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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

SATs one

24 replies

laptopdancer · 19/01/2012 07:45

AIBU to expect hope that we would have been told which day/s the class would have their SAT tests? (year 2)

Yes, mine missed one if his as he was off with a cold I would have taken him in if I'd known

OP posts:

SoupDragon · 19/01/2012 07:50

YABU. Y2 SATS are even more pointless than Y6 ones. I thought they were mostly teacher assessed anyway.

If you deemed your DS too ill to go to school, why on earth would you make him go in for a test?

Original poster

laptopdancer · 19/01/2012 07:52

He now has to do it on his own some time. I suppose you are right, he wouldnt have been up to it. Would have liked a heads up though.
The schoolplaces a LOT of emphasis on these SATS.

OP posts:

SoupDragon · 19/01/2012 07:57

Thankfully, our primary doesn't. Especially the Y2 ones.

The tests really aren' much anyway - or school makes it so the child really doesn't know they are doing a test as such, they are just doing an exercise.

If he was ill, he was ill. I imagine they don't tell you so that you don't a) worry about the tests or b) try to prep your child unnecessarily. :)

Original poster

laptopdancer · 19/01/2012 08:00

In our school, they are very aware they are tests and its done under test conditions.

OP posts:

NorthernGirlie · 19/01/2012 08:52

Ex school teacher here - SATs are the invention of the Devil. They don't benefit children at all and cause undue pressure imo, I'd tell them that your son won't be sitting it as he missed their 'official one'.

StrandedBear · 19/01/2012 08:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

aldiwhore · 19/01/2012 10:01

Fortunately our SATS passed by without me even noticing, my eldest simply said he'd had a test (has two per week anyway - maths and spelling).

I suspect Yr 6 ones will be different.

I hate hate hate SATS.

I do know one child who became poorly purely down to stress, that is in excusable at 7 years old!

redskyatnight · 19/01/2012 10:15

That's ridiculous that your school treats it as a proper "test".

DC's (very sensible) view is that KS1 SATs are just one more way for the teacher to assess the children and they were done very informally and spread over many days so it certainly wasn't a question of if you'd missed one day you'd missed it. January seems very early to be doing them anyway - won't the children improve by quite a lot between now and the end of the year?

redskyatnight · 19/01/2012 10:16

Sorry - DC's school's view (the DC don't have a view as they are oblivious to them)

cloudpuff · 19/01/2012 10:23

dd (y2) has been making herself physically ill over these bloody things. Today is the first morning she has not been wretching with stress/nerves since the christmas holidays. She hasn't been sleeping properly too and is just generally down in the dumps. The amount of homework coming home is ridiculous at least an hours worth everyday.
I did have a word with her teacher and she said she'll reassure dd however I found out yesterday that children who are not getting at least 15 out of 20 of their spellings correct are missing playtimes so its stressed dd out more as she is scared of failing. Its undone all the weeks of me telling her she just has to try her hardest and things will be fine.
Its way too much stress for a young child. DD has gone from a confident little girl who loves school to someone who dreads school and has very little confidence in her work. Not sure what can be done about it though.

ASByatt · 19/01/2012 10:30

cloudpuff, I would have removed my child from that school, in your position, whilst writing a strongly worded letter to the Chair of Governors!

Am a teacher, by the way, with a DS in Y2 who has never heard of 'SATs' - he has no homework other than to read regularly and learn a few spellings a week. When DD was in Y2 she came home and said they had been doing some 'different activities just to check that their teacher was on the right track in helping them all learn'. And that was it.

brass · 19/01/2012 10:36

I'm in two minds about this.

Yes they are administered badly and take up the teacher's valuable time just so the govt/LEA can spew stats.

BUT

I think parents don't help the process at all. They get overly involved and start hot housing their children, getting tutors in etc

If the teachers were allowed to get on with it I'm sure it would be fine and the children wouldn't be half as stressed as they get. Even if your own child is managing there will always be a few upstarts in the class (or their parents!) who will try whipping everyone else into a frenzy.

ASByatt · 19/01/2012 10:45

But brass that's not cloudpuff's experience, by the sound of it?

brass · 19/01/2012 11:14

I'm a little bit that there are teachers out there who think they can bring a child working at a certain level the rest of the year up to another level just by giving lots of homework and keeping them in at playtime.

If the mum is really concerned she should insist that her child ISN'T kept in at playtime and inform the teacher that the homework is too much and ask her what is going to be done about it. I wouldn't allow my child to get to into that state in the first place and would have engaged the teacher as soon as I saw it was having a negative impact. Or pull her child out of SATS altogether.

It's just that ime stressy mums cause more problems for their children by putting pressure on them to perform (beyond how they have been performing previously but once the SATS kick in, panic and try to play catch up in a very short amount of time).

cloudpuff · 19/01/2012 12:11

I have raised my issues with the teacher as it was obvious my Daughter became very unhappy at school after the xmas hols, she returned on the Tuesday and her teacher had said that this term was going to be a hard one and she wants the children to do well, I had a chat with the teacher and she reassured me that she would calm dd etc, so you can see that I did tackle it straight away, I have been chatting with the teacher about it regulary and basically telling my Daughter that all she has to do is try. I found about the keeping children in for not getting 15 out 20 spellings yesterday and plan to discuss with the teacher later. I will add that my Daughter has not been kept in as she usually get 18-19 spellings right, its the threat of it and the thought of letting her teacher (who dd adores) down that is stressing her.

As for homework, dd has gone from only having reading and spellings to do, to getting it piled on her over the last week, (I will pm anyone who wants to know her exact home work) I really don't want to sound nasty but in my situation its the teacher/school that is panicking and trying to play catch up, not me. I also was not aware that I could pull my child out of doing the SATS, how would I go about this?

Finally, I am not a stressy mother and don't push my Daughter, if she wants to learn more about something I will support it and help her but otherwise our approach to academic work is very relaxed. DD picks things up very quickly and seems to be a natural learner she is in the top sets in her class and up until now she was managing perfectly and was confident in her abilities. Now she fears "letting my school,my class,my teacher and myself down". I can guarantee you that she is not learning this approach from home. I could give a toss about these stats or what stage/level my dd is as long as she is happy in herself.

cloudpuff · 19/01/2012 12:12

That should be could'nt give a toss.

cloudpuff · 19/01/2012 12:13

third time lucky "couldn't"

cloudpuff · 19/01/2012 12:23

Thanks ASByatt, its been a really good school up to now but they do put a lot of emphasise on figures, be it attendance or test results. I have witnessed an assembly where the head teacher has been drilling into them about working hard to get into university to get a good job, they are 6 years old fgs.

I think I will see what options are available to me regarding other schools she could attend, its a case of weighing up which would cause the least distress for dd, but I am going to have a serious think about it.

All dd has been told at school is that dd is going to have a hard working term and then the increased work load came. She was not aware of the SATS as such. I have told her about them in basic terms and she did seem a little reassured that its nothing to worry about and then she finds out about the being kept in at playtimes which contradicts what I have been saying.

brass · 19/01/2012 12:27

LOL! I 'm not sure what the formal process of withdrawing a child from SATS is (sorry!) but I know they are not compulsory. You would have to speak to the school I'm afraid.

It does sound as if your teachers are panicking but that is appalling in itself. Are they trying to achieve dramatic results for an impending ofsted do you think? Or is it just a super competitive school?

All you can do is what you have already been doing!

cloudpuff · 19/01/2012 13:11

Thanks and sorry if my reply to you was harsh.
The school has an outstanding Ofsted report and it seems every other newsletter is bragging about some achievment so I guess its a bit of both.
I've decided that we are not doing any schoolwork tonight and we are gonna eat junk food and watch dvds or cbbc all evening. I think it'll do dd good, I'll be telling the teacher this too.

Alouette · 19/01/2012 13:46

Why on earth would you want to withdraw your child from SATs? Our DC will be doing exams their whole lives- some start as early as Year 9 as a lot of schools do early GCSEs now and will continue until they are 21 if they choose to go to university. If you are so concerned about the negative effect of SATs on your child- what are you going to do when they get to GCSE finals in year 11 and are stressed have 12 of the bastard exams at once....withdraw them from those too?

SATs are meaningless- which means they're the best way of getting children used to an exam setting and revision rather than chucking them in the deep end when they're 14?

SoupDragon · 19/01/2012 13:48

"Why on earth would you want to withdraw your child from SATs? "

Because they are only 6 or 7 year old.

cloudpuff · 20/01/2012 09:39

Of course i would not withdraw dd from gcse exams but they are almost ten years away (which is forever to a six year old) and Id like to think dd would be a bit more understanding and have a lot more maturity by then, she'd also be able to manage stress a lot more. There is a big difference between a six year olds understanding and a fifteen year olds.
I don't want to withdraw my dd from SATS but it is certainley an option I would consider if I had to. I'm really not keen on the idea that she may be kept in at playtimes if she didnt get the required spelling mark,its punishment for underachieving, I know there will be many more tests in her life so why the need to put so much emphasise on these ones?

ASByatt · 20/01/2012 19:17

Yes there is a huge difference between exams at 16 which will impact on your career prospects etc and stupid tests at aged 6 or 7 - can you not see any difference, Alouette?

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