Balls for Labour, Michael Gove for the Conservatives and David Laws for the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Welsh said he hoped whoever formed the new government would be prepared to negotiate on the issue.

He understood why some schools might not be taking part, but pointed out that 94 per cent of members had voted for the action.

A Swindon Council spokesman said: “This is a complex issue and we are waiting for further guidance as to whether this is a legal boycott or not before we assess whether contractual arrangements have been breached.

“So far we have contacted the chair of governors of the potentially affected schools and asked them to speak to the headteachers about whether they are going to administer the tests, in line with current guidance from the Department For Children Schools And Families and the National Governors Association.