Babcock International is a weapon manufacturer operating around the globe. They are also contracted by Devon County Council to monitor and produce reports on school attendance. After ten sessions (five days) of "unauthorised absence" they send this letter threatening a fine of up to £2500 and/or three months in prison. The letter is sent to hundreds of parents each year, causing disproportionate distress for what, in many cases, is a single case of illness or forgetting to inform the school in time. Children become worried that their mum or dad might go to prison. Parents worry their children might be taken into care, that they might lose their jobs, businesses, dignity and freedom. The threat, and potential fine and imprisonment, disproportionately affects single parents and poor people, who are less able to pay a Fixed Penalty Notice within 21 days (after which it doubles). I have personally supported a single mum who was working full time, raising two children, starting a business and having to comfort her children who thought that Mum was going to prison. Babcock's business is in fear, not in children's education.

The government have raised the stakes of SATs so high that poor results spell disaster for primary schools. As a result, even in Year 1 - at age five - our children spend more time practising handwriting than painting pictures, because then they'll be ready for the SATs prep they'll have to endure in Year 2. There are no rules that limit the number of hours children can spend on SATs-focused maths and literacy in school, and teachers are telling us their pupils often spend entire weeks doing not much else. Our children aren't happy at school anymore, and neither are their teachers. It is a sorry state of affairs when parents have to fight for their children's right to play, but that is what we must now do. If the government want to test our children's maths and literacy ability, their tests must reflect the level our children can be expected to achieve if they work on these subjects for a reasonable amount of time each day. If the level of difficulty of the current tests requires our kids to spend all day every day doing nothing but exam preparation, then the tests are too hard.

Halstow, Deansfield and the other Compass Group schools are in the process of becoming a Multi Academy Trust. We were told by the governors that the main reason for conversion to a Multi Academy Trust was to act before we were forced to do so by the government. After significant pressure from teachers, parents and MPs, the government have made a u-turn and confirmed that they will not be forcing outstanding schools to become academies. We were told that conversion would take many months and that we would be kept informed. We now know that the application has been approved by the DfE already and we are a small step away from the irreversible signing of the funding agreement. The government is not going to force our outstanding community schools to academise. Becoming an academy is irreversible. We must halt the academy application, at least until a thorough and transparent investigation of the impact of the proposals on our schools has been undertaken and shared with parents, staff and the wider community.

1: The role the school will play seems to be very much the lead school in the partnership with, as of yet, unnamed schools. While we are sure the intention will be to fully carry out due diligence and fact finding before adding schools to the MAT, we are not convinced that the lead school's children benefit from this process. The desire to add to the MAT's portfolio can often mean that risks are taken and the weight of the risk weighs on the sponsor school, meaning staff are diverted to resolve these. The standard of education our children receive is very high and we are not convinced that diverting resources to improve another school will allow that to continue. We also believe that, when a MAT takes over a school, if it is not able to fully devote specialist help to that school, the effect on its children can actually be a worsening rather than an improving one. 2: The need to develop and employ centralised support services will be another area that could mean that staffing costs for the centralised provision are actually quite high. Professional services such as HR would be needed and these are very expensive. We do not feel that this is money well spent if these services can be ably handled at the LEA level. 3: The cost of ground maintenance and improvements has been met by the tax payer recently. While there is not a plan in place to expand, we feel that our children now have a fantastic learning environment. We are aware that a lot of schools in the area do not have this. We are not happy to think of this tax payers money being transferred into the assets of a private entity without elected accountability. The current white paper suggests that parental representation on governing bodies will not be required. This would be a significant worry as we feel that in any new structure there MUST be some active community and parental involvement. 4: The success of MATs over all is very questionable if current evidence is to be believed. The fact that children at NBS progress well is down to the local team working hard. Being a MAT brings no benefit to this situation, and we feel could actually detract from it. The school already works with partner schools to share best practice and develop new ideas. The school already takes part in local and county events and competitions and the school already supports the community. We do not see how being a MAT will improve this, and from evidence seen when secondary schools are taken over, it can actually reduce this.

No two schools are alike. But the government doesn’t seem to agree. It wants to rush through plans to force every single school in England to become an academy – the type of school paid for by taxpayers, but run by businesses, sponsors or trusts. Many teachers and parents are already standing against the plans, saying that they’re ‘a step towards privatisation’, ignore local views, and could force some schools to close. One size does not fit all, and local parents and teachers should have a say in the future of our school. ------ If this isn't your local school, click here to sign your local petition, or start one if no-one else has yet: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-campaign-for-your-school

No two schools are alike. But the government doesn’t seem to agree. It wants to rush through plans to force every single school in England to become an academy – the type of school paid for by taxpayers, but run by businesses, sponsors or trusts. Many teachers and parents are already standing against the plans, saying that they’re ‘a step towards privatisation’, ignore local views, and could force some schools to close. One size does not fit all, and local parents and teachers should have a say in the future of our school. ------ If this isn't your local school, click here to sign your local petition, or start one if no-one else has yet: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-campaign-for-your-school

No two schools are alike. But the government doesn’t seem to agree. It wants to rush through plans to force every single school in England to become an academy – the type of school paid for by taxpayers, but run by businesses, sponsors or trusts. Many teachers and parents are already standing against the plans, saying that they’re ‘a step towards privatisation’, ignore local views, and could force some schools to close. One size does not fit all, and local parents and teachers should have a say in the future of our school. ------ If this isn't your local school, click here to sign your local petition, or start one if no-one else has yet: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-campaign-for-your-school

No two schools are alike. But the government doesn’t seem to agree. It wants to rush through plans to force every single school in England to become an academy – the type of school paid for by taxpayers, but run by businesses, sponsors or trusts. Many teachers and parents are already standing against the plans, saying that they’re ‘a step towards privatisation’, ignore local views, and could force some schools to close. One size does not fit all, and local parents and teachers should have a say in the future of our school. ------ If this isn't your local school, click here to sign your local petition, or start one if no-one else has yet: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-campaign-for-your-school

Understand the value of learning life saving skills to young people parents teachers including Drowning Prevention - It's 10 years since I lost my son to Drowning in North Wales on 14 August this year we are holding a huge event in North Wales to help educate and save lives. My son Christopher James David Turnbull drowned August 14 2006 at Capel Curig North Wales aged 15 had everything to live for was an exceptional swimmer and Rugby Player for Colwyn Bay. Since then I've set up www.riverandseasense.com and www.watersafetymap.co.uk I have addressed over 140.000 children in schools and youth groups across the region. If you can support sponsor know a celebrity who can support our wonderful event gratitude is not the word. My email is. [email protected], my name Debbie Anne Turnbull please find on Facebook - On Twitter @debsbarmyarmy

This is important to challenge the claim that children need to pass these tests in order to have successful careers. Other important areas of education, such as the Arts, have to be neglected as teachers are pressured to ' teach to the tests'.

We support government's initiative to secure our kids' future, where they have to face global competition in the job market. We support the Education department that there needs to be a mechanism that can be used (a) to identify children needing more help and support in literacy and mathematics and (b) to identify schools that are not performing at expected level. It is important that kids enjoy their time at the school and learn variety of skills. However what's even more important is that they excel at core skills of reading, writing and maths - the foundations of any higher education that they need to be able to compete in this increasingly global workforce. We would like the government to increase their efforts in ensuring that teachers' concerns listened to and addressed, but not losing the focus on overall objective.

The loss of these talented members of technical staff will come at the worst possible point for the MA 2016 cohort and will have grim implications for those who still have the majority of their BA degrees ahead of them too. With resources already stretched to breaking point, contact and support time limited and specialist advice in high demand, we want to know how the University can justify this decision.