SATS cheating - by the Head!

Completely agree.

Dd2 did much worse in maths than she should have but it just meant she ended up in a lower set, but then got moved up and they are vaguely talking about moving her again for next year.

The predicted grades thing is just for the progress 8 measure. Dd2 would be amazing for the school’s figures if she scraped 100 then ended up with a 7 for example at GCSE. So it’s totally in secondaries’ best interests to get the most out of every child regardless of their SATs scores.

If there's no other evidence it's not likely to ruin the heads career.

However, it may mean there is more monitoring in SATS

And if multiple people report then it would rightly ruin the heads career. But that won't be the fault of the op it will be the fault of the head (and the decision of the chair of governors)

I’ve not dealt with this exact scenario but based on other investigations:

• follow the complaints process. Since this involves the HT it’s appropriate to go straight to the Chair of Governors (which may be via an email to the clerk)
• they will formally investigated, probably via a sub committee of governors. This will likely also include liaison with HR and other external advisors
• the outcome will determine next steps. yes that might include disciplinary action and reporting given its a conduct issue

I know school governors get yawned at on MN. I support a school I have no affiliation with and apart from 2 parent governors (who aren’t on any committees) we are all independent professionals and far from in the pocket of the head. This would be jumped on at my school. Rightly so.

To all the ‘what other good things have they done’. That’s precisely why they didn’t need to do it.

Jesus, I'm naive- that hadn't even occurred to me!

You are right that SATS are a nonsense, but you are wrong that no one loses out as a result of cheating. Schools and Teachers who adhere to the rules and act with integrity absolutely do lose out when their results are measured against those who have broken the rules and gotten away with it.

If you want to send it to the Governors, send it to the Chair (you can usually do this via the school office if you don’t know their email address). However, I disagree with the poster who said to keep it very brief. The more details the Chair has, the more it will help him/her decide what to do.

Sending it to the Chair ramps up the seriousness. What he/she will do is up to them. Depending on their integrity and their relationship with the Head, they might just ignore it, though they would probably feel obliged to discuss it with the Head, who might of course assure them that it’s all nonsense. Whether they took it further and reported it would again be up to them.

You could of course address your email to the Head but copy in the CoG; that way you’d be more likely to get a response, but if you don’t want it reported to the STA you’d be running that risk.

Having been a HT I'm now a Chair of Governors and would hate to have to make a decision like that! Personally, tbh I would probably decide not to take it further, in the knowledge that the Head had received a big shock even if they didn’t admit it, though I acknowledge that this might not be the most moral thing to do.

No-one is losing out at all. SATs are a nonsense.

Honestly OP the idea of ruining someone’s career over something your child said is mad. In reality where is the proof? It’s your child’s word against the head’s. There’ll be no evidence. Instead, you’ll drag the head through an investigation - potentially resulting in them being off long-term with stress, resulting in no leadership for the duration, and your child will have to be involved as well (presumably as a witness in some capacity). It’s a pyrrhic victory at best and a chaotic shitshow at worst. Honestly just chill out. Find something else to occupy your time. Sometimes in life, what’s morally ‘right’ isn’t the best course of action

Oh I quite agree. But I strongly suspect the goal is to do some targeted coaching of the weaker students once the head knows what is in the paper

The head chose the jeopardise her career. This is on her. Noone else.

Why should other, more honest, heads, lose out in comparison ?

I maintain that this is a thoroughly unnecessary logistical nightmare!

Dd school is a three form school (over 90 children )and this is exactly what they do.

The children go in four separate sessions. Most able first. Those least able /with Learning difficulties etc go last and spend the entire morning getting more "coaching" /"revision" before they go in.

Can I ask you to list all the good things the school/head has done in the years your DD has been there? All that she has gained from the school.
This is one small thing that your DD has said (and you only have her word for it) in the context of years of education.
It is not ideal ... if we assume it actually happened ... but it is one small thing.
SATs are totally unimportant ... it is not an external exam, where it would be cause for concern.
I sincerely hope that you are not discussing this in front of your child and blowingnitnup in.het mind.
I think you should chill and see it in perspective. God knows schools are put under enough stress as it is ... stress that gets passed on to the children. Do you want to jeopardise this head's career? How does this help anyone?

Why have you included a screenshot of something which proves me right and you wrong?! I already knew what it said in the document! Hence why I was correct!

And it's really not 'ludicrous quibbling' to point out that there is a difference in meaning between the word 'recommendation' and the word 'rule' when it is entirely relevant in the context.

All I can say is, all four of the Heads I have worked for (most of them sane...) have ignored the recommendation in question, because we cannot lay our hands on enough adults to do this. This SATs week just gone, we used 12 adults (plus the Deputy Head who did random 'drop-ins' on each room throughout the duration of each test), and three of them were unpaid volunteers. There is just no way we could have got hold of another 12 adults.

Other schools manage. I’ve done it easily (after careful planning) with over 70 children, using a number of governors and some school admin staff.

Okay, good for you and the other schools! None of the heads at the four schools I've taught at have considered this necessary, and I don't blame them.

Regarding taking the tests in 'a big group'- classrooms can usually only fit 15 or 16 children if they are adequately spaced.

We have occasionally used governors, but most of them have jobs, and are not willing to take four consecutive mornings off work.

To go back to my original point, it just isn't true that the ONLY reason a school would have one adult per room is because they are planning to cheat. Most of us are sensible enough to realise that the kids would dob us in!

Ludicrous quibbling on your part, but okay - a recommendation which no one is insane enough to ignore because they would be risking their entire career. 🙄

School governor here.

The primary I support has a lot of additional need; lots of movement of pupils and they tend to perform poorly in SATs in terms of national averages.

They adhere to the guidelines to the letter. Governors are invited/asked to attend as additional adults during SATs week. Despite the apparent low scores, we know the quality of education is good from multiple other means. Recently got a strong ‘good’ Ofsted rating.

It superficially benefits the school and not the child, but there is zero need to be doing this from a HT perspective, even accounting for there being a lot of (perceived) pressure.

You don’t need to over-egg it OP. This is a 3 liner email not war and peace. “Child came home, described to me X teacher did this.”
Full stop.

I’m vice chair and if I received that would take it very seriously because the facts are there is no need. I also do the HT performance review and pay recommendations. Governors awarding (or or not) pay reviews on SAT results alone should not be governors. There are multiple ways of measuring progress, understanding school demographics/dynamics, plus all the other competencies of being a HT that contribute to a school providing good quality of education.

I think you are putting way too much weight on SATS, my son is in year 7 and yes they used SATS g for the initial sets, but since then they have had 2 assesment weeks where kids in the wrong sets have moved and have another in a couple of weeks to ensure they go into the correct sets for year 8. I don't see the importance of them being used to predict GCSE's it's a prediction it doesn't impact anything surely. SATS are for the schools benefit and no one else

No. Presumably the majority don’t need special arrangements so can take the tests in a big group. Then they could have e.g. extended playtime or watch a film while nearly all the adults supervise the second batch of groups. Other schools manage. I’ve done it easily (after careful planning) with over 70 children, using a number of governors and some school admin staff. (Also, not all but many children with 1:1 TA support can manage without their TA for an hour or so, as they would if the TA was off sick.)

And I'm now correcting this for the fifth time!

The guidance recommends that there is more than one adult per room; it does not necessitate it.

No school I've ever worked at (four schools) has ever had more than one adult to a room- not because anyone was cheating, but because we just couldn't lay our hands on enough adults to do this.

I'm not disputing that staggered testing exists. I'm disputing that it is ubiquitous.

For the third or fourth time on this thread, I'm afraid I'm going to have to correct this misconception. It is a recommendation that there is more than one adult per room. It is not a rule.

Wow!