SATS
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Sara_H
Guru
[QUOTE 2427371, member: 45"]One of our boys is in year 6 and the SATs are due. His last parents' evening was all about SATs and nothing about the boy. Now the class are 'revising' for them and he keeps coming home with notes asking us to go through the test papers with him and sign to say we have.
I thought SATS were a measure, not a test? It's beginning to annoy me, and I'm not sure whether to feed back.
Comments? From teachers in particular.[/quote]
I have exactly the same concerns. Our 10yr olds teacher spent alot of time at his most rcent parents evening telling us that its very important not to slack now as the forthcoming SATS tests will decide which sets he goes into when he starts secondary school in 2015!
Like you, I was under the impression that SATS testing was in place to measure the schools performance, not my sons!
Son says they have been doing test papers at school, but he hasn't brought any home.
Interestingly, my severely dyslexic step son was on a school trip when they did SATS tests a few years ago and missed them!
I thought SATS were a measure, not a test? It's beginning to annoy me, and I'm not sure whether to feed back.
Comments? From teachers in particular.[/quote]
I have exactly the same concerns. Our 10yr olds teacher spent alot of time at his most rcent parents evening telling us that its very important not to slack now as the forthcoming SATS tests will decide which sets he goes into when he starts secondary school in 2015!
Like you, I was under the impression that SATS testing was in place to measure the schools performance, not my sons!
Son says they have been doing test papers at school, but he hasn't brought any home.
Interestingly, my severely dyslexic step son was on a school trip when they did SATS tests a few years ago and missed them!
summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
We had them last year in our household. I did think the year up to that point was all about SATS and not much fun. But the knock on effect in our house was that my youngest had not made enough progress from the last set and so was given individual lessons to help his literacy and his maths just flourished over the year, going from a 3 something to sitting the Level 6 paper - though not getting Level 6. Whilst it might have been to bump the school results, my child did benefit from the individual attention and help with the things he was struggling with. But the school didn't put too much stress on us, and I just put a note in with homework to say if he had struggled with a particular one and the school seemed understanding when short homeworks were handed in. I'm not sure he had to do any papers at home though. Perhaps because they aren't at the top of the league tables that they were more laid back about it?
I think your job as a parent is to tell them to do their best but that it is for the school on the whole. It does play a part in how the secondary schools assess the pupils they receive I gather. Somehow one of my other children on going to secondary school was put into the top set in maths (as had my oldest child), no idea why as their Sats record wasn't outstanding. I ended up informing the school that I thought they would do better going down a set so that they didn't struggle at the bottom of the top set. For that reason I don't see the point in intensively coaching a child to boost their levels beyond their aptitude if they are then going to struggle in the following year on a false result.
I think your job as a parent is to tell them to do their best but that it is for the school on the whole. It does play a part in how the secondary schools assess the pupils they receive I gather. Somehow one of my other children on going to secondary school was put into the top set in maths (as had my oldest child), no idea why as their Sats record wasn't outstanding. I ended up informing the school that I thought they would do better going down a set so that they didn't struggle at the bottom of the top set. For that reason I don't see the point in intensively coaching a child to boost their levels beyond their aptitude if they are then going to struggle in the following year on a false result.
inkd
Senior Member
- Location
- New Forest
My daughters got a load of practice test papers to help revise but nothing has been said about checking them, I know she has been doing them (about an hour a day).
DCLane
Found in the Yorkshire hills ...
- Location
- Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Mine do SATs and the local secondary schools use them to stream. However, the eldest (now 13) got a place in a grammar school through the entrance exam and they didn't bother with the SATs test.
The youngest's school does SATs for each year, presumably so they're ready for them. And yes, the results make the school look good but they do also help the child when they start secondary school.
The youngest's school does SATs for each year, presumably so they're ready for them. And yes, the results make the school look good but they do also help the child when they start secondary school.
Easytigers
Guru
[QUOTE 2427371, member: 45"]One of our boys is in year 6 and the SATs are due. His last parents' evening was all about SATs and nothing about the boy. Now the class are 'revising' for them and he keeps coming home with notes asking us to go through the test papers with him and sign to say we have.
I thought SATS were a measure, not a test? It's beginning to annoy me, and I'm not sure whether to feed back.
Comments? From teachers in particular.[/quote]
Hi there,
I teach Year 6 (please don't have a go at me!!! I love it!!!). The SATs are just one aspect of our assessment. All children will receive 2 assessments at the end of the year..a 'test' result and the 'teacher assessment'. The teacher assessment is taken from every piece of work along side observations in the class (this is done continuously...so any contributions made in class etc are noted and used as evidence).
The annoying thing for everyone is that there is such emphasis on 'the test' ...I'm not being funny, but all teachers are trained extensively to assess on a day to day basis and we moderate ourselves with other schools and against national standards...but still 'the test' is the focus and our assessments take a back seat in reality for most subjects.
Many secondary schools have a good transition program and talk to us about pupils ...some don't listen and just go on the 'scores from the test' again annoying.
Please remember that the final level is just a score...I've had pupils that coast through doing Jack and have got a level 5...I've had pupils with real problems who worked their behinds off and just made a level 3...guess who I'm more proud of (even though to the powers that be the children who made 3 'brought us down')???
p.s. If you need anything give me a shout...I tell my pupils that if they need anything then that's what I'm here for...same for anyone on here too! What's the point in being able to help if you never actually help anyone (pm me)
I thought SATS were a measure, not a test? It's beginning to annoy me, and I'm not sure whether to feed back.
Comments? From teachers in particular.[/quote]
Hi there,
I teach Year 6 (please don't have a go at me!!! I love it!!!). The SATs are just one aspect of our assessment. All children will receive 2 assessments at the end of the year..a 'test' result and the 'teacher assessment'. The teacher assessment is taken from every piece of work along side observations in the class (this is done continuously...so any contributions made in class etc are noted and used as evidence).
The annoying thing for everyone is that there is such emphasis on 'the test' ...I'm not being funny, but all teachers are trained extensively to assess on a day to day basis and we moderate ourselves with other schools and against national standards...but still 'the test' is the focus and our assessments take a back seat in reality for most subjects.
Many secondary schools have a good transition program and talk to us about pupils ...some don't listen and just go on the 'scores from the test' again annoying.
Please remember that the final level is just a score...I've had pupils that coast through doing Jack and have got a level 5...I've had pupils with real problems who worked their behinds off and just made a level 3...guess who I'm more proud of (even though to the powers that be the children who made 3 'brought us down')???
p.s. If you need anything give me a shout...I tell my pupils that if they need anything then that's what I'm here for...same for anyone on here too! What's the point in being able to help if you never actually help anyone (pm me)
Electric_Andy
Heavy Metal Fan
- Location
- Plymouth
I've just seen this; and am in the same situation (I don't think anything has changed in 10 years).
My son has done really well at school at being a "good person", and in Maths and Science and everything else BUT English. His comprehension is not that good and he's come out at lower than expected in his last mock English SATs test. They have more tests this week. I've read all the posts above. There are parents on our year 6 whatsapp group asking for recommendations for tutors etc to get their kids through SATs.
IMHO, I don't see the point. If my son has help now, and gets better SATs grades for English, then likely he'll be placed in a higher set in year 7 at big school. At which point (without the continued support of a tutor) might just find it too difficult to work and learn at that higher pace.
If he starts getting better then he can always get moved up a set (as I was frequently at school) but if a slower pace of learning for English is where he's at, then surely that's the right place for him?
His mum and half sister also have Asperger's, a symptom of which (strong in them both) is taking things very literally with a poor understanding of metaphor, sarcasm, subtelty etc. It does ring very true to my son I think; he tries but gets very upset that he just "can't do it". To be honest, the comprehension tests I've done with him, I didn't get a very good mark either, and I got As at GCSE English language and Lit. The passages they used (from which you had to answer questions) were extremely poorly worded. I will give examples if anyone wants to know - be interesting to see if I'm just being thick or whether they are actually not very well worded/thought out.
My son has done really well at school at being a "good person", and in Maths and Science and everything else BUT English. His comprehension is not that good and he's come out at lower than expected in his last mock English SATs test. They have more tests this week. I've read all the posts above. There are parents on our year 6 whatsapp group asking for recommendations for tutors etc to get their kids through SATs.
IMHO, I don't see the point. If my son has help now, and gets better SATs grades for English, then likely he'll be placed in a higher set in year 7 at big school. At which point (without the continued support of a tutor) might just find it too difficult to work and learn at that higher pace.
If he starts getting better then he can always get moved up a set (as I was frequently at school) but if a slower pace of learning for English is where he's at, then surely that's the right place for him?
His mum and half sister also have Asperger's, a symptom of which (strong in them both) is taking things very literally with a poor understanding of metaphor, sarcasm, subtelty etc. It does ring very true to my son I think; he tries but gets very upset that he just "can't do it". To be honest, the comprehension tests I've done with him, I didn't get a very good mark either, and I got As at GCSE English language and Lit. The passages they used (from which you had to answer questions) were extremely poorly worded. I will give examples if anyone wants to know - be interesting to see if I'm just being thick or whether they are actually not very well worded/thought out.