AIBU to withdraw DD from SATS?

[ProtegeMoi]

Ok I'm not really going to do it but I'm so tempted to threaten the school with it. The pressure they are putting on them is unbelievable!

DD has a dentist appointment the week before SATS, urgent appointment as she is in agony with a tooth that needs filling and her teacher is fuming that she will be off and wants the appointment changed for 2 weeks later. So leave her in pain for 2 more weeks as she will miss a day of SATS revision, not even the actual test!

DD has also come home in tears as she's 'not allowed' to her sisters birthday party, which is the Saturday before SATS begin. Her teacher has said they are to do nothing at all that weekend as they need to revise and so now DD is upset as that includes a 2 years old party apparantly!

It's beyond a joke, my DD has been left terrified to do anything other than SATS work and the pressure is really getting to her. They have been threatened with police for time off even!

I'm going to go in in Monday and speak to them.

Oh, and SATs are nothing compared to the 11+ on this (highly selective) area. So glad I didn't have to put DS through that. But now his friends who have a grammar place and their parents couldn't give a damn about SATS- much to the frustration of Y6 teachers.

Oh don't bother. Ours did them but we told then they were just for fun.

If real stress keep them at home.

The problem with SATs is that if the children don't get the expected levels then the school is considered to have failed and OFSTED will want to know what is going on.
I hate it, there is so much pressure on the children when it is of no benefit to them.
I detest SATs and I am a primary school teacher.

I am so looking forward to those few precious weeks after Sats when ds will still be at primary school but will get to learn things in a fun way again.

I'm at the pint now re says ; if he doesn't know it now, it's too late for SATs, do chill, eat well, sleep well and do your best. But still the practice papers come home.

Pipbin and therein lies the problem. For primary colleagues its SATS for us in secondary its GCSE and A level.

Far far too much stress on the teachers to achieve impossible targets. I know sadly as a secondary teacher my stress has passed onto the students and I know I am not alone... Must be even sadder at primary level Bloody Gove

SATs seem to serve no other purpose than to be a stick to beat teachers with.
They need either getting rid of, or not to be used in this way.

Our school sent a letter home saying most kids now fairly relaxed but if our child is worried then parents should reassure them that as long as they work well IN SCHOOL then they will be fine.
HW seems SATS related but not all.
Lovely and reasonable.
A child in pain for two weeks? Shit. Just shit.
And yes I teach.

I'd like to take my daughter out for the year in yr 6.

The problem is that we, as parents, feed the 'machine' that creates this situation.

If we choose a school, or choose to move to an area, because of its 'good results' or 'outstanding / good Ofsted' or it being 'high in the league tables', then we feed the SATs factory, because all of those things are SATs linked [Ofsted increasingly so, it used to be a little more context sensitive but it is very results-focused now - teaching, for example, cannot be good if results are below average, even if those results are influenced by the nature of the cohrt].

If we actively choose to send our children to schools that are RI or in SM, that are low in the league table, that obtain low SATs results, but we like the school's values, atmosphere and ethos, and focus on a broad curriculum and genuine teaching through all age groups then this vicious circle will begin to be broken.

I think the only way they will stop is if masses of parents withdraw their kids during sats week.