PARENTS across Warrington kept their children off school today, May 3, in protest against SATSs testing.

The national Let Our Kids Be Kids campaign was started by parents of year two pupils who objected to their children sitting exams at the age of six or seven.

Instead of going to lessons, a group of pupils spent the day at a forestry school learning about bugs and making their own charcoal pencils.

Jamie Dolphin, owner of the Muddy Hands Forest School, said he had been contacted by parents who wanted to keep their kids off school and let them spend the day learning outdoors.

Jamie, 31, who has twin stepsons in year two, said: “One is absolutely fine, he wouldn’t care about the grades. But the other really cares about school and pleasing his teacher.

“He gets really worried about not getting things right, especially on the weekly spelling tests.

“The tests are hard, I posted them on the Facebook page and all of the parents have been trying them. Some who have been to university are scoring just four out of ten.”

Jamie said there should be more focus on learning outdoors like children in Finland do.

“Being outdoors a totally different way of learning.

“I look at education league tables and kids in Finland don’t go to school until they are seven and have shorter school days, but are higher in the league tables than Britain. 

"They are obviously doing something right.”

Parent Laura Sanders from Latchford took her son, six-year-old Lukas, out of school to spend the day learning at the forest school.

She said: “It’s just too much, it’s so much pressure.

“He is still really young. They just don’t have any childhood. He’s very nervous.

“When he is not meeting their targets, it puts a lot of pressure on him.”

More than 40,000 people have signed a petition calling for a boycott of the tests.