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My son is going to 'fail' his SAT's

10 replies

TheGhostOfChristmasStress · 08/12/2007 22:52

My son is 7 and we're having difficulties with his behaviour both at school and at home. A behavioural team is involved and he is due for assessment within the next 18 months but I'm worried about his SAT's.

The teacher said that despite him being very bright, he is underachieving in every subject and she predicts he will get lower than average grades in his SATs.

I know people say they're not important but I disagree. I feel helpless and its so frustrating to know that he is clever but will fail the lot just because he cant sit still in class.

OP posts:

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WendyWeber · 08/12/2007 22:55

"Failing" his SATs won't matter for him, honestly - it's only a measure of the school's input to go into school league tables.

Obviously he needs sorting out if there are behavioural probs but please don't stress about his SATs.

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pinkteddy · 08/12/2007 22:55

I know this is easy to say but you really shouldn't worry. Your son is getting the help he needs albeit slowly. The SATs are all about the school and not really about individuals IMHO. What do you fear is the worst that could happen if he fails?

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Tiggiwinkle · 08/12/2007 22:59

7 year olds do not "pass" or "fail" SATS. They were brought in to measure the performance of the school, not the child-a fact largely forgotten these days.
The teacher should be addressing his difficulties-if he is under-achieving, they need out find out why. Can they not put pressure on for the assessment to be done more urgently?

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TheIceQueen · 08/12/2007 22:59

I agree with the others - they really don't matter to the invidiual child (unless the parent makes a fuss of them such as some of the parents at DS1's school!).....

Imagine this - 11yrs time - your DS, having been assessed at around 7yrs old, and getting whatever help he needed then and therefore doing well at school, leaves school, he applies for a job and has to submit a CV.....what does he put on it??

His YR2 Sats results?????

Or his GSCE and A level results???

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juuule · 08/12/2007 23:00

He is only 7yo. He cannot fail his SATs. Whatever he gets is irrelevant to what he might achieve as he gets older and matures and becomes more able. At 7 it's normal for some children to not be able to sit still in class. Don't get upset about this at this point. Most likely he just needs to mature a bit more. If he is bright then it will come through at some point. My dd couldn't read until the end of y2. I have no idea what her ks1 sats results were. However, she had excellent results in her GCSEs.

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nooka · 08/12/2007 23:01

Honestly SATs aren't really tests for the child, but measures of progress and effectiveness for the school. They don't go onto your records like O levels but just form part of the teaching record. I'm sure that my ds massively underacheived for his SATS (he is dyslexic and can't sit still), but I can't actually remember what he got. I wouldn't worry about the SATs, if the behavioural team are effective then he will catch up once they have figured out how to help him. I don't think that ds will acheive his potential until he is at university to be honest, as he is very bright, but will only concentrate on things that really take his fancy. Maybe your ds will shine later too?

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gigglewitchyouamerrychristmas · 08/12/2007 23:03

no such thing as "failing" - just achieve lower levels than you would think they are capable of. My DS1 is heading for the same, we are fairly sure that he has dyslexia, and although v bright he won't get the levels that he deserves because his written work is well behind his peers
hopefully they are heading for more teacher assessment this time round so our DC may fare slightly better with this approach

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Feenie · 08/12/2007 23:07

The advice from his teacher is seriously flawed. Y2 don't do SATs. The teacher is required to use one test in each subject to support a teacher assessment - this assessment comes from a wide range of sources. The test can be used in any way she likes - to help confirm her judgement in May, or she could use it now to ensure he makes progress from this point. It's up to her. If she thinks he won't do well in the test then she should use her judgement and assess him against all of the work he has done in class over the year to overide that one mark.

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JingEllBells · 08/12/2007 23:07

Well, at this point last year my dd's teacher predicted that she'd get below average SATs grades (the lower end of the 2 range, so OK but not great, iykwim). She actually got 3s in all of them. DD1 is also a non-sitter-still, an ants-in-the-pants, a fidgety britches... and more! She still finds it very very hard to sit still and concentrate, but she is getting there. Have a look at the 'Dreamers' thread (I'll post you a link to it) and you'll find plenty of people with dcs like your ds, and also lots of practical advice.

Your ds will get better at concentrating and sitting still as he gets older. It is a skill that some of us (I recognise it in myself too) have to learn.

How exactly do you perceive that your ds is struggling? Does he read to you regularly? If you are worried about your ds then talk to his teacher (it's not very helpful if she's just told you that he's underperforming but not given you any advice to help you help him improve, though that's pretty much what dd1's teacher did last year)and to people on here and in RL and try to see what practical measures you can take to help him.

I agree with the other posters that you shouldn't worry about his SATs results. They really don't count for anything at this stage. But I do understand that it's frustrating to have a child who's underperforming not because of a lack of ability but because of difficulties with concentration.