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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not push DS into Saturday School?

68 replies

Binkyridesagain · 16/04/2013 16:09

its that dreaded time of year again, SATs.

School phoned this morning asking me to return the reply slip for saturday school. It is an extra school day that is being offered for 2 saturdays, to train the kids to pass their SATs.

I have not given my permission for DS to attend because 1) SATs are useless and nothing to do with a childs ability, 2) they get enough "revision" the 5 days they are in school each week 3) DS doesn't want to even if they are serving bacon butties for breakfast 4) this is another FULL school day in the week.

The school have attempted to sway me with the bacon butties, all his friends are there, it reduces stress at testing time,they need the scores to get in to the right set for secondary etc etc.

I am beginning to waver as I am feeling guilty that I am not joining the rest of the parents in sending my son to this extra school day. Am I wrong?

I have asked DS if he feels okay during tests, if he gets stressed or nervous and he says he doesn't. He is not below standards for his age group and I have no concerns about his abilities, neither does his teacher.

So AIBU in not sending him?

I am also due a phone call from the HT to try and persuade me to send him.

OP posts:

Bambi86 · 16/04/2013 19:42

As a secondary school teacher, it is common practice to re test all year 7 pupils within their first half term. At nu school these are NFER tests in English and Maths, and the other subjects sets their own exams.SATS are highly unreliable in setting pupils in secondary school, as so many pupils are "coached" by their Primary schools- so what they are telling you is not 100% true. Also sets are not just based on test results- teachers take into account class work/homework/contributions in class.

I wouldn't send him.

HerrenaHarridan · 16/04/2013 19:50

No, no and no, they have then 5 days a week, 6 hours a day and have done for several years. If they haven't managed to teach them in that time then they should be shut down.

Wether or not new school tier based on sats is irrelevant, your dc will end up in the set they should be with out artificially cramming.

Just tell the head politely that he has had plenty of opportunity in the last 6 years to educate your son and you already have plans

HerrenaHarridan · 16/04/2013 19:52

On second thoughts you could enrol him in Sunday school as well!

MrsGrowbag · 16/04/2013 20:01

When my DS1 was doing Year 6 SATs the teacher held an "information evening" a few weeks beforehand and basically said that SATs were only a small part of school, they weren't going to over-focus on them, they would be following the usual curriculum with lots of art, music, sport etc, not giving those things up in order to do SATs practice, and she also said that parents should not go and buy the books of practice SATs questions or past papers. They didn't do any SATs practice for homework. It was all very low key and as a result my son really enjoyed his last term in primary school. It was attitudes like that which made us choose the school in the first place. Oh, and most of the year got Level 5 in all the SATs so it clearly didn't affect them.
DO NOT send your child to Saturday school!

MNBlackpoolandFylde · 16/04/2013 20:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

teacherwith2kids · 16/04/2013 20:10

MrsGrowbag,

Sounds exactly like DS's Year 6 - a happy and productive year, with lots of new teaching (including an afternoon a fortnight with a secondary Maths teacher ... who in some schools I suspect might have done 'Level 6 classes' but in actual fact did loads of fun problem solving and maths chellnges) and normal homework, with a week of tests somewhere in the middle of it...

Got really good results, too, including lots of Level 6s in Maths. Goes to show that really good, inspiring teaching = good results, just as much, if not more so, than endless drilling on papers and question types.

Say no to Saturday school. Had DS's school tried to do something like that and piled on the pressure, I would have simply withdrawn him for SATs week (and I'm a law abiding, no unauthorised absence, teacher type, not a natural rebel)

TomArchersSausage · 16/04/2013 20:24

Yadnbu I wouldn't agree to this.

This SATS pressure is madness and is not testing the thing it should be testing ie the performance of the school and what it can achieve in SCHOOL TIME.

The whole SATS headless chicken routine in yr 6 massively gets my goat. Test if they must, but by yr6 all that should be left to do is some light revision to take a low key test.

All this flapping tells me one thing only. They have not done enough in the previous 6 years (Reception onwards) leading up to this moment and are cramming in the worst way at the last minute.

It's unacceptable in children so young who have little to gain personally anyway from the result good or poor.

If they do not have confidence in their students having had 6 years to get them to where they should be now, then sorry but the only people deserving of any pressure about it at this stage should be the school; not the children, because it's not their fault.

FredFredGeorge · 16/04/2013 20:24

"We appreciate the work you're trying to do in turning around your poor weekday teaching with extra lessons on the weekend, but feel that if you can't manage to teach it in 5 days like other schools then extra isn't going to make a difference so Little Jimmy will be visiting McDonalds that day to better prepare him for his likely career."

HazardLamps · 16/04/2013 20:38

You're not being unreasonable but you are lucky. I recall being told that my child and their classmates had to attend extra lessons over the holidays.

(Needless to say they didn't get anywhere with their demands.)

Original poster

Binkyridesagain · 16/04/2013 20:46

FredFred love it, I shall print it out and read from it when she calls.

OP posts:

Picturesinthefirelight · 16/04/2013 20:46

Dds school doesn't do SATS but there is no way I'd send her to Saturday school. She would never agree to missing her dance/drama classes or show rehearsals.

IslaValargeone · 18/04/2013 21:08

Binky did she call?

OkayHazel · 18/04/2013 21:46

I think he should go. It is good to learn young that sometimes study requires extra hours. By the time he's doing real exams at GCSE he'll need lots of non-timetabled study, and if he's anything like the people I went to university with, won't sleep much during revision, and are quite happy to do it.

pointythings · 18/04/2013 22:10

Hazel, secondary school is early enough for that. My DD is in Yr 7 and does plenty of non-timetabled study.

My take on this is simple - is after 7 years in school they haven't learned what they need to learn to do well in the pointless and political SATs, then the school hasn't been doing its' job. Children have a right to a childhood.

Original poster

Binkyridesagain · 18/04/2013 22:23

I checked with DS just to make sure, He was adamant and got very upset about it. That was enough of an answer on whether I was doing the right thing.

THe HT called, I said he wasn't going, she tried the bacon butter, peer pressure guilt trip, I explain he was upset about it, she accepted the no and went.

I remained firm, in control and didn't stutter once.

Hazel I'm sure that the time he was between now and GCSE is plenty enough for him to get in extra hours of study so he can pass, Uni is a little bit too far in the future for him to worry about at the moment.

OP posts:

AuntySib · 18/04/2013 22:27

I'm wondering how much difference 2 extra days will make, bearing in mind the whole of his time a t primary has been leading up to SATs. Unless he is borderline ( and teacher will confirm whether he is) then what difference can it make to him?

cory · 19/04/2013 07:54

What he will be doing at uni is irrelevant. Atm he is a young boy who needs plenty of fresh air and exercise and time to develop his imagination.

On that reasoning you might as well send him to do heavy labour because some adults do that.

And ime (uni lecturer), students who are up studying all night are usually the ones who haven't learned to organise their time effectively- and their results aren't necessarily any better for it.

MissMogwi · 19/04/2013 09:13

YADNBU

My DD is also in Yr 6, and doing booster classes etc in school. School are putting loads of pressure on, with a 'countdown' to the SATS on the wall.

The amount of homework she's been getting is huge, I certainly wouldn't be sending her in on a Saturday for more.

All they can do is their best on the day, the SATS don't define the rest of their academic future.

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