To not care that my son failed all his SATs

[Anotherdayanotherusername]

Year 6. Not exactly a shock, we were told by school that he probably wouldn't pass - he's very dyslexic & probably has the maths one too.

However, we know he is far from stupid as well as being sporty & creative and that these results will not affect him in high school or life actually. He's gutted though.

AIBU to think these tests are a massive waste of time & to wish the school could've spent year 6 teaching them instead of doing endless mock tests

He attends a high achieving school so is just one of a handful that "failed" and I can't help but be irritated by all the fb posts from other school mums chuffed to bits that their kids passed. His best friend is getting a hamster for passing

[Anotherdayanotherusername]

Of course I know that GCSEs are a different matter. He has a tutor for English & Maths (who also said that the SATs are pointless) and will continue to do so in the hope he will at least scrape the necessary passes in those subjects. There are plenty of other subjects he could excel at for GCSE, yes mostly vocational, although we've been told he's at national standard for science as that's not dependent on perfect grammar & spelling.

[Ceto]

The current format of SATs is notoriously one that sets up pupils with dyslexia and other SEN to fail, and I have to say it makes me really angry that anything so inherently discriminatory has been put in place. Don't really know the answer other than making it clear to your son that the failure is that of the test because it doesn't pick up the important things he is good at.

But, for the future, you really need to look at getting him help for his dyslexia. How far behind is he in terms of literacy and numeracy? It might be worth looking into getting an EHC Plan.

[Stopyourhavering]

My dd got poor results in her SATS compared to her peers when she did them in yr 6 13 yrs ago ( in Wales- where they are no longer sat)....she is dyslexic, dyspraxia and has dyscalculia ( just scraped a C at GCSE!)
Fast forward to now and she got 4 A levels, MA hons degree and just finishing her MSc.....many of her peers who got top marks have not gone into further education
SATS are a poor indicator of future ability... only an ability to regurgitate facts, not an indicator of intelligence
Find a way to support your son and build his confidence, he may have hidden strengths in other subjects which are not tested as part of SATS requirements

[Awwlookatmybabyspider]

YANBU. Not all children or even all adults are academic.
You buy your ds a little something for going in to the test and trying his best.
Oh and don't get me started on bragging parents. It really can make you feel like your child is the only one who struggles.
Everyone's little poppet seems to excell in every fucking thing.

[bullyingadvice2017]

Are you allowed to remove them from sats?

[MimsyBorogroves]

First: did he have any extra time/a reader in sats? Depending on his reading ability - a standardised score - he will have at least one of the above for GCSEs which will help.

His secondary school should offer SPLD intervention to help him from the moment he enters the school. Speak to the senco and see if this is available.

[x2boys]

yes i agree my son goes into yr six in september he will fail them ,hes never been academic and has really struggled he didnt properly learn to read untill yr three i have told him to do his best and i,m proud of him regardless of the results .

[Eolian]

Stopyourhavering - that's because what they are really for is testing whether the school has done its job and taught the kids what it's supposed to. It's not supposed to be a measure of intelligence. I'm no fan of the SATS, but although they may be used by secondary schools to decide on setting and predict future grades, the real point of them is as a stick to beat schools with.

[Fourmantent]

I have two dyslexic DSs. The one thing that concerns me is that secondary school will use SATs and CATs (which are equally dodgy for dyslexic students) to set targets for students. This means that our DSs will have low targets, low flightpaths and they will be put in low sets and there will be low expectations. This was certainly the case with DS1 who is now in sixth form.

[x2boys]

how do you get all this extra help ,you would think i would know as ds2 has autism and complex learning disabillities and has an echp and goes to a special school ,but all this was was thrown at us as it was apparent froman early age he would need it ds1 however although hes always been below expected levels and got extra help with reading there has never been any suggestion of other help for him.

[lovehoney69]

He cares though! Focus on building him up, helping him see how great he is and how much potential he has. Poor lad, I hate SATS with a passion, making children feel like failures at 11

[userres]

I understand where your coming from my dd failed all her SATs wasn't a surprise I had been on at the school since start of year 3 that something was really wrong with dd, this was ignored and now finally in year 9 she was diagnosed with working memory, auditory processing and dyslexic

But my dd like you son is very talented in sport

She has recently at 14 become a trainee coach for her gymnastics club and they are helping her gain the qualifications to become a coach

And this year she became along with her squad the current would champions in cheerleading.

Dd isn't academic at all and her school are great they have helped

For dd a career in coaching one of her sports would be perfect as this is what she loves and excels at.

You do just want your kids to do well and I remember being upset when all the other mums were talking about fab results etc

[Margoletta]

SATS are a bit of a nonsense tbh. The secondary school I work in has a far higher than average intake, in terms of ability and KS2 Average point scores. However, last year we retested our Y7s in the autumn term using the skills and competencies for KS2. Despite many children having KS2 scores of 110+, and some with 120, not a single one reached National standard on that test!
Cramming does not help children long term, and we have had to spend the last year helping them unlearn things in order to teach them correct methods, and for them to retain their learning.

Re dyslexia though, I know there are different types of dyslexia, but lots of dyslexics can learn to spell and punctuate perfectly well, it's down to rote learning, and repetition. My DH couldn't read until he was 9, but you will never find errors in his written work.
Ok, it might take him an age to produce, but he got all the way through GCSE, a level, and university, and we didn't have extra time for pupils in those days.

[SpiritedLondon]

Why would you reward "passing them " ..... they're not a qualification are they? . I can imagine the school celebrating because they're used as a tool of assessment but who else is going to be interested ? Genuine question....I'm not being sarcastic.

[pudcat]

You cannot fail SATs. They give you the Level your child is working at. Some children will be working above the level for Y6, some at the level and some below.

[blankpieceofpaper]

Results are used in secondary schools.

KS2 data is used to generate the expected target grade of a student at GCSE.

Look at all the Progress 8 stuff that's come in.

[fleecyjumper]

You said you are paying for an English and maths tutor. You need a a tutor that provides dyslexia intervention which is not the same as an English tutor. Check that they have devised a dyslexia intervention programme and if your child has no score on the sats then they probably need to start from the beginning. Maybe the school should have disapplied him. Also a previous poster said that the LEA will pay for a specialist school! Maybe in her area but our authority won't even test for dyslexia! However strategies should be put in place and intervention given even without a formal test.

[lifetothefull]

YANBU. Get DS a treat that rewards something else eg effort, perseverence.

[Graceflorrick]

I flew through exams at school, I was put under pressure to then select a complex career. This has resulted in me working in a high-pressure environment, long hours and spending less time with my family. My friends who didn't do as well at school have happier more fulfilled lives.

Based on my own experience, I don't put any pressure on DC to achieve academically. I don't even make them read school books if they don't want to. I don't care as long as they're happy.

Life is about enjoying the journey.

[Slightlyperturbedowlagain]

YANBU, even the people who developed the SATs aren't convinced apparently. FWIW my DSD always struggled with school work and exams, especially maths, so we developed a system of rewarding her for effort put in rather than results achieved. Her school was very derogatory about her future and pretty useless, despite being a highly scored school- they just didn't bother with the lower achievers. Also unfortunately her mum was anti pushing for her to be assessed for dyslexia because she didn't want her being 'labelled' - and to be fair it was a bit different back then so she may have been right. With lots of effort from us and her stepdad helping her with practice she managed to get a C for her GCSE maths and got enough other subjects to take a BTEC which suited her much better as there were no exams. At university she was diagnosed with quite severe dyslexia and dyspraxia and got help with study techniques which made a tremendous difference, especially as she then understood why she found studying so hard. She is now a senior nurse and very good at it.

[gardendrama]

Not sure how you can think this won't impact his time at secondary school: these results will form the basis of what sets he is placed in for most subjects and as PP said, will also be used to ascertain his GCSE target grades.

Carry on burying your head in the sand though.

[MsJudgemental]

SATs are used, together with CAT scores, to determine which sets a child is placed in at secondary school. Low scores in SATs mean that a child may be placed on the 'foundation' curriculum rather than 'higher' and is likely to struggle to pass their GCSE English and maths which will affect their life choices.

It is important that any child with dyslexia and / or dyscalculia is properly assessed and all access arrangements such as extra time, readers and scribes are organised in time for the SATs to give them the best opportunity possible.

[Ktown]

Children develop at different rates and I do think boys are a little behind until they are older.
I know many very smart and impressively educated dyslexics at work and some of them said they were written off young which is heartbreaking.

[Toffeelatteplease]

a private tutor really isn't the same as an entirely immersive dyslexia specialist environment.

bullyingadvice2017

I've been told DS' results will be "disregarded" due to his SN when he gets to take them. He still take them so he is the same as his peers. They won't cause him any stress because of who he is and school is pretty awesome. Otherwise he would be "ill" that week.