Protocol for Y2 SATs tests? Has my DS had one?

[twik]

I know my ds is meant to have SATs this week and next week but don't know any more details.

Yesterday and the day before he came home and said they were writing reports on African mammals and African people but that they were able to chat, refer to previous work in their literacy books and look in text books for information. They did it over about 2 days. The teacher was chatting, they were chatting and reading things out.

So is this his writing SATs test or would it happen in a more 'test' like way? I thought that there would be a stricter time limit and that.

I'm asking partly because my ds is so distractible. He was mucking about the whole time in those two days and he said he wrote hardly nothing at all.

I'm not expecting him to do anything great as his writing isn't so good yet unlike my dd who was brilliant at it at this point. But it would be nice to think he had had a calm classroom to try to do it in.

[OtterInaSkoda]

My DS didn't know he was doing SATs either and I imagine the process at his school was similar to that at your ds's. I think it's the best way, tbh. My SIL and her ds were actually stressed about his KS1 SATs. Madness, imo.

I believe they're not meant to be tests, in the examination sense. They're also there to assess the school rather than the DCs.

[Bramshott]

The idea at Yr 2 is that the kids don't even know they are doing them. The test only counts as part of a wider teacher assessment in any case.

[mrz]

What you describe isn't the Y2 SAT writing test.

[twik]

So now I'm confused. Some people say yes, some say no.

In the meantime today ds had a writing test which sounded more like a SATs but it was totally different! They had to write a description of a Queen from a story but they had to do it quietly on a plain piece of paper.

He thought he did quite well! He said he wrote 3 paragraphs and he enjoyed it so that was a first time for him!

I think then that the first thing I talked about couldn't have been a proper test.

[twik]

At the start of the writing the teacher did tell them that it was a writing test and said that they had to do it in their best neatest handwriting.

[mrz]

African mammals and African people were not the subject of the writing tasks for either of the possible SAT tests sorry

Schools could choose the 2007 test which is writing about a magic pebble & a riddle for the short writing test

or the 2009 test which is Night time (nocturnal animals or similar) & a book character description for the short task.

The long piece is approx 45 mins

[twik]

Oh, I see. It sounds like the test today might be the 2009 test then. Would they have a time limit and work in silence in general for this kind of thing then?

[twik]

Ds said some people had to stay in at break time to finish he although he said he didn't. So I suppose maybe they are not completely strict about time?