AIBU to think our kids have been set up to fail?

[theluckiest]

There are heated conversations in Education about this but I really feel everyone should know what's happening - I have only been teaching primary for 5 years. However, for most of that I have taught Year Six. This week I came close to quitting a job I love and think I'm good at. This isn't about pay or conditions. This is about a system designed to make kids fail - the new 'expectations' for an 11 year old will ensure that most children this year will simply not reach them. They will be judged as 'working towards' ie. not good enough. AIBU to think this is going to be a national scandal this year?!! If your kids are in Y6, I am so so sorry. Sorry that they have been set up to fail, sorry that their lovely rich curriculum will be abandoned for a diet of SATS drilling and sorry that concerns for children's mental health have gone through the roof. This is happening right now people - in your kids' schools. AIBU to think something just has to give?!!!https://m.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tes.com%2Fnews%2Fschool-news%2Fbreaking-views%2Fdear-nicky-morgan-a-talented-and-demand-teacher-has-resigned-she&sid=0&appid=966242223397117&referrer=sociallplugin&rdr

I wouldn't worry. The whole thing will change again within a couple of years.

My child is yr 6 and is terribly anxious (crying, not sleeping, endless worry spirals) about the SATs. The changed goalposts mean she thinks she's terrible at Maths. She's not. This will affect her forever.

All they are doing at school is test after test. She stresses if she gets one question wrong. She is a very bright child and is being made to feel stupid. No matter how many times I tell her she isn't and that I don't care what she gets as long as she tries, all she feels is stupid. Brilliant.

Oh Carol, give over. It's impossible to know what will be added to expectations next. You simply can't teach every aspect of human knowledge ever... You have to teach what will be assessed first and foremost, and if that changes at the last minute its very difficult to squeeze things in.

It isn't about standards but content. Previously kids in yr 1 had to be taught abc, yr 2 def, yr 3 ghi and so on and so on. Now they are saying abcdef in yr 1, ghijkl in yr 2 etc. So those in exam classes like yr 2 and 6 literally have months to learn a year's worth of content. Content determined but the govt in the first place, not teachers.

Of course SATS have an impact on children - they spend most of Year 6 doing nothing but cramming for exams. What a miserable and boring year. Then after SATS week they learn nothing so fall back massively by the time September comes round.

Carol, the content of the new curriculum was not made available until last July. This isn't about "higher standards" - this is about very different work to that which was proscribed until then.

Year 6 is an utterly miserable year, I completely agree Jesabel. I can't wait for it to be over. Such a waste of a lovely age.

I wish we could convince every parent of a Y6-er to simply not turn up that week.

My daughter is really, really worried. This combined with a teacher who is nervous and struggles to discipline the class is causing us all sorts of headaches.

They are having tests all the time. The school head is obsessing that their perfect SATS scores will be tainted this year and the stress is trickling down the school.

It's as if they dug up the goalposts, broke them in half and chucked them onto the next pitch.

why are they sats drilling? my sons school have brought the new expectations in gradually so this year is as ready as they will ever be these are not unexpected changes they had notice that it was happening

my son is the first set of year twos to go through on the new curriculum they are confident most of them will achieve the national average and those who don't are those who wouldn't under the old system they have prepared their asses off and the children are mainly unaware they are getting a test at all this year

My DD is in year 6 of a state primary and it seems to me the school are in a panic about the Sats this year. The kids are being overworked, sitting tests every week (been sent home with 3 tests to do over half term), they've got up to 5 adults in the class at a time to try and get the kids through these higher targets. My DD who has sailed through primary school for the most part is coming home tired and irritable. Such a shame, and the results will have no impact on which secondary school she goes to. Roll on May when she can then enjoy the last couple of months at primary school

We had it explained to us that they don't know what the grade thresholds are so it makes it hard to do practice papers. I have the same attitude of a pp in that I have told my dc these tests mean nothing as they'll be retested in y7 and they passed the 11+ so really who gives a shit. It's not relevant to their lives only the teachers at a school they're leaving soon

my daughter is in yr7
i asked her how many times (and when) she has been asked her SATS results.
her answer? zero "everyone was interested for one day when we got them and that was that"

it's only the teachers and HT that care.

Our school actually cancelled various fun Christmas activities because of the new SATS. Really depressing.

it's only the teachers and HT that care

But it depends on the secondary school they go to - some stream immediately on the SATS results, some retest, some do a combination.

Trust me the teachers don't really care. It's just that they are endlessly measured by them. They would far rather be lighting the fires of education than choking up kids with charcoal.

but if the secondaries do care (not my experience) then all the kids' results will be comparable...

Actually I would far rather they just arrived at secondary and we ran tests in the first half term and not bother with sats results at all. Some primaries do nothing but Sats work all year and they do well but then forget it by September so the measure is false.

In year 7, a girl told me that her primary teacher had told her that a good sentence needs to have 3 adjectives and an interesting conjunction. Great.

Surely once all the results are in they will just set the target mark (100) accordingly so that it does not appear to be a national disaster and to take into account this year is a transition year. But year on year as more time has elapsed for the new syllabus to bed in we will see the average mark rise accordingly. Surely there are ways of fixing it to make it seem like standards are rising year on year and it was a good move on their part??

Frusso - I agree to an extent. I think that in many schools, especially if the outcomes are as people anticipate this year, next years Y6 will have an especially crappy time.

Ashers, from what DS's teacher shared with me about the assessment process (which is not just the tests, but also on work through the year) some very specific things need to be achieved and evidenced. It's not going to be as straightforward as moderating the "pass mark".