Boycotting year 6 SAT's

[notasinglefuckgiven]

My 11 year old DC are due to do year 6 SAT's in May.
The pressure and the build up to these tests have been horrendous and have turned my DC from a happy, confident, outgoing child into a tearful , anxious
I

NearlyThirty you’re right in a way that pressure comes from parents - we all use ofsted and results to pick the schools we want for our children - these performances can only be taken from progress proven from y2-y6 sats and then gcse results and beyond. Most info we read about is based on testing one way or another - Parents want the info, the schools want good pupils!

I was v against SATs, but have to say the pressure has made secondary a lot easier. Subject tests (frequent) are met with a good attitude. The workload has not been a shock but more of a progression from y6.

I’d be wary of allowing the children to take a dive now. What happens when gcse exams loom?

I’d try to encourage them to sit the tests without pressure - do what you can, it’s practise for sorting exams later, it shows what you know and what you need to work at, etc.

It’s a shame that they are so stressed about these exams now when they have a few more in the future. Good to learn now to face things and try to do your best than to dodge them.

You shouldn't boycott SATs as they're useful in reflecting your child's academic progress. The reason why are so many children get stressed out in Y6 because for five years they would receive one homework a week (excluding spellings and reading) and then in Y6 they would start working extremely hard and have homework nearly every day.

When I was at school we had exams twice a year right the way through juniors. It amuses me when people say children nowadays are over tested, as my children have far fewer exams.

Ds is year 6 and just finished mock SATS. He says he can't wait until the real things after doing the mocks. They got breakfast in school and extra play times. I think it's the first time since he started school that he was dressed and waiting for me and saying "hurry up, I don't want to be late".

SATs are shit and pointless and ruin a lot of year 6. I would happily tell my DC they don't matter BUT I don't want them to be caught between what their teacher says and what their parent says. So I take a balanced approach of not getting them to do anything extra but not saying what I really think.

Every year at work I write a really important document and do a thorough and comprehensive job. Every year my wanker of a boss says that no one will read it. So if DC are working hard at school I'm not going to piss on their chips.

@paradisecity I disagree with you regarding the importance of SATs but I must say it is so refreshing to hear a parent who actually is thoughtful of the parent/teacher conflict.

Totally agree with the poster who said it's like training for a marathon and then missing the run.

In fact, this dawned on me the other day while thinking about the way I kept making it clear that the SATs didn't matter, as I then compared this to the way I talk to my husband, who runs the Great North Run every year. Now there is a life experience that really doesn't matter, but he trains for it so of course wants to do well. We all encourage his training and traipse along to watch and cheer him on on the day.

And there is my DD who has been training for her SATs since January. Doing extra homework, extra lessons after school twice a week, and I'm sure plenty of work in class too. And I tell her that SATs don't matter, they are pointless and so on, just to protect her. Seems kind of shitty really. Since my epiphany , I've realised that my job is not to undermine the hard work she is doing by talking about it as a pointless exercise, but to encourage her in her endeavours.

Write to your headteacher/ MP instead.

Exactly @paradisecity, they are working hard on something that doesn't matter, let's not piss on their chips

I've previously taught Year 6. I don't agree with the tests and most Year 6 teachers I know hate how they are required to teach to the test.

However, please spare a thought for those teachers who may have Year 6 results as part of their performance management (which isn't right and it's not every school but it's true); by withdrawing your child, who has been included in teaching time and marking time, possibly received interventions from the teacher or TA, you are possibly affecting that teacher's future at that school.

I know the tests are shit and I heartily support anyone who wants to campaign for their removal and some other way of checking pupil progress. And I feel sorry for the kids doing them, I've always done my best to reassure pupils (taught Year 2 and 6 as well as most other primary year groups) that they're not to worry and it breaks my heart to see them trying so hard for little reward to themselves. But please think of the teachers too!

I remember a year ago there were some parents (in Kent I think) who were against homework.

My year 5 child is in a really small primary school (4 classes) and year 5 and 6 are taught together. According to him, it has been all about the SATs practice since Christmas (I'm taking that with a slight pinch of salt) and the year 5s are doing the odd practice paper alongside the year 6s because it's otherwise impossible to do two different things in the same classroom. Seems very unfair on the year 5s that they get some 'practice pressure' a whole year before they have to sit the bloody things!

Does nobody else on this thread see the value in teaching DC to question to validity of the SATs and think for themselves about what meaningful goals they should be working towards?

Seriously if we raise another generation of frightened conformists we're screwed...SATs exist purely a tool to beat teachers and schools and there is absolutely zero evidence they benefit pupils in any way. It's ridiculous to suggest they are prep for GCSEs...exams that take place FIVE years later!! For which there are mocks!

Does no one on here value evidence based decision making and critical thought anymore? And why shouldn't a DC grasp that a teacher and a parent can have different views and priorities? My 7 year old does..

@Grobagsforever frightened conformists ? If we actually compare this country to the rest of the world I think we are doing pretty good to be honest ? It's not that they are prep for GCSEs their props for the whole idea of exams, also the stress of adult life which they will face wether we like it or not and this is a very small start. I made the pint about teachers and parents having different ideas as my DP is a teacher and she has to deal with most horrendous parents who will happily believe their children over her on the most trivial of matters as if my DP would lie about what a child has done to deserve a detention of phone call home etc.

Glom, same as at our school. Don't worry about Y5. They usually do some sort of preparation but nothing as in Y6. In SATs the test is timed and the more you practice the quicker you will go through the paper. I remember my DC couldn't complete many questions because he was slow but he did pass. He was so proud of himself even though he did tell us the tests are not important. The test was important for us, parents, to see where he is.

Grobagsforever not all children can be raised the same way and what is right for one would create MH issues in another. Judging people who don’t subscribe to your views seems to me to not be a trait I’d like to see in my child.

My child DID benefit from SATS. If only it wasn’t until mock GCSE’s that tests and exams occurred. In reality DD has tests and quizzes weekly along with end of term exams. She has exams in her hobby too. SATS helped my child get over her fears of exams so I’m actually grateful.

Unless she wants to opt out of the society she enjoys being part of, exams are inevitable. That doesn’t make her a frightened conformist. It makes her a human individual child who benefited from what Y6 and SATS brought to her. Not all children will benefit in the same way but to call those who do ‘conformist’ is your own narrow view.

How refreshing to see so many posters that understand that SATs results are important to head teachers and Y6 teachers and that's why they put indefensible pressure on Y6 children. If there is good teaching throughout the school why make Y6 pupils believe that they will ruin their futures if they don't attain the magic 4. That's where the unnecessary stress comes from and has far reaching negative effects on the future MH and happiness of pre-pubescent children.
And any competent secondary school will do their own assessments of Y7 pupils during September. They know not to accept SATs at face value as so much un-acknowledged CHEATING goes on the primary schools.
It's all a great big CON, like the Emperor's new clothes.

I’ve told DSD that we don’t mind what results she gets, and that the revision feels new and scary and the thought of exams feels new and scary but that this is the perfect time to start to learn what works for her in terms of revision technique, and keeping calm under pressure, and staying healthy. We are thinking about good techniques for learning effectively, and how to balance her time so she doesn’t get overwhelmed. This seems the perfect age to start to help her learn a healthy approach to exams.

NeverTwerked, agree with your approach.

Shame her mum doesn’t gussy ... she’s bought her a tower of revision books and basically told DSD the world will come to an end if she hasn’t made her way through all of them by the time SATs arrive
It’s all very well people blaming schools for piling on the pressure but some parents are at fault too

I think we've been lucky with our children and SATS, both schools (eldest was at a different primary than younger two are) have been fairly low key about them, and there doesn't seem to be undue pressure on them from their Yr 6 tutors.

We've told Ds2 who sits them in May the same as we told Ds1, who sat them two years ago, the SATS aren't for his benefit as such, they're for the school to show how they've performed, and as a rough guide to his school next year to see where he should be placed in sets. Those sets in Yr 7 aren't the be all and end all either though, as they sit Yr 7 exams at the school, which gives a clearer indication of ability. We've told him to do his best, but not to stress as not much hinges on them from his point of view.

I think you're doing a disservice to your kids if you pull them out of the SATS. One because they've already been into the prep and learning for them, and two because however the teachers feel about SATS (And I know for a fact that our eldest's teacher thought they were a ridiculous waste of time) they are being judged on those SATS results.