KS1 SATS RESULTS - advice from teachers out there please?

[chickenrice]

My dc in Year 2 has just received the school report. Did SATS a few months ago but the results do not appear to be included in the report. There are levels within the report but these are based on teacher assessment. Are we entitled to receive the separate SATS results / score? Thanks.

[PanicMode]

I'm not a teacher, but we had the same - my understanding is that KS1 results are only teacher assessed, but will wait to be corrected!

[IndigoBell]

KS1 results are based on teacher assessment. The SAT papers they sat were only used to help the teacher arrive at the teacher assessed mark.

The school normally does not report those marks to you, and certainly does not have to. They are very meaningless marks.

[chickenrice]

Thanks for the replies.

It was my understanding that the teacher based assessment was part based on the SAT scores but just wanted to know whether we were entitled to the separate scores as some children on this site had had them included in their report.

Also was concerned as levels given in the report were same as those mentioned to me months ago at a parent consultation. When these same levels appeared in the school report at the end of the year, I thought they did not include the SATS which dc sat a couple of months after the parent consultation. Hope the message is not confusing. It's just that it appears dc has not made progress since the consultation. Thanks again. Also levels in report and the summary about dc don't quite add up.

[IndigoBell]

Well, the SATs results were done months ago - they had to be done in May.

[Blu]

If the report does not make reference to ongoing positivce progression, or you have any other concerns, then do make an appointment to talk to your child's teacher...in the day you have left!

[IndigoBell]

Also, you wouldn't necessarily expect to make a whole sub level of progress in a term. So they may be doing perfectly well, but still be on the same sub level they were on months ago.

[chickenrice]

Blu ... tried but not getting anywhere with that .... they seem too busy. Some sublevels have not progressed for the most part of the year although the teacher's summary contradict this. Just wondered whether anyone else can tell me whether if they have to disclose the SATS results if asked about them?

[IndigoBell]

No, they don't have to disclose the results.

[propatria]

If requested the school does have to release the ks1 test results,specifically request them,they cant refuse(why some schools guard these results is a mystery...)

[Feenie]

I don't think schools guard the, necessarily - but they are reluctant to give the test results themselves because the tests at Year 2 took a major back seat years ago - the teacher assessment is so much more than that.

See this document - Building a picture of what children can do which changed the face of assessment in Y2 (thank goodness).

Parents can demand to see every scrap of any information about their child all through school, but you have to ask yourself why all this information isn't statutory anyway - it's because it isn't anywhere near as important as the whole assessment, it's just a tiny, tiny piece of it.

[york78]

Sorry to hijack but what does the writing paper normally consist of? Is it an unaided piece of writing?

[Feenie]

Yes, a short piece and a longer piece, and a spelling test - much like all the other assessments which make up the writing teacher assessment!

[york78]

Thank you Feenie.

[mrz]

The requirement is to report the teacher assessed level to parents

The ARA which is the legal document governing the National Curriculum tests clearly says

At the end of key stage 1, schools must report a child?s teacher assessment levels to the child?s parents or persons with parental responsibility. There is no requirement to report task or test results or to allow parents or persons with parental responsibility to see, or have copies of, their child?s marked scripts.

[chickenrice]

Thanks all. I guess then everyone agrees following mrz's post that we as parents are not entitled to know the results. (Would not have requested sight of the scripts anyway) Shame though as it would have provided a fuller more objective picture.

[mrz]

Actually a single test mark adds very little to the picture provided by teacher assessment over the period of a year.

[BusterGut]

The 'fuller, more objective picture' is what you get - from teacher assessments. (most SAT results will agree with teacher assessments anyway, as the tests are being done by the same child!)

Also, indigobell mentioned that tests are done in May. They can be done any time from January to June (when levels have to be submitted).

[chickenrice]

I would have agreed with you mrz. Unfortunately, our final levels are the same as those reported to me back in Feb/March during a parent consultation. I was told that those would be dc's likely final levels. DC has since done SATS and had had appeared to me as having progressed heaps since that consultation but that is not reflected in the final levels at all. DC's teacher told me where dc is likely to finish next year too. How are these opinions justifiable when a child could potentially make progress in leaps?

[mrz]

I don't know why a teacher would say that a child would remain on the same level from Feb to June unless we are talking whole levels? A child is highly unlikely to make a full level progress in that time. So if your child was level 3 in Feb it is very reasonable to say they will be level 3 at the end of the year.

[mrz]

I should ad that is is also possible if a child has just moved into one sub level that they will still be working at that sub level 3 months later because of the breadth of skills/knowledge required to move through.

[chickenrice]

Mrz, not the same level but the same sublevel. I guess I only wanted the extra SATS scores to see if it explained why dc had not progressed when I could see he had. Quite disappointed the schools feel they have to keep this information from parents.

[mrz]

I really can't see how a SAT score would explain anything ... if the test corresponds with or is lower/higher than the teacher assessment how will it explain anything?

[Teachermumof3]

I was told that those would be dc's likely final levels.

Do you mean that in March you were told her target levels for the end of the year and she has achieved them?

[AbigailS]

At Spring parents evening I often talk to parents what levels I am targeting for their DC in the End of Key Stage 1 assessements (i.e. in May) and whether they are on track for them, sometimes mentioning what they child still needs support on to reach that target. Maybe this is what your child's teacher was talking about, rather than where your child was in Feb/March parents evening?

[Elibean]

I think if dd's Y2 teacher had told me current levels in Feb/March, they would probably have been the same ones she got in her SATS (tests and assessments) in May. Not a lot of time between March and May, and although she obviously learnt more things - and got faster at doing many tasks - probably not enough to justify changing levels. What mrz says about breadth and depth of learning on each level makes sense to me.

FWIW, OP, our school doesn't put SATS levels in reports either. They give the overall teacher assessed 'below'/'at' or 'above' national expectations for their year group. Some of us have asked the teacher for a break down of what that means in more detail, and she has been happy to fill us in - and its obvious that sometimes she has adjusted a test result to something slightly higher in order to reflect what she feels that child normally works at. I know she has been moderated, as she is an NQT (and she told us so). So tbh, I would trust the teacher assessed level far more than a one-off test that a 7 year old - who did not even know she was being tested - took.

As you are clearly concerned, I would suggest you ask again tomorrow to have just 5 minutes with the teacher - let them know you are worried, and be flexible about where/when they can talk to you, make it a priority. Peace of mind is valuable!