Year 6 SATs

[islandmum8]

I’m a nosy (English teacher of a…) year 6 parent.
Any idea what was in this year’s SATs papers? Any of the spellings? Sort of thing in the reading paper? Child can’t remember and not going to pester on at them to remember just because I am so keen to know! :)

Actually SATs results are used to predict GCSE grades.

exa!
Predict!
Its not going to make them pass the exams !!
it’s not had any effect on my children by not doing them!

This surprised me too.

I do think that SATs are not taken as seriously by schools as secondary exams with regard to regulations.

Whether this is because they don't have a dedicated exams officer in school & rely on SLT and invigilators I don't know.

In secondary, no subject teacher should see the paper until the question papers have been packed for dispatch and the window for the exam is over.

It can affect which set they’re put into and can be hard to get that changed.
However, I’m not saying I agree with SATs.

What I would say, however, is that the DfE are clearly trying to save money by keeping word count high but printing smaller text over double-page spreads! This visual aspect of words condensed onto a page definitely didn't help those with neurodivergent conditions.

That must be quite prejudicial to dyslexics and children with visual problems.

But if a child gets working towards on sats (when they should really have got expect Ed) and then coasts along at secondary at below average then they will probably go under the radar. If a child gets expected at sats and then drops to wts at secondary then alarms will ring and they will be pushed.

I have to say that while I think some of the parents on our class whatsapp were a bit OTT in their prep, concern and planning for SATS (and don't even get me started on some of the batshit crazy "encouragement" posts I saw!), I do think SATS have a place. The point is to see it as that - a place. not the be all and end all.

So giving the children a taste of the level of testing and assessment to come is not a bad thing. Getting a sense of where a child is compared to the national average when they come out of primary is also helpful and gives the secondary school a starting point. Using them to assess how well a school is doing is also a useful tool.

But when I read about families getting tutors for intensive sessions becuase of SATS or children being terrified of "failing", it goes too far. DD is expected to do well on her SATs. She's had some tutoring ad hoc as she was, at one point, considering grammar schools. But I keep telling her that the exact number is irrelevant. It's a guideline that gives a starting point for high school and that tells her school how it's doing in teaching the curriculum, and if she's at 114 or 117 its not important.

The stories are often specially written for the SATs papers... There's no guarantee they're part of a larger story.

That being said, the papers are usually released online, on the government website, within a few weeks. I'm a primary school supply teacher, and like to "sit" the papers myself once they're released. Just to make sure I'm keeping up with what the kids are expected to know! I usually get full marks in reading and SPAG, and have never got full marks in maths! Close, but not quite.

Or as I have dealt with, a disgruntled parent who wanted an excuse to raise another issue with the school.

In this case, although we keep the parents name anonymous and although we do not confirm which parent has made a referral to the Standards and Testing Agency, the headteacher was correct with her guess of who the parent was.

Administration of SATs was found to be particularly tight in the school, all staff able to confirm, when interviewed separately, the consistently good practice, extra invigilator from a local secondary school too. Staff members had not read papers, other pupils in the room with nothing to report. Investigation outcome found no concerns.

Sadly, the final straw for the headteacher, after lots of dealing with the same parent. Maladministration of SATs can end careers and I have instances of that happening. This HT decided to follow through on her intention to leave headship the following year.

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