BY HANNAH GRAHAM

PARENTS around Dorset are making a stand against the tests that young children are facing in schools, claiming they are setting up their children to fail.

Concerned parents were encouraged to show their feelings at the Borough Gardens in Dorchester this week in a bid to display their anger over the new, tougher tests.

While parents in some areas of the UK are urging others to take their kids out of school for the day in protest at the changes, some believe that this is a step too far.

They believe that, by taking their children out of school for things like this, parents are making them miss key lessons which are teaching them the skills that they need to pass the tests.

This drastically affects young people’s education, especially at such a young age, where children are learning basic skills that will set them up for life.

Critics say children are “over-tested, over-worked and in a school system that places more importance of test results and league tables than children’s happiness and joy of learning”.

Others say that this is proven by the content of the curriculum for young people, stating that many things that are taught in schools have no relation to real life and won’t teach them life skills.