The big issues - education

Surviving SATs in the Primary School
By Sarah St John

If you have a child in either year 2 or year 6 of a state primary school, parental talk in the playground at the moment will probably be all about SATs. By now many schools will have held a SATs meeting to explain what is involved and how parents can help their children at home. But for those of you who may not have attended such a meeting, the following is a guide to help both you and your child survive SATs.

What are SATs?

SATs, or Standard Assessment Tasks and Tests, which take place in May, are national tests that children sit at the end of each key stage in primary school and at the end of Key Stage 3 in secondary school. Almost all children are entered for the tests; only in rare cases can they be withdrawn. As such, they are an indicator of the progress that your child has made at school in the three core curriculum subjects. In addition the Key Stage 2 SATs, (published in league tables nationally), are used to measure a school’s performance. It is these results that many parents refer to when deciding which school to send their child to.

Bear in mind, though, that league tables don’t always give the full picture. For example, they only outline the percentage of children who achieve a level 4 or above and don’t take into account the number of special needs children who may have sat the test and achieved a level 3 (a good achievement for them), or those who may have changed schools a number of times, perhaps due to re-housing. An alternative way of measuring a school’s progress would be to look at the achievements of pupils who have been in the school since reception.

SATs at Key Stage 1 and 2

SATs test a child’s knowledge and understanding of English, Maths and Science and each child is graded terms of a level. Reception class children are working towards attaining a level 1 and by the time they have taken their Key Stage 1 SATs (year 2), the majority of pupils will be achieving a level 2b; the expected score for the majority at Key Stage 2 SATs is level 4. Once the tests have been completed you will receive notification of your child’s results.

SATs at Key Stage 1

Your child’s progress is continually assessed throughout the year. The final decision as to which task and tests your child will be entered for is made in the final weeks prior to the SATs taking place. The tasks and tests are organised as follows:

Maths

• A practical task paper administered by the teacher for children working towards level 1
• A maths test paper for those assessed as possible level 2s and above. Teachers are able to help with reading the questions if necessary

English

SATs for English involve on-going assessment and formal tests depending on ability. They are divided into:

• Reading and answering questions verbally from a passage taken from a set text
• Comprehension
• Writing
• Spelling

Science

• Assessments are made throughout the year as each science topic is completed. Children are assessed on both their investigative skills and their scientific understanding.

What's happening to Year 2 SATs?

After a long May in which all 7 and 11 year olds around the country completed their SATs, word came from the DfES that there were plans to rethink key stage 1 SATs. But before all parents of year 2 children start cheering, let's take a closer look at the details.

Up until now, Key Stage 1 SATs have been supported by teacher assessment. What this means is that teachers assess progress throughout the year in English, Maths and Science and award a level based on achievement. Alongside this, pupils also take SATs tests in Reading, Writing and Maths. This means that only Science is levelled purely on the basis of teacher assessment.

But in May, Education Secretary Charles Clarke announced that although testing is here to stay, the previous method of testing seven year olds was particularly harsh. As a result, the DfES is now proposing to replace key stage 1 SATs with a more "flexible approach to testing" (www.qca.org.uk).

To this end the DfES is currently devising an alternative way of assessing progress that is both less stressful and more indicative of a child's level of achievement over the year. The actual mechanics of the new proposals are as yet unknown, but teacher assessment is certain to play a central role with, possibly, additional statutory tasks and tests. In future it will be teacher assessment levels, rather than SATs' scores that are published nationally.

By placing the emphasis on teacher assessment, the DfES has acknowledged it to be an accurate way of measuring progress and future plans mean that the published results will reflect levels of achievement gained throughout the year, rather than relying on less accurate results achieved through one-off testing. But more importantly, this change will hopefully mean that less emphasis is placed on testing and so less stress and pressure for year 2 children.

The new assessment procedure will not be implemented on a national level immediately. The first step will be to pilot the new format in 25% of LEAs throughout the country. These LEAs will be determined to constitute a nationally representative sample. Each school within the LEA will trial the new assessment procedures and, if successful, they will probably be introduced nationally the following year.

Whether or not your child will undergo the existing assessment procedure or be part of the new trial will depend on your LEA. The LEAs involved will be publicised on the QCA website (www.qca.org.uk) before the beginning of the autumn term.

(August 2003)

SATs at Key Stage 2

All SATs at key stage 2 are administered as a formal test involving the following:

Maths

• 2 written papers, one that allows the use of a calculator and another which relies on mental strategies
• An additional mental maths paper

English

• Reading comprehension
• Writing
• Spelling
• Handwriting

Science

• 2 papers which cover both scientific knowledge and understanding and experimental skills.

How can you help your child at home?

For many children the unfamiliarity of the test papers and the conditions under which the tests are administered can cause difficulties.

Schools spend time preparing the children for their SATs by running through old papers looking at the type of language used in the questions and how specific questions can be approached. You can also help your child at home in the following ways:

• Talk to her about SATs and tell her not worry about them. The school will be doing this too, but it will be much more meaningful coming from you

• Develop ideas for stories both verbally and in written form

• Daily reading is a must. Ask questions about the book, its characters etc. and encourage her to formulate her own opinions

• Spend time on mental maths activities. Turn it into a game to play on the way home, in the car etc.

• Encourage her to make predictions and draw conclusions about situations, giving reasons. Developing these skills is useful for all areas of the curriculum, in particular scientific investigation

• Test papers are available to buy but don’t put too much emphasis on these, especially after a hard day at school. Some children like doing these exercises, but it’s best to try one or two questions a day, rather than the whole paper

• SATs can cause unnecessary pressure, keep this to a minimum by trying to retain her normal routine and keep up her out-of-school activities

What are the implications of SATs on your child’s school career?

Don’t worry unnecessarily about SATs. Whilst they are an indicator of your child’s progress at a given time, children develop at different rates and your child’s teacher knows this. To this end, she is continually carrying out both formal and informal assessments. These on-going assessments are just as important when measuring achievement and it is these assessments, rather than the SATs results, which will determine the work set for your child on a daily basis.

Sarah St John is a fully qualified primary school teacher with seven years teaching experience.