EDUCATION chiefs in Dorset have backed a major new report which found that children are facing "excessive pressure" to do well at school and conform to the commercial values of the modern world.
Cambridge University's Primary Review uncovered a national mood of anxiety that children are being forced to grow up too soon.
Margaret Morrissey, Dorset-based spokesman for the National Confederation of Parent and Teacher Associations, agreed that children face unprecedented stress levels which she said is due to excessive testing in schools.
She said: "I've been saying for the last two years that there is too much pressure on primary school children.
"Children certainly weren't under these pressures even 10 years ago."
Stuart Fox, deputy head at Brank-some Heath Middle School in Poole, said: "I can appreciate why the government want our children tested but the pressure that children are under - I think there are other ways they could do it.
"I would love them to be able to trust teacher assessment far more."
A spokesman for the Department of Children, Schools and Families, said: "The report's author himself says that every generation has its stresses, and schools themselves are safe havens and a beacon of light'."
l See also Page 12.
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