An experienced primary school head has launched a petition calling on the government to make SATs exams fairer for children who have difficulty with spelling.

Justin Kelly, who has been headteacher at Tadworth Primary School for seven years, believes teachers should no longer be required to assess Key Stage Two pupils’ spelling on written assessments, and should be able to make a distinction between spelling and grammar and punctuation when reporting the outcomes of the SATs exams.

Mr Kelly, 42, believes this would be fairer to children with difficulty spelling – especially those with dyslexia – and would encourage children to be more creative.

Your Local Guardian:

Mr Kelly, who has been a teacher for about 20 years – including six years in Hong Kong – said: “The way it’s set up (at the moment) is unfair and makes it very difficult for children with any difficulties with spelling.

“In no way am I saying that spelling is not important, but when it comes to assessing children as to their writing, there is a lot more to being a good writer than spelling.”

He added: “The last thing you would want is children dodging writing difficult words because they are difficult to spell.

“We want them being creative and ultimately the current set-up stifles creativity.”

Your Local Guardian:

His petition has been signed more than 1,600 times, was discussed by the all-party parliamentary group into Dyslexia, and has received support from Dyslexia Action – a national campaign group which went into administration earlier this month – ahead of the May 3 deadline.

Government petition signatures will be reset ahead of the general election on June 8.

Mr Kelly said: “What I’m asking for is a couple of concessions that will not change the system, they will just make it fairer.”

Your Local Guardian:

The government launched a consultation on primary school assessment in England on March 30, which runs until June 30.

In the consultation, a Department for Education spokesperson stated: “Statutory assessment in primary schools… provides information about how pupils are performing in relation to other pupils nationally, helps teachers to understand national expectations and enables parents, teachers and schools to benchmark their school’s progress against other schools locally and nationally.”

Your Local Guardian:

In the ministerial foreword to the consultation, education secretary Justine Greening MP (pictured above) wrote: “I want as many people as possible with an interest in the future of primary education to participate in these consultation exercises and to share their thoughts.

“In particular, I want to hear the views of teachers and head teachers and to draw on their expertise and experience to continue to improve the way that we assess the attainment and progress of children during their time at primary school.”

To sign the petition, visit https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/187316

Got a story? Get in touch at craig.richard@london.newsquest.co.uk