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Year 6 SATS (home) preparation.

12 replies

Megan70 · 06/12/2018 10:45

DH had a chat with DC teacher and it seems that DC is a bit "behind" in some subjects. He has come back home completely stressed out about getting DC into private classes apart from DC full time school and booster sessions. I can't give less than a toss about the school scores, DC is doing his best to keep up with his studies but, on the other side I don't want to stress DC with MORE extra classes. I would really appreciate if someone can point me out to the best way of organising myself daily so we can cover all the material and subjects expected to pass the SATS, I have no clue how to start, what to cover, so many stuff is studied in a completely different way to what I learned. What (free) resources did you find online that would help you "homeschool " yourself all the way to SATs level??? I am planning to sit down with DC half an hour daily to cover ALL material expected (hopefully) in the most organised way, but I am COMPLETELY LOST Sad

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SassitudeandSparkle · 06/12/2018 10:48

The SATs cover the year 6 curriculum, so they won't have covered everything just yet - but they will have by the time of the tests.

There are some 10 minute test books (not free) if you want to practice at home. Do you know what your DC is 'behind' on, is it a specific subject?

I am not a fan of SATs so refused school's offer of extra classes and we just did the 10 min tests at home as practice.

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paxillin · 06/12/2018 10:56

Can I ask why you want to do this? School will do booster sessions. There is no passing or failing them, at least not meaningfully for the child. Nothing will happen if he doesn't "pass"; other than the school's performance data won't look as good.

They have so many SATS drills in year 6, you need to be careful not to turn him off education. These do not determine his future.

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LyndaLaHughes · 06/12/2018 11:03

I'm a Year 6 teacher and they will be doing everything required to help him in school but, having said that, if you feel he would benefit from some help from you to boost his confidence I would highly recommend the CGP books. Get the Grammar study book and accompanying question book and the same for Maths. They also have some reading comprehension practice as well. The study books are great as they provide all the information needed and are very helpful for parents too.

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LyndaLaHughes · 06/12/2018 11:05

Oh and I would reiterate that SATS are a nonsense and we would all ban them if we could as children shouldn't be under this pressure at this age.

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Julraj · 06/12/2018 11:39

SATs can be a high pressure scenario but with how fast children grow up at that age, I think it's a good experience. Sometimes things matter in life and it's good for parents to teach children to do all they can to seize the opportunity to do well.

I'd look at places like Exam Ninja and Amazon for relevant revision books and try to find a consistent practice schedule at home. It doesn't need to be rigorously structured, just helpful. You never know, they could even find it fun! Best of luck.

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brilliotic · 06/12/2018 11:53

I would focus on supporting your child with the things they will need for secondary school. Getting them 'secondary ready' so to say. That is not the same as getting good SATS!

From other threads I have gathered that reading comprehension is fairly important for secondary, and basic maths skills. Knowing their times tables (instant recall) for example.
But certain things they need to learn for the SATS Spelling and Grammar test, they will never encounter again, and not knowing them will not be a disadvantage of any kind in their next school.

So I would perhaps pop over to the secondary school forum on MN, and ask the question about which aspects you should focus on to get your child secondary ready; then return here and ask for resources for those specific things. Whilst leaving the SATS preparation wholly to the school.

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Megan70 · 06/12/2018 17:52

Thanks for all the advice. As I said, I do get that SATS is not about the students but about the school scores, I cannot give a toss about school scores and actually I think DC is already doing a lot in his spare time at home apart from school and booster classes. I feel bad, but in a way the dad is really stressed out because he feels DC is behind his "supposed to be level", which also makes DC feel down. So "just for the sake of it" I was thinking of helping the whole situation if we dedicated half an hour a day in an organised manner to cover SATS material, in this way I would take advantage of the time better than him studying alone and also DC would feel confident enough at the time of taking the test, knowing he's got the level required

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sd249 · 06/12/2018 18:12

I teach in a secondary and I would say do as little as possible. The amount of parents who sit down at year 7 parents evening saying how much their child hated maths last year is just awful.

A good website for the maths is "Numeracy Ninjas" you could print off the booklets and then he gets different ninja badges based on how many he can do.

This is then fun practice rather than just doing SATs.

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TeenTimesTwo · 06/12/2018 18:34

I concur with brilliotic

Don't do stuff for the sake of SATs. Do it to be secondary ready.
So core maths.
Writing in a way to be understood.
Basic comprehension.
Test taking technique.

My DD struggles with school but building confidence in maths and test taking was beneficial to secondary.
At the start of y6 she panicked and got stressed with questions she couldn't do.
By the end of y6, not only could she do more questions, but she understood how to pace herself, plus accept some maths questions would be too hard.
This has really helped at secondary. They do regular assessments that she is willing to revise for. But she reads the questions OK(ish), paces herself well, and stays calm.

So at home, don't mention SATs. Say you are building core skills to help at secondary.

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user789653241 · 06/12/2018 19:13

I agree with brilliotic and Teen. I think it's worth doing some work on basic understanding/ getting ready for secondary, a little bit everyday.
We have worked on my ds's comprehension/writing for years, and it took a while to see the results, but it worth the effort put in.

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NastyorNice · 06/12/2018 21:49

My summer born Yr6 was struggling with maths. (He is a total book-worm and is English is off the scale so not a problem). I had a chat with him, watched him doing a few maths problems at home and worked out it that confidence was his biggest issue - he would have no idea which of the myriad of techniques he had been taught to use on a any given problem. Then he would get frustrated, call himself stupid and get upset.

I did enrol him with a tutor - (Kip McGrath - they are a franchise). Largely because if I tried to help him it didn't help as he went into "helpless" mode and it was counter-productive.

The tutoring (albeit ££ at £30 odd a week) is working wonders. His confidence levels are much higher. He now gets on with his maths homework without whinging, and just calmly works through it. Because he is not panicking his number recalls (times tables etc) is better.

I don't care about his attainment or his SATS - he is far, far happier and relaxed about maths and seems to enjoy the weekly tutoring sessions.

So it can depend on the child. If doing stuff at home is likely to make things worse/build resentment/increase dislike of the subject cos it means Mummy/Daddy are nagging him then a tutor may work better if you can afford it.

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Julraj · 07/12/2018 09:56

As @NastyorNice alluded to - a bit of extra work, whether with a teacher or just with you, can work wonders and really steer their confidence around.

Sometimes it just needs a fresh start (i.e. working from a book and forgetting what they would have learned in class) and other times a tutor will be a better choice.

As a tutor I often start a new pupil relationship by explaining that "this is not a class like in school" but instead it's a "cheating class" that will "help give them a head-start for their next class!" or something equally exciting. Some parents don't like this approach but it engages their child which, more often than not, is the main problem. Shouting louder, taking away screen time etc isn't always the best tool.

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