a couple of questions school piling loads on kids for thier SATs in a couple of weeks.

so a couple of q’s to teachers and the STW barrack room lawyers does my kid HAVE to do them can we opt her out of them.

the school is clearly using them as a tool/weapon to achieve targets, in our case where it is far from deserved, our daughter has had to have extensive after school private education to achieve her potential and she has gained a place at a selective school as a result.

for this school year she has had no teacher ( stress) the class has been taken by a very personable class room assistant and a parent volunteer so hats off to them for effort and commitment. however the head is office bound and feels that this year has been one to develop self learning for the children and after all a risk assesment has been taken so they are safe.. her words..

so what befalls our child if she continues her school career minus year 6 SATs results..

the head is office bound

Sounds very familiar…

Have you tried asking the teachers? You aren’t going to get anything through email as their not likely to sign off the end of their own careers. You might be able to get something out of them verbally. They probably aren’t the happiest of bunnies if its a target oriented environment (experience).

Personally I don’t believe you should stop her from doing them. I too always have a thing for people getting something they haven’t earned/deserve. However it’s life I guess!

Think of it in another way? Sounds like your daughter worked really hard recently. Have her do them under the least amount of pressure possible, she’ll do really well and you can reward her. She’ll have proof of how hard she’s worked.

It will set her in good stead for the next 10 years of her sitting exams every summer (I tried looking for an emoji to represent this but there isn’t one for hysterical insanity). Trust me she’ll need it(the recognition that is).

My understanding is that the SATS are important for the school in terms of performance. They have zero impact on the child, as most secondary schools will assess levels of ability again in year 7/8.

the class has been taken by a very personable class room assistant and a parent volunteer

I think you should have complained sooner.

The head has done this for budget reasons. Which is a surprise as they have to get all children to make at least 2 levels of progress in each key stage now.

Having said that: the school is clearly using them as a tool/weapon to achieve targets it really isn’t the schools setting the targets or choosing the tools available (SATS) to measure pupil attainment.

the head is office bound

this is a tricky one – no idea on size of school but even relatively small schools have budgets in the millions and >70 staff to manage. I would expect most CEO’s in companies that size to not be on the shop floor making widgets on a regular basis?

Having said that, leaving a class with a grade D teaching assistant in charge for a year is pretty poor practice, especially if it’s SATs year. Are there any other year 6 classes – I’d love to know the relative performance of your daughters class v the others when the result some out – the governors won;t be happy if there’s a clear difference.

In summary, you can refuse for your daughter to do the SATS but she may feel punished more than the school. SATS results will be passed to new school and be used for streaming too so she’s likely to be put in the bottom groups until they work out where she should be if no sats results are available.

she has gained a place at a selective school as a result

Normally, the SATs results will be used to monitor progress and set targets at the secondary school. If a child is absent on the (3?) test days, the teacher will give their assessment of the child’s level and that will be used by the secondary school instead.

I’d guess that any setting done at the selective school will be based upon whatever she’s done to win the place, so I doubt they’ll be using the SATs results.

In short, it’ll have no long-term impact on your daughter.

I’d be writing a letter addressed to the chair of governors to complain about the lack of a teacher, if that was my daughter’s class. If the school’s not an academy, send a copy to the local authority too.

My understanding is that the SATS are important for the school in terms of performance. They have zero impact on the child, as most secondary schools will assess levels of ability again in year 7/8.

This.

However, if my child had been given no teacher, not even a substitute, for the entirety of year 6, I would be sorely tempted to send my kid in with my blessing to fail the lot and screw their stats up.

My two are in year six, thankfully with a good teacher and good schools sorted out for next year, so my only message to them is that while it’s nice to do their best, in the grand scheme of things they don’t matter, and should be approached in a relaxed manner.

The pressure associated with SATs is beyond a joke. My lot have been lumbered with the level six tests as well, much of which hasn’t even been taught formally.

I’m trying to assure my daughter that SATS will not affect her future school life. But the pressure put on the kids by schools is so great that they can’t see this and only feel highly stressed and afraid of failure.

My daughter has been in tears many times over the past few weeks.

IMO they should be stopped, or done in a more covert manner over several weeks.

I’m trying to assure my daughter that SATS will not affect her future school life.

We were told that our local high school streams the Y7 kids in maths based on their SATS results. I don’t know whether this is true or not as they have gone to a fee paying school (entrance exams….. now that’s pressure) where they do end of year exams each summer.
TBH I can’t really see the problem with SATS – surely it makes sense to be able to measure how effectively a primary school is teaching? What annoyed me was that they did absolutely no work after finishing the SATS.

We were told that our local high school streams the Y7 kids in maths based on their SATS results.

It depends upon the school. Our local comp streams in everything from day 1, others just stream maths, others stream nothing until Y8.

TBH I can’t really see the problem with SATS – surely it makes sense to be able to measure how effectively a primary school is teaching?

It’s currently more of a measure of how well they’re prepared for SATs, or how many parents pay for private tuition for their kids.

The problem is, it has become the primary measure for school performance, so that pressure gets moved onto the kids. Hence, teaching to the test, a narrowed curriculum, stressed 10-year-olds and huge pressures.

One of the things we love about our kids school is that they don’t particularly pressure the kids, relative to other schools and keep teaching art, science, etc. right through year 6. This means they’re only a ‘good’ school, rather than ‘outstanding’, but our eldest will leave there in a couple of months time having had an absolutely brilliant time at primary school and enthusiastic about learning. It also means that her SATs levels will be an actual indication of her ability and effort, rather than the result of teaching to the test.

What annoyed me was that they did absolutely no work after finishing the SATS.

That’s guilt-induced and is to try to balance out the pressure/work beforehand. There’s not much time left after the SATs anyway and, at our place at least, the Y6 kids are out at their secondary school for two weeks of it.

My lot have been lumbered with the level six tests as well, much of which hasn’t even been taught formally.

Having to do level 6 SATs turns it into 3 solid days of tests (level 3-5 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon), which is far too much for a 10-year-old.

surely it makes sense to be able to measure how effectively a primary school is teaching?

I’d agree with you there, but the unintended consequence of ‘measuring the effectiveness’ mainly via a week of tests in May is that the schools will inevitably focus virtually all their attention on those tests, and place unneccessary pressure on a bunch of 11-year-olds who may not be mature enough to handle it.

Perhaps kids should be tested in their new schools early in year seven, removing the testing process from the teachers whose own performance depends on the results? Probably equally flawed, but it could ease the pressure cooker atmosphere, and reduce the opportunity for pointless cramming, testing instead what they actually have learned. Would also ensure that primary schools did actual, useful teaching right up to end of year six.

Having to do level 6 SATs turns it into 3 solid days of tests (level 3-5 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon), which is far too much for a 10-year-old.

Five days in this case, with all the level six tests in one day, morning and afternoon. Crazy.

martinhutch, the problem is it’s in the secondary schools interests to have kids coming in with low attainment because they can then show massive progress whilst children are in their care.

Equally, it’s in the primary schools interest to inflate the results to show good progress.

There is moderation across classes and schools to try and remove variation due to teacher bias.

Would also ensure that primary schools did actual, useful teaching right up to end of year six.

you’d have to have a chat with Mr Gove about that – the teachers have taught the whole curriculum by the time the kids do their SATS. If the SATS didn;t take place they’d just spread the work out over a longer period.

My daughter did some of her most interestign work post SATS – the whole of year 6 (150 children) did a massive project on the history of our town with a 1.5 hour stage show at the end of it.

I’m glad they’d moved ‘off curriculum’ for the last 6-8 weeks, tbh.

Blimey, it says something good about my son’s school, that there’s no “piling of pressure” or “solid days” of tests. Just seems like something they have to do to measure the kids’ (and school’s) progress before going up to secondary school. Son seems pretty chilled about it.
We did have a tour of the secondary school the other days, where a couple of year 7s showed us round – they said they had tests by the new school when they moved up. They said they were easier than the SATs.

martinhutch, the problem is it’s in the secondary schools interests to have kids coming in with low attainment because they can then show massive progress whilst children are in their care.

Equally, it’s in the primary schools interest to inflate the results to show good progress.

All points taken. I’d much rather the curriculum was spread over a longer period, rather than compressed into two terms. Would give more chance for other stuff throughout the year, too.

I used to work in the NHS, and fully understand how a target-driven culture can have some pretty ridiculous consequences if not implemented carefully.

Having to do level 6 SATs turns it into 3 solid days of tests (level 3-5 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon), which is far too much for a 10-year-old.

Five days in this case, with all the level six tests in one day, morning and afternoon. Crazy.[/quote]

I think we’re both wrong and it’s 4 days. The official dates are on the DfE website.

My daughter’s entered for level 6 in both maths and English; part of me hopes she doesn’t get them, because it’s setting her up for straight A* GCSE target grades in Y11.