Illustrator Chris Riddell attacks school tests with 'Sats beasties' drawings

A selection of the Sats beasties drawn by Chris Riddell. Illustration: Chris Riddell

The children’s laureate Chris Riddell has waded into the row over the value of Sats with a series of surreal sketches.

Riddell, an illustrator and political cartoonist who was appointed children’s laureate last year, has sketched a series of what he calls “Sats beasties” in response to warnings by authors and parents that the current system of testing primary school children is detrimental.

The fronted adverbial is another of the Sats beasties. Illustration: Chris Riddell

The dispute led to the first ever ‘pupils’ strike’ last week, where parents took their children out of school in protest at the stressful exams.

Riddell’s drawings illustrate his view of the negative impact the tests have on children’s approach to reading, through a series of “grammar monsters” such as the trigraph and the fronted adverbial.

Riddell said: “I think reading for pleasure is the most important lesson our children can be taught and to achieve this we need dedicated school librarians teaching the love of books not Sats tests with stressed teachers and children.”