Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, do you know how loved you are?
Due to huge demand, we have now closed the SATs Star List. We will send stars to everyone who joined before 6pm, 3/5/16. We will probably reopen the list again later in the week, but we didn't want to commit to more stars than we can make. We don't want to make promises we can't keep, especially as there are just 2 of us working on these, and we have children of our own. Please keep checking the Facebook page for updates - we will publish on there when the list re-opens.
Thank you so much for your interest, I wish we could help everyone; some of the stories we have been sent are heartbreaking. I will post a tutorial on this blog tomorrow, so you can have a go at making a star yourself.
Big love to worried parents, exhausted teachers and, most of all, our little stars.
Claire and Dom x
PS - nearly 3000 people have visited this blog in 24 hours. AMAZING.
Hello! I am Claire, from Mrs Bee's Emporium. I run my small giftware business with my husband, Dominic. We have recently left the teaching profession after a combined 30 years of service, because we do not agree with the current culture of constant testing and the stress it puts our children and our teachers under.
Our son, Charlie, is in year 6 and about to take his key stage 2 SATs. Charlie's 10 years old. He and his friends should be out playing and climbing trees, exploring, playing football and generally enjoying their childhoods and learning through play. Instead Charlie has cried every night this week, and had several nightmares, because he's overwhelmed by the expectations placed on him at school.
ENOUGH.
This isn't a criticism of Charlie's teacher, or his school, by the way. We know they are working as hard as they possibly can, like hamsters in wheels, and that they are probably more stressed than the children. Let me be very clear: the problem is with governmental policy.
We wanted to do something to help. We are speaking up and arguing against the tests at every opportunity. We have signed the petitions. However, we wanted to do something for the children who are facing these tests.
This is when we had the idea for the SATs Stars.
Last week, whilst sewing a commissioned piece of work, I made a cushion shaped like a star. I designed the pattern myself and, as always, made a test piece first. Charlie spotted it and quickly claimed it as his own. We noticed that is gave him comfort, because it's soft and tactile. That seemed incredibly important, especially this week. The symbol of the star also seemed appropriate. Our children will still be stars, regardless of what the test says about them.
How can I get one?
If your child is about to undergo SATs and you'd like a star for him or her, we will send one in the post free of charge, with a handwritten note of encouragement. That's it - all we ask is that you Paypal us enough money to cover postage, the Paypal fee and the envelope. You don't get many things for free, do you?
We just want to pay it forward.
If you'd like a star, please fill in the form at the bottom of this post. I will ask you to Paypal £1.25 to cover postage to the UK.
We will endeavour to get your stars made and posted First Class ASAP. Please be patient if demand is high - we will keep you informed.
How much do they cost?
SATs Stars are entirely free of charge. We just ask parents to cover the postage, which is £1.25 First Class in the UK. We will do our absolute best to make sure we get them to your child in time for SATs week.
All we request is that you like and share our Facebook page and we'd love it if you signed up to our email newsletter. HOWEVER, THERE IS NO REQUIREMENT TO DO THIS - we are sending out SATs stars without requiring anything in return except the postage.
Feel free to share this with your friends, your children's friends and everyone you know! We want to share the love.
With lots of love - especially to you parents, children and teachers who are involved in these ridiculous tests. Stay optimistic and keep smiling.
Fistbump to all you parents going through this too, and double fistbump for the teachers. It sucks.
Claire x
**** UPDATE, 2/5/16, MIDNIGHT. YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING. WE'VE HAD 50 SIGNUPS IN THE FIRST HOUR. THIS IS BEYOND OUR WILDEST EXPECTATIONS. AS YOU CAN SEE, WE ARE JUST 2 PEOPLE RUNNING A SMALL BUSINESS AND THE SATS START IN 7 DAYS. THEREFORE, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LIMIT THE STARS TO THE FIRST 200. WE WILL ASK EVERYONE WE KNOW TO HELP OUT, AND WE WILL RELEASE MORE STARS AS AND WHEN WE CAN MAKE THEM. I am going to add a section to our form called "letter." If you are past number 200, and you say yes to a letter, we will send a printed letter giving encouragement, and refund your money, except for the cost of a first class stamp. There is no obligation to accept this, just click "no" for a full refund.
I do hope you understand, and I am sorry for anyone we disappoint. We will do our level best to get to as many people as we can over the next 7 days.
Just, wow.
I'm going to send a copy of these comments to my MP and the government as well. They're breaking my heart. ****
UPDATE 2 - 3/5/16, 7.45am
I have literally hundreds of messages to get through! Please be patient, I will get to everyone.
If you're struggling to pay postage for more than one star, please Paypal any extra postage to claire.boynton@yahoo.co.uk. I will work on the form once the children are in school.
As I need to make the stars and write the notes, I will be responding to messages at 9am, lunchtime and 7pm. Please don't worry if you haven't heard from me, I will get back to you. I do need to limit when I deal with messages though, otherwise I won't get any stars made, packaged or shipped. Thank you for your understanding.
If you're having problems with an email newsletter popup, I will also disable this once the children are at school. But there should be a small button called "close" or "X" to the top right which you can click to make it go away.
