To ask to compare SATS hysteria stories

[Butchmanda]

Under two weeks to go until the SATS start. I've posted about them before because it's a bit of a bugbear of mine. School seems to lose all reason. Instead of trying to keep the kids calm, they seem hell-bent on making them miserable with constant bloody going on about it. Practice tests practically all day every day since Easter. Music lessons cancelled. PE lessons drastically reduced. 'Difficult' children removed from class so they don't disturb the others. Laughably, since coming back after Easter, the only non SATS-related 'learning' they've done is RE (it's a Catholic school). What are your experiences?

Only in year 2 but definitely agree that they seem to have barely any music or art just lots and lots of Maths and English.

Surprisingly, quite low key and relaxed here (Catholic school too). Practice tests two mornings a week for a while now, and only slightly skittish kids. They seem to be keeping things as normal as possible.

fruit yes....and I well remember the utter MISERY of no music or art when I was 10 and had a shitty, mean teacher....no SATS then but a whole year with no creativity and just LONGING for painting or something.

For non academic but creative children this is torture.

Luckily my own children attended a school with excellent SATS results but very little pressure. Amazing HT.

My school offer free breakfasts to says students to get them into school early. Get there for 830 and get bacon and eggs or cereals of your choosing!

It’s all we’ve heard about since Xmas but has calmed down this week... it may be the school have realised if the kids don’t know know it now then it’s too late! My DD has taken it all in her stride but she is academic. The thought of my DS doing this in a couple of years is already making me roll my eyes. It’ll be his worst nightmare.

Our Year 6 had their 3 night residential last week. Hiking up mountains,den building and playing with lambs ...perfect SATs prep .

My two (yr6 and yr3) start tomorrow (Wales). Both are totally calm and relaxed (in fact, DS is looking forward to them!). School haven’t made a big deal if it and they’ve only done practise papers in the last couple of days.

PS I absolutely agree with pp regarding the Arts subjects falling by the wayside. It’s a worrying trend across our whole education system, unfortunately.

Our lot have been doing all sorts. They did a set of mocks at Easter, and the results were used to help plan some lessons to plug gaps. There’s a voluntary after school club once a week that involves a fuckton of biscuits and a bit of maths work. They’re doing treasure hunts that involve scouting the school and grounds for maths questions. They’re still doing standard literacy lessons. They made papier mache helmets a few weeks back. They’re doing a session with a local dance coach once a week as prep for end of year performance, and still have a full half day of PE every week.

On a personal level my own child isn’t coping well at all, but that’s more down to ASD, PDA, anxiety, and a complete lack of self-belief. It’s hard going.

My DS didn't take the SATS (private school) and senior schools re test anyway. Please don't worry your children about it they don't do well. It doesn't matter. The use of them to predict grades is futile. A child isn't going to only achieve the grade set in year 7 when they take their GCSEs. Senior school set minimum expected grades and then encourage the children to beat them. Most in DS class are all over the place with their grades compared to the expected ones. You can't pigeon hole a child based on one exam so don't worry!

My ds wonderful teacher has done prep with them but this week they have done none and have had lots of art, helping in the school garden and pe. He is feeling better than in previous years and knows they are going on but has been told the only thing they need to focus on is reading the question properly, they have done the work and they just need to do them
. Hoping dd gets her next year, she is amazing

My DD is taking the SATs very seriously even though I've told her many times it doesn't matter. She is clever but works herself to the bone to get good marks so she's putting a lot of pressure on herself. She was weeping the other day about a mock exam wherein she got one question wrong because of a "silly mistake". One wrong!! Nobody but herself expects her to be perfect. The teacher has been going on about SATs since the beginning of year six, their homework has been SATs revision for months now. DD can't wait to put all this behind her. She's upset that next week had a bank holiday because she has to wait another whole week before they can take the tests and get them over and done.

They still have PE and other lessons aside from SATs but the creativity and fun has been stifled. I don't see how these exams are of any benefit to the children whatsoever.

Be grateful - in Wales they have standard national tests every year. Not just y2 and y6.

I think it helps though cos the kids are used to it so it's not that big a deal.
As I tell my ds11, testing is a part of life just do your best. At least these exams have no consequence. Nothing changes because of the result

Far too much damn emphasis on them for my yr6.
Homework all year has been SAT's practice.
First week after easter they did mock SAT's under exam conditions.
My DS is naturally quite stressy so is finding it hard going, and he's been constantly performing really well, God knows what it's like for anyone struggling.
I've told him there's no test, at any age that will effect his life negatively that he won't be able to redo/retake if he wants. SAT's has got stupid

my school is being wonderful: providing free breakfast to all SATS' taking kids and making it painless and fun.

Booster classes until 4 every night since Easter.
Also asking me to change my DC’s operation date so she doesn’t miss the exams- she is expected to get greater depth and I can guarantee if she was a meets or not meets they wouldn’t care!

It sounds like some schools manage it well, and others sound appalling.

It's ridiculous to narrow down the curriculum and get rid of the arts subjects, even if it's only temporary. It's happening more and more throughout education. My children do music outside of school (at our expense) but a lot don't and I know that the weekly (or more) singing lessons were enjoyed by them all as a class. Completely knocked aside. A bit of singing would probably do them all a lot of good! Ditto painting / drawing etc.

My son is quite academic (like his older brother who went through this 2 years ago) and should do ok (for what it's worth!) but he's bored to tears and I'm sure there must be a horrible stressed atmosphere in his class. Goodness knows what it's doing to the ones who struggle, who are anxious, who have additional needs ....

His teacher is one of the Deputy Heads so she's out of the class 1.5 days a week anyway, and they're left with TAs who - in this school - are, some of them, barely literate themselves. Apparently since Easter she's been away more, and has just left practice tests for the kids to do with the TAs overseeing them. So they're not learning, just testing. They've also taken down the partition between the 2 Year 6 classes to make one big class, so the TAs can patrol all 60 of them. Practically day in / day out. This is the 3rd week they've been doing this. Although it's been a gradual build-up since about this time last year.

I really am not clear on whether the results stay on a child's report forever or not. I'm pretty sure at the secondary school DS is going to, they don't take too much notice as it's a selective school anyway (Grammar) and they're pretty hot on doing their own assessments. I don't know about other schools in the area though (the kids from DS's primary disperse in the direction of at least 10 different secondaries) . I'm not impressed that the teacher keeps telling them the results will be used to predict their GCSE grades - the kids don't need this kind of pressure. And I'm not sure it's even true!

And the disruptive kid has been on a reign of terror since Reception. Really has made life miserable for the whole class, with lots of disturbance. And they finally remove him (don't know where - a cupboard somewhere?) just before the SATS. Not his fault he's disruptive either - clearly there are issues there that haven't been addressed.

When it's all over they will have some nice school trips (i remember from my other DS) but then they do a Year 6 production and that becomes a stressful headache too, with the teachers telling them they're rubbish and stressing them out.

It's all ridiculous. I just wish they could carry on learning in a normal way, right up until the last few days.

I have an after school pupil who really enjoys learning music and has been making great progress. Her school has put on after school sessions since January and pressured parents in to sending their kids. So my pupil has lost out on the thing she loves and is good at, for a longer and more pressured academic week.

I won't be sending my kids to that school.

Screaming: that is outrageous. Did you tell them where to stick it?! My older son was expected to do very well so they probably had hopes pinned on him. He woke up in the middle of the night, half-way through exam week, with a raging earache. Didn't go back to sleep. Clearly in pain. So I rang and emailed the next morning to say he wouldn't be in, and then took him to the Dr as I suspected ear infection / possibly antibiotics needed (and was right). Apart from anything else, he had barely slept and was in a complete mess. The teacher then called all our numbers: home / mobile/ work etc, leaving messages, asking us to SEND HIM IN ANYWAY. I ignored them. Apparently she then went to find my younger son, hoiked him out of class, and demanded to know what was wrong with his brother, and how bad it really was. And this woman has been promoted to Deputy Head! They lose ALL reason. I was so astonished, I googled it, and spoke to some teacher friends of mine, and out came a whole host of stories of vomiting kids taking the exam in an office, with a sick bucket next to their chair etc etc It's child abuse!

Somerset: that's really sad. If they really want to be results-obsessed, they should take the long view that music has been shown to help with academic success. Although I'm more of the opinion that it's essential to our mental health. And - dammit- it's good fun. Are kids no longer allowed to do things for fun? But, either way, it shouldn't be dispensed with. Unfortunately I think parents are too easily pressurised. I turned down after school sessions with my older one, and so they didn't even bother asking with the younger one. But then I'm a grumpy old cynic and they know that. I think a lot of parents don't quite realise what a big pile of shit this SATs stuff is. I saw some parents of younger kids (in the infants) were posting on FB that our school has the best SATs results in the borough, and were congratulating the school etc. I thought 'just wait until your kids are in years 5/6 and the pressure they're put under'. It definitely takes the shine off for me!