AIBU?
to think that, althoguh I am a teacher
Samjam10 · 09/05/2011 20:59
and my son's teacher is my friend and colleague, the Y6 "end of year" tests (in MAY!) are a pain in the arse. My son is very lazy chilled out about school in general, but was in tears last night, and tonight told my mum on the phone that he "hopes he will do alright in his writing tasks tomorrow". He's TEN. I helped his teacher cover all the displays in the class room with drapes yesterday and they had to sit at individual desks reminiscent of GCSE/A level. The tests had to be unsealed by my colleague with two witnesses in case of cheating.
My son's class has been SATS based since Christmas as far as I can tell.
All about stupid league tables, not children, as our secondary rely on Teacher Assessment plus their own CAT tests in September anyway.
.280169 · 09/05/2011 21:06
SATS are a complete waste of time, iI refuse to let my children get stressed,dd is very studious and loves to revise ds has learning problems .He is far more confident and socable than dd and has good life skills,SATS will be a disaster for him but that does not make him a failure.
I will not be bothering with revision AT ALL, he will be playing out going on family walks and enjoying his childhood.
frangipan · 09/05/2011 21:13
I too was pressured by the school to move DS1's appointment on wednesday morning with his consultant (Diabetes) as he had mental maths that day..............I've told him to do his best to show himself what he can do and not to worry about doing well for anyone else.
Samjam10 · 09/05/2011 21:14
Or they could rate them by teacher assessment. Like our Secondary do to establish attainment. It's not that I disagree with moderation of individual TA (as in Y2 "SATS"), but that these (Y6) tests are stressful, unrepresentative of children's attainment, and unreliable.
Ormirian · 09/05/2011 21:16
Thank goodness our school goes out of it's way to play them down. Last year they marked them in school.
A friend's DS at another school is incredibly stressed and miserable. Has been sent home with test papers to complete since christmas. I think the head needs to be strung up to be frank 
mossi · 09/05/2011 21:17
that's just it - you go round a few schools, they all look nice and the teachers all seem nice, but how do you tell? there's really not much to go on. It's only when you get there you find out.
My dc is in reception. Ofsted came round recently. Many parents said they wouldn't respond to the ofsted questionnaire because they didn't want to give the school a bad name.
Samjam10 · 09/05/2011 21:17
Oh - I couldn't move the appointment to the afternoon and couldn't have got him back to school before end of morning due to distance. My mum was willing to take him to appointment (she would've had to anyway as we were both at work and that is usual arrangement) and the school said no. There was potential for us to cheat if he did not sit test in morning.
coastgirl · 09/05/2011 21:19
I teach secondary. I glance at y7's SATs results then ignore them. CATs are much more useful - but to be honest I mostly have them sussed by half-term anyway. And I think making 11-year-olds prepare and sit for formal tests is inumane, to be honest. By all means test them but the months of run-up is uncalled-for.
wook · 09/05/2011 21:25
SATs being taken out of year 9 was the best thing EVER.
Finally we could teach Shakespeare as a play, as a whole text, for performance and enjoyment, rather than filleting it and drilling the kids to the point where they hated it.
At last we could read great stories and novels and non fiction without asking bizarre and pointless comprehension questions about them.
We still assess levels throughout the year, ask the students to work hard, do all we can to help them to make progress and, in some cases, start GCSE work for those who can take it on.
Never again will I hear 'I hate Shakespeare, WHY are we doing this?' and have to answer with 'for your SATs'
Samjam10 · 09/05/2011 21:26
I grew up in eleven plus area, and went to the Grammar school. Not all kids did the tests and the high school the vast majority went to was good. SATs are for everyone in state education, don't affect the school you go to, and mean nothing - yet we put the kids through this for, what you agree, is nothing.
WrongWayToFall · 09/05/2011 21:43
DD had SATs last year but fortunately her school isn't a SATs hothouse - she only had one practice paper and found the whole experience quite underwhelming. It's definitely reflected in the results - we live in a mixed area and many of my friends are horrified that I sent her there as it has one of the poorest rankings in the league tables and a grade 3 Ofsted. But it's an inclusive school, with a relaxed attitude to homework and exams but a more holistic approach to education.
Most of my friends' DC go to an Outstanding school a few streets away - which has impressive results but a much narrower intake. They would often complain about their reams of homework and their social lives ground to a halt last year as they had so much pressure with practice papers, which was very different to DD's experience as she continued with after-school activities all the way through.
The DCs are at secondary now and DD has outperformed all of the girls who'd gone to the Outstanding school, despite them getting up to two full NC levels above hers in the SATs.
choccyp1g · 09/05/2011 22:18
If CATS are so much more useful, why don't they do CATS in Y6? And compare the results against the SATS to prove whether they have actually TAUGHT them anything. (My understanding being that CATS judge the child's ability, whereas SATS judge what they have learnt.)
Going to bed now, so won't log in till at least tomorrow.
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