Yr 6 SATS preparation

[10oclocknews]

What resources / books can I use at home to help my son prepare for his yr 6 SATS in May next year? Do all schools use the same books?

We have just moved 240 miles from the north to the south west and the School the children now attend is very different to their old school in terms of equipment/ resources and attitudes. The old school started frequent repetition of old SATS papers in yr 6 and repeatedly communicated with parents about the expectations and how parents could help the children at home. The new school do not give homework and my son reports that they do not do SATS practice currently. He says he finds the work quite easy and he doesn’t get given harder work to do if he finishes quickly. Equally my daughter who is in yr 1 and very bright also seems to be finding things very easy and is being given tricky words to learn which she was being given to learn in reception at her previous school, and has no difficulty with.

From these small snippets combined with the ofsted I’m worried that maybe the school are not challenging both children enough in order for them to reach their full potential. I am yet to go to a parents evening as they have only been there a few weeks, but all my concerns may be unfounded following that (fingers crossed). The school wasn’t my first choice as OFTED had already highlighted that the school require improvements in all areas, and that some academic attainment stalls especially in students who are middle to better able category, however it was the only school that had spaces in both year groups I needed. It isn’t all bad however, the staff are lovely, friendly and very helpful and the children are experiencing things their other school didn’t provide such as lots of sport and drama opportunities.

Previously I was not worried about SATS and never thought id be wanting to put in extra time at home to help my son receive the highest grade he could. My belief was that it was just for School league tables and didn’t benefit the children. However, it has been suggested that if children underperform in their SATS at yr 6 then their expected attainment at KS3 will be lower and therefore they will not be pushed to obtain beyond their expected grade. I don’t work in education nor do I have friends who work in education so I don’t know if it is as black and white as this? Perhaps some of you could outline why so much emphasis is put on Yr 6 SATS.

My son is doing fine academically and is middling to top depending on the subjects, but he lacks confidence and doesn’t approach difficult scenarios well, which affects his results and therefore would consider a tutor to help build confidence if good these SATS results have such an impact????

Xx

[sleepismysuperpower1]

maths practice here

pracice papers here

vocab practice cards here (you can use these as a game,or in the car) link

english grammar/vocab practise online game here (and each time you play, you get a grain of rice to fill your bowl)

for your year1 child, if you wanted you could use resources like these:

maths link

english link2

spellings link3

all the best x

[Norestformrz]

"vocab practice cards here (you can use these as a game,or in the car) <a class="break-all" href="http://go.mumsnet.com/?xs=1&id=470X1554755&url=blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9780071766418?gC=5a105e8b&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuteeq_vx3QIV1-d3Ch1tpQ26EAQYAyABEgJOJfD_BwE" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">linknk^"* You do realise these are for the US tests not the English national curriculum tests?

[sleepismysuperpower1]

oh i didnt realise, apologizes. perhaps i linked the wrong product, the one i viewed was definitely for the uk one.

[Norestformrz]

Sorry but there isn't a vocabulary test in the English national curriculum tests.

[sleepismysuperpower1]

i know, but having good vocabulary helps when doing an english paper (in my opinion anyway) :)

[Norestformrz]

Unfortunately the cards are aimed at students applying for college entry

[sleepismysuperpower1]

as i said before, i sent the wrong link. the correct one is here: www.abebooks.co.uk/Foxtons-Vocabulary-Flash-Cards-700-Eleven/22864990835/bd?cm_mmc=gmc--new--PLA-_-v01&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItI7goo3y3QIVC-R3Ch2kmAdSEAkYCyABEgIeafD_BwE

[Norestformrz]

Yes I saw that but I'd still advise people to save their £23.00

[sleepismysuperpower1]

they were just a suggestion. no obligation to purchase them :)

[Beingginger]

Our school use the cgp revision books. www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1782944192/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1538841215&sr=1-4&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[Beingginger]

Past papers here www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum-assessments-practice-materials#key-stage-2-past-papers

[RedSkyLastNight]

It is a good thing that the school is not doing SATS practice in October.

In a couple of months you'll see threads from parents whose children go to schools that turn Year 6 into a SATS exam factory and are burnt out by February.

Secondary schools do use SATS to set targets, but any good secondary school will want the DC to do as well as they possibly can (and it's kudos for the school if DC exceed targets anyway!!) My DD underperformed in her maths SATs so her maths and science targets are quite low at secondary school - I simply tell her that those are for the school, and she is capable of doing better, so shouldn't rest on her laurels!

[Norestformrz]

OP it sounds as if the new school has a really good attitude to SATs. Spending a year doing old test papers isn't great preparation. Yes they need to be familiar with the test format but all that can be done in a few lessons it doesn't take a whole year when they could be taught instead.

[MirandaWest]

My DCs primary school didn’t do anything to do with year 6 SATS until well after Christmas and DD got 120 in all of them so something must have been OK. The thought of doing extra work at this time of year seems a bit much to me although maybe I’m just a bit lazy.

[user789653241]

I think our school don't start sats prep until after Christmas. We 've heard nothing so far about sats.

[10oclocknews]

Thanks for the replies. I will look at those links. I think his old school used the CPG books.

It’s reassuring that other schools are also not looking at SATS yet. My only experience has been from their last school and my cousins School (also in the north) who do indeed seem to be like a SATS exam factory so I assumed that most schools did this.

Redsky, I like that attitude. I find the whole SATS thing a headache. I want my son to achieve the highest he is capable of but whilst he has potential, if he’s allowed he will always do the bare minimum expected.

[PurpleAndTurquoise]

Don't worry about SATS results. Secondary schools are now all about Progress 8 and Attainment 8, which means (quite rightly) that all their efforts are focused on the middle and lower attainers and bringing up their grades, as that gives them more value added for Attainment 8 and Progress 8 results.

They have to use SATS for government statistics to predict GCSE grades, but it doesn't hold a child back in anyway, as the secondaries are all about getting the child to exceed their predicted grades.

[10oclocknews]

Thankyou purple. That’s really good to know and very helpful x

[user789653241]

We had mock sats( the test from last year) and multiple children scored 100 % on the 2018 test, excluding reading(more projective). Meaning if your school have taught it properly, they have covered everything by now. Nothing to worry about.

[Maldives2006]

Not every secondary school use SATS the school my son is going to don’t.

[Feenie]

They may say they don't, but they will be set external targets from those results that they are obliged to meet, whether they use them in Y7 or not.

[SnowdropsiUnderTrees]

You are wrong about secondary schools not pushing the middle or lower attainers. In fact it's the opposite. It's the higher attainers who aren't pushed at secondary.
Secondary schools are now assessed on progress 8 so they want to add value, as it were, to children's grades. They can't add any value to the high attainers but they can to the middle and lower attainers. They (rightly) focus on improving the outcomes for the lower and middle attainers.
Forget about doing extra practise for SATS, it's not in the child's interest and there are more useful things to do.