KS2 SATs results: AIBU 2have high expectations?

[ArvidsDaddy]

Ds is finishing Y6 and very bright. He has always had outstanding school reports, but his Y6 report is very good - albeit not outstanding. His SATs results are below, and I know it is above the expectations (100). But I cannot feel slightly disappointed with the spelling mark, and also think he could have done better with his maths. AIBU to have such high expectations?

Reading - 119
Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling - 111
Maths - 113

[PonderingProsecco]

You must know you are being unreasonable- you really must...
119 on the reading paper- wow!
111 and 113 bloody good too.
Sort yourself out please!!

[lacebell10]

The top possible was 120. He did very well with some hard papers

[shouldwestayorshouldwego]

His maths is in roughly top 10%, and remember that it is just a snapshot on one day. One question misunderstood, one error in calculating, running out of time, all perfectly understandable for a 10/ 11yr old.

[mamaduckbone]

His results are excellent.

Please make sure you tell him how proud you are and whatever you do don't try to make him analyse his performance or suggest for a second that he should have done better. He's 11.

[wtffgs]

[Feenie]

Pft!

[PinkyPlumet]

I feel sorry for your child.

[WhattodoSue]

Is your disappointment about you or your child? Does it matter to your child if he is the top 10%, top 5%, top 1%? No, not really. Does it matter to you? Should it matter to you? It is very hard not to want to live vicariously through our children, and for their success to reflect on us. But fundamentally, what is most important is that our children are happy (I don't care how naff that sounds, who cares about anything else if we are miserable). You should be proud of your child. Your child should know that you are proud.

[MachiKoro]

Why pinky? If the child was top 1% ability, but only performed at top 10%, that would be a valid concern.

[ReallyTired]

Children need to be loved for themselves rather than their sat results.

Did your son work hard and do his best? His results are good enough to get him into top sets. He is working in greater depth in all areas.

[PonderingProsecco]

SATs is a test on the day and variation can happen for lots of reasons.
My ds has an issue with legibility when having to rush.
Did fine but probably dropped marks for that. I took a great deal of notice of his school report and constructive teacher comment and hope secondaries do that too.
Teacher comments seem most relevant to me. My son been at the school since nursery. A test is a snapshot of one day in all that time not necessarily a totally true picture of child's ability.

[PonderingProsecco]

However, back to op, test results of your son nothing to stress over!!
He has done very well....

[MyakkaState]

If he is normally bright and typically attains high marks on tests/exams, it is logical to have appropriate expectations, and feel any disappointment if attainment is below that child's individual potential, it's relative.

[PonderingProsecco]

Those results show he is bright!!!
A ten/ eleven year old will perform to how they feel on the day; as do we all really.
Only robots will always fulfill potential.....

[ArvidsDaddy]

Thx4 all the comments. I agree entirely that the child should be encouraged and loved regardless of any test results. Ours is, which I think is part of the reasons why he does well at school. The discussions here also raise an interesting point. As a parent, it feels as if it is taboo sometimes to have or express high expectations of your child, and some (well intended observers) are quick to draw parallel between high expectations and poor/pushy parenting. I do consider this view carefully, as we all want the best for our children. However, research shows (and many of my colleagues - particularly older generations - agree) that high expectations from parents and from the child him/herself, expressed in a supportive way and measured realistically against the child's ability, serve and benefit children's development very effectively. In our case, we of course expressed how proud we were of our child, but is it really unreasonable for parents to want your child to achieve more highly? Should we in fact not encourage this?

[soyvanillalatte]

Are you not worried about his low maths result OP?

[soyvanillalatte]

Oh. sorry, I see you are concerned

[user789653241]

I can sort of understand.
Last year he brought home some tests he has done at school. He makes really silly mistakes, and never seems to check his answers. (He is not competitive type, doesn't care about scores.) Sometimes answers were completely different from his calculations.
So I was disappointed to see the result, even though it was good enough.

[shouldwestayorshouldwego]

I think it is unrealistic to constantly want them to achieve more highly. He is getting towards an age where he needs to be motivating himself rather than just pleasing you. Is he pleased with his mark? Does he feel that he did his best? That is what matters.

[welcometomylife]

Not unreasonable at all, OP. I'll be asking for an explanation of where the other marks went - and to see the papers (though I think this unlikely given our school - I suspect this is why reports haven't been issued yet, even though they break up on Friday) - if mine comes back with less than 360. They have had to spend so much time in school on SATS this year, in place of other enriching activities: those who are capable of getting 360 should have done so, with appropriate teaching ...

[lacebell10]

Think of it this way. His results show that he has learnt from last year and is now checking or working more carefully. If not they'd be much lower. He's done well and improved his test technique.

[Autumnsky]

I think it is normal to feel a bit disappionted if you know he has the ability to performan better. How does he feel himself? My DS would be disappointed himself if he didn't get the score as he hoped. I generally will ask why he loss the mark to make sure he learn from it. I don't think this will make DC think that We don't love them, this only send out signal that we care about their achivement and we know they can do great things.

[3amEternal]

Op he's done well I wouldn't worry. SATS were harder this year and the teachers didn't get long enough to prep them. If you look at the scaled scores you can see that the percentage scores for maths need to be much higher than the other 2 to get near 120. The op who says they would want to see the papers if their child got less than 360 sounds bonkers.

[PonderingProsecco]

Soyavanillalatte, are you seriously suggesting 113 is a low scaled score in maths?
It equates to over 90%!

[FranHastings]

I would be seriously at a parent who who demanded to see papers at less than 360 achieved. Bloody hell.