SAT's results maladministration

[frustratedprimaryparent]

Hi there,
Just reading previous comments from previous years and it appears that this issue still very much remains.
I have experience of an outstanding school which now finds itself with a narcissistic head (3 yrs in position) who is bullying staff, children and governors. It is a large school and all but two members of original staff/governors have left. We have reported and presented evidence in various forms (including evidence of it happening in this head's previous school) to the LEA, Ofsted and the Department of Education. All of which is proving difficult and we have now been threatened with legal action. We now have evidence that the LEA told KS1 staff 're-submit' KS1 SAT's papers as the school did not even meet the national average. The most upsetting aspect has been the effect on our children. They ended their primary education this week and returned to us as lifeless, soul-less puppets with all sense of spirit well and truly removed.
If any parent is reading this and can honestly say that their child's primary school is like this - please, please REMOVE them

[Cleaningthefours]

I'd be interested in the other side of this story considering you've been threatened with legal action.

At the very least you seem to be a tad dramatic.

[Norestformrz]

"We now have evidence that the LEA told KS1 staff 're-submit' KS1 SAT's papers as the school did not even meet the national average."
I'm unsure of your source but KS1 SATs papers aren't submitted they are a tool for the teacher in making their final assessment and aren't seen by anyone outside the school.

[user789653241]

Do they submit Ks1 SATs results? I thought it was only TA in KS1.

[Oblomov18]

Although this is very unfortunate, in the grand scheme of things, year 6 sats are insignificant.
Your child is now off to secondary. New stage of life. Fab. New friends.

Ds1, they did minimal computer tests on the day they visited secondary. They set them for maths and English based on that. They review the sat results but take minimal notice of them.

So, this is not that major.

[Newerversion]

KS1 SATs papers? But these are not submitted anyway, they are marked by the school. Who gave you this little snippet?

[frustratedprimaryparent]

Norestformrz - the SIA to the school told staff to re-submit their KS1 papers - which of course are only seen by the LEA themselves. As he didn't want to have to make the school's results known as they were well below national average.
oblomov18 - I am extremely relieved and very emotional to finally have my child away from that school. After being bullied by her classteacher for 6 months, this year has been extremely tough. I am not in the least bit bothered about my own child's SAT's results but I am concerned about her well-being and that of other children still at the school.

[catherinedevalois]

They ended their primary education this week and returned to us as lifeless, soul-less puppets with all sense of spirit well and truly removed.

Oh please. Have you not seen your children for a few years then? Children are in school 6 hours a day for 195 days a year, the rest of the time they are yours! Don't overreact.

[frustratedprimaryparent]

catherinedevalois - your child obviously attends a lovely school, with lovely teachers, please cherish that as not all families are that lucky. I'm not sure all the staff, governors and children who have recently left my child's school would think I was over-reacting. I also don't think the staff, governors and children from the head's previous school (and by the way we are talking 63 families to date) would agree with you either

[BubblesBuddy]

The Governors must have been very weak and if the tests are poor, ofsted might appear soon. You should be concerned about the happiness of the children but they do also have to make good progress. The Governors set the strategic aims for the school and hold the Head to account. If they were incapable of this, they should move on. They must performance manage the Head so they have scope for school improvement. If they want a quasi-inspection from the LAs improvement team, who should be working with them, they can ask for this. No Head has overall power but Governors who won’t tackle things that are wrong are not worth a candle. Maybe you should have been a parent Governor op?

[Feenie]

Noresrformrz is right - the LEA wouldn't require the school to submit the papers anyway, let alone resubmit them.

The only thing I can imagine that fits your scenario is that the LEA were moderated and had insufficient evidence to support their judgement of nominated children. In that case, the school might be allowed more time to produce evidence of the odd objective here and there, which might involve a couple of extra pieces of work. Not enough to reduce any children to 'husks' though, I'm afraid!

[Feenie]

We now have evidence that the LEA told KS1 staff 're-submit' KS1 SAT's papers as the school did not even meet the national average. The most upsetting aspect has been the effect on our children

You really don't. That would be maladministration from the LEA, not the school!

[frustratedprimaryparent]

BubblesBuddy - thank you for your comments. I was a governor - I resigned. The reason I resigned was that I could see the personality of the new head and how she was beginning to target me. She latches on to key people in order to gain their sympathy and support and as such has latched on to the Chair and the Senior Improvement Advisor of the LEA. This ties back to my point about SAT's maladministration and the whole ethos of the school that is being supported by the LEA at every turn. I attended the head's first appraisal, along with the SIA and the Chair and it was a complete farce

[Feenie]

The Governors must have been very weak and if the tests are poor, ofsted might appear soon.

Bubblesbuddy, you usually give decent advice as a governor, but that sentence about KS1 tests is bunkum. The OP seems to be ignoring advice which doesn't fit her narrative though - and sentences like that feed misinformation.

[Norestformrz]

"Norestformrz - the SIA to the school told staff to re-submit their KS1 papers - which of course are only seen by the LEA themselves" no they aren't they're seen by the class teacher and perhaps a member of the SLT. They are not submitted to the LEA. The test papers are one piece of evidence used by the class teacher to make a judgement. They are due to be scrapped.

[Norestformrz]

"The Governors must have been very weak and if the tests are poor, ofsted might appear soon." I'm afraid this is nonsense OFSTED will be completely unaware of the results of the KS1 tests as they are not reported.

[SureIusedtobetaller]

But ks1 test papers aren’t submitted to the LA- is it just me or are you ignoring everyone who is telling you this? They are marked internally, used to support teacher judgement, and moderated externally every 3 years or so. Is it moderation you mean? As it’s completely normal to be told to find more supporting evidence, especially if moderated early.

[Norestformrz]

"If they want a quasi-inspection from the LAs improvement team, who should be working with them, they can ask for this." This is totally against OFSTED guidance.
"Amanda Spielman, the new head of Ofsted, told school leaders they should not be undertaking fake inspections, branding it a waste of money"

[Norestformrz]

Even in an external moderation the moderators aren't interested in the tests just in the work the child has produced over the year.

[AspireAchieve]

LA's do not make decisions about maladministration of SAT's. This is the responsibility of the Standards and Testing Agency.

The LA does carry out the investigation on behalf of STA. This is very detailed and full of policy, procedure and rules. The LA gathers the evidence. STA make the decision.

Having carried out such investigations ( something akin to a criminal investigation - where many staff members are interviewed and all evidence has to tally to prevent a maladministration ruling) it woukd be very very difficult to cover this.

We're STA involved? You can report formally if you seriously think maladministration has happened.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/key-stages-1-and-2-investigating-allegations-of-maladministration

[AspireAchieve]

Just to add, OFSTED do 'risk assess' using school data. This will inform the timing of inspections.

[Feenie]

They absolutely will not 'risk assess' because of the results of KS1 tests though!

[AspireAchieve]

Not alone (Ks1) but part of all data, including progress data and a range of other data/information about the school.

[Feenie]

True - but not the subject of the thread.

[AspireAchieve]

Yes, true Feenie,

I commented because you had picked it out of Bubbles post to explain further.

The Governors must have been very weak and if the tests are poor, ofsted might appear soon

[frustratedprimaryparent]

AspireAchieve - yes the STA have been involved. Maladministration was reported to them (by 5 separate parents that I know of, each with reports concerning their own children). The STA chose to send in the LEA, as apparently they often do. The LEA decided to let the school's SIA carry out the 'investigation' and on top of that, he told the school on the Friday that he would be coming in on the following Monday. Two STA procedural rules broken: the investigation has to be conducted by an unbiased party and the school are not allowed any prior warning. Needless to say, these actions have been reported and the school is now under further investigation.
Feenie - your point about 'risk assessing' because of KS1 results. Exactly. Because the school is outstanding, they have only been getting Section 8 Ofsted's, last full Ofsted inspection was carried out over 5 years ago. Even though the ParentView results are speaking for themselves (for the past two academic years running) in terms of how the school is being led and managed, and whether parents would recommend the school, Ofsted still have not re-inspected the school. These inflated SAT's results are not going to encourage them to. Seems to me that as long as the school is seen to be churning out good results, everything else is brushed under the carpet. It's the everything else bit that concerns me as people's lives are being trashed in the process. The school has now been earmarked for expansion, even though it wasn't full last year!