The 250,000-strong union is planning to ballot its members in the autumn on boycotting the tests, as well as holding public meetings, distributing leaflets and approaching other unions to join the boycott. The NUT is also planning a national petition calling on the education secretary, Charles Clarke, to bow to growing pressure and scrap the tests.
Tests at seven are only held in England, while those at 11 are conducted in England and Wales. The SATs at 14 are held throughout the UK.
NUT delegate Lesley Auger said, 'The consequences of a testing regime are ignored at our peril. We are forced to acknowledge them as long as league tables pit school against school, as long as parents are able to shop around for so-called "best schools", and as long as teachers are compelled to accept performance management targets based on the measurable performance of children.'
Former NUT president John Illingworth added, 'Our most obvious allies are parents. They understand the damage the tests do. We must work with them.'
At its conference in Blackpool two weeks ago the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) urged the Government to review the 'straitjacket' of academic expectations that children experienced too early in their school careers. It said children's behaviour was being adversely affected by too many tests and targets, and by a lack of creative play.
The ATL added that young children were being swamped by external pressures such as target setting and the demands of the national curriculum. It warned that this could 'sow disaffection' among pupils, particularly among boys, which could surface later in their school careers.
The ATL has urged the Government to recognise the importance of fun and creativity in the learning process for five-year-olds, criticised the literacy strategy, and expressed alarm at an increase in health and behaviour problems among children in both primary and secondary schools.
The Government has set a target for 85 per cent of 11-year-olds to reach its required standard in English and mathematics by 2004. Last year 75 per cent reached that level in English and 73 per cent in maths. But the National Association of Head Teachers has told the Government that these targets are unlikely to be met.
