To not give a damn about year2 sats

[SchoolGateBeta]

Ok this has been done/covered before! They're being phased out. I know. But given my ds is about to do them. And his school is keen and embracing them it's new to me.

I don't care! It won't benefit him. Focusing for long periods makes a particular health problem worse for him. I know he's doing fine, his teacher knows this too. So this is for his head and future parents.

The parents I know at my son's school go along with things and don't seem to mind but I do.

It's also to predict where he should be academically when he leaves primary school, so his progress can be monitored. So it could have some benefit to him.

Children in Y2 should barely know they are doing them. SATs come with a lot of problems, but in Y2 it really shouldn't be that big a deal for the child or the parents. It should only be a problem if individual teachers put too much pressure and emphasis on the tests, but that's a separate issue. Schools don't have much choice about these things, so if parents want their children to be educated in a state school, personally I think they should be supportive.

As long as a big deal isn’t made of it. I don’t see the issue. Keeping a check on progress has always happened.

My DS has his Y2 SATS this year. We've been sent practice papers we are supppsed to do at home.
I can't see a point to them really.
They can indicate any children that might need extra intervention, but a decent teacher should be aware of that anyway.

Our school were running after school revision sessions for y2 sats and presented it to us as if they were mandatory. They were also charging parents for practice papers, some people paid £12 for a booklet and some old papers. I refused to allow my son to go and we did no extra work at home.

Not only did I not give a stuff about yr2 sats, I gave even less of a stuff about yr6 ones either.

SluttyButty I'm so glad it's not just me!

SluttyButty am I right in thinking that yr6 sats mean absolutely zilch for our DCs? My OH was concerned it would set what classes she goes into at secondary school, but I think her lovely teachers won't need a bit of paper to tell them which class arrangements will be best for her.

I think one of dds friends must have been told to rebel against year 2 Sats by her parents because apparently she just scribbled all over the paper and didn't complete any questions (no SEN or behavioural/educational issues). I agree with your stance but it's hard to reduce the impact of the testing culture.

But do we have to go along with the testing culture? BrownT - those parents sound great, they made a stand.
And Nails - I do want my kid in a state school given there's not a whole lot of choice! But this idea I have to swallow everything just because there isn't choice....

In secondary school terms, the beat thing your children can do is underperform in their year 6 sats. Secondary schools got judged now not only on grades but also how much progress they can do. If the secondary schools realise they will be able to easily add value to your child for their figures they will be put in the correct set and have every help and intervention you can hope for.

Takeme secondary's use them to get an idea of which sets they start off in but once in a certain set you get moved if it's not the right one for the child.
My DS is ASD and although he was put in lower sets because he didn't get a 'pass' on any of the tests, they quickly realised that he needed to be in a higher set because he's actually quite bright but just rubbish at tests. No child should feel like a failure for tests that don't actually mean anything in the grand scheme of things.
And my dd who was doing her GCSE's when DS was doing his sats, she did a previous test maths and English paper and she couldn't believe how ridiculously hard the questions were for primary school children, she got A* in both maths and English language and literature GCSE's

TakeMeToKernow am I right in thinking that yr6 sats mean absolutely zilch for our DCs?

No you are not entirely right.

It is true that the actual results don't matter long term for the child.

But

Secondary schools are measured on progress from y6 SATs to GCSEs.
So if your child 'underperforms' in SATs then some schools may expect less of him at secondary as they are still making 'acceptable' progress. This may mean not getting appropriate interventions if they start to slip.

Furthermore different schools pay different regard to SATs when initially setting (or even streaming). Hopefully a school uses results as one input for sets, and will adjust quickly if needed. But I read in the secondary boards about some schools being more rigid than others.

That said, y6 SATs are not worth getting stressed about, nor doing silly amounts of homework for.

I have no idea if this is still the case and it's a long time ago now, nearly 20 years it had an affect on my secondary class allocatio. I was doing really well in English, history and science but when I did my y6 SATS I was ill and only got a level 3 (maybe? As I say 20 years ago) It did affect what classes I was placed in for secondary school.

I was initially put into the low-mid level classes, but within one term had been moved to almost all top classes. That was simply because the teachers looked at SATS from y6 and not the work I had been otherwise doing. It was still having an effect for my y9 sats, as I was only predicted a level 4 for English. I actually achieved the top level in y9.

I’m surprised by these comments, stats let the parent know how the child is doing and how effective the teacher is. In pre stat days bad teachers were never challenged or exposed.

As a secondary school teacher Y6 sats do matter unfortunately. Kids with low predicted grades (based on Y6 sats) will get the same amount of intervention/extra help as they would with higher predicted grades. Even worse, I was told to not bother with students who hadn't done the Y6 sats as they wouldn't have any effect on the schools progress 8 score.

In terms of being set in Y7, most schools I know have mixed ability classes, or do their own tests.

Should say will not get the same amount of intervention

SATs are merely a stick to beat schools with and just indicate how well a child has been coached to pass a particular test.

DS is going to booster sessions for his y2 SATs which he is happy enough to go to. I'm happy for him to get extra support with aspects that he finds more challenging for the sake of his general education, but overall the school and I have a good idea about his strengths and weaknesses, and SATs are only a tiny part of that story.

It is infuriating that y6 SATs have such a dispropotionate influence on secondary targets and expectations in completely random subjects. Some schools heavily coach to the neglect of a balanced curriculum so you can teach a cohort with inflated targets and a very poor foundation of subject knowledge. Other students may have difficulties with aspects of the core subjects but a great wider knowledge/ skills and are able to get better grades in other subjects.

SATs shouldn't have much bearing on a child. It's how the schools react to them that has more practical effect.