EAST Lancashire headteachers have been a key national driver in plans to boycott this years SATS, according to one of the teaching unions leading the battle.

Simon Jones, Blackburn with Darwen secretary for the National Union of Teachers, NUT, said strong leadership from headteachers had culminated in a ballot for industrial action.

Mr Jones revealed that the unions were currently preparing a response if the Government took action to force schools to hold SATS tests.

They are working to create a watertight case to allow industrial action which would prevent a simiar situation to British Airways proposed strike action occurring.

The airline’s staff voted to go on strike over the Christmas period but were left unable to take action following a High Court ruling.

Now the NUT and the National Association of Headteachers, NAHT, have joined forces and voted to ballot for industrial action with a view to boycotting Key Stage Two.

The unions said they had been working together to put forward clear and positive alternatives to the SATs regime this year.

Both argue that the tests construct meaningless league tables of school results, humiliate and demean the work of colleagues working in the toughest communities and force teachers to spend endless hours rehearsing past papers.

A secret ballot has revealed an overwhelming majority of headteachers would boycott this year’s SATs tests and has led to another ballot which would lead to action.

The action would see children attending school during SATs week in May, but instead of undergoing the tests they would have a normal week.

Simon Jones said: “Lancashire has been key to this, I don’t think there is any regional differences due to the SATs, but this issue is personal to headteachers. There is strong headteacher leaders in Blackburn with Darwen and Lancashire.

“This maybe because SATs adversely affect disadvantaged areas and most tests don’t take into account children who are speakers of English as a second language for example.”

Mick Brookes, general secretary of the NAHT said: “The current system has resulted in thousands of children moving to the next phase of their education with misleading information about their ability.

“It has also led, quite unjustifiably, to schools and their communities being labelled as ‘failing’ with the consequence of damaging recruitment of headteachers and worsening their working environment.”