THE Children’s Laureate is throwing his weight behind a campaign opposing changes to the national curriculum.

Chris Riddell pledged to join a rally at Preston Park in Brighton this morning to protest against primary school exams.

Parents across Sussex are planning to take part in the Let Kids Be Kids protest which is concerned with changes to the national curriculum and SAT exams - claiming they cause their children undue stress.

Families up and down the county have vowed to take their children out of school today, but Brighton and Hove City Council has warned it could end up in a £60 fine for unauthorised absence.

Nupur Verma, mother to six year old Sashika, has organised the Preston Park protest, and said: “In May, Year 2 and Year 6 children – some of them as young as six – spend a week sitting exams.

“All year, teachers have to focus their teaching on arithmetic, grammar and comprehension so their pupils can pass their tests.

“These tests are designed to measure schools’ effectiveness; not to benefit our children.

“The pressure of exams contributes to increasing levels of anxiety and mental health issues; a real and serious problem among children in the UK.

“Teachers know these tests are damaging our children’s education, but the government isn’t listening.

“The wildly unrealistic achievement levels that have recently been put in place for our six and seven-year-olds is ruining our children’s school experience, destroying the joy of learning and causing stress and anxiety amongst pupils and teachers alike, all in the name of supposed progress and increased standards.

“The irony is that it is having exactly the opposite effect.”

Councillor Tom Bewick said that while he is sympathetic to the aims of the strike, it is not the right way to protest.

He said: "We are putting guidance out to schools and if there are any parents who think they’re going to get soft treatment, they should think again."

It is the latest in a string of educational disputes to tar the county’s schools in recent weeks.

The ongoing battle opposing government’s plans to convert every school in England to academies by 2020 has been shot down by campaigners in Brighton and Hove.

Protests were held last week with parents voicing their concerns over the changes to secondary school catchment areas.