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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

SATs - aibu to opt out, withdraw child from testing?

183 replies

MrsOprah · 14/05/2018 18:45

I did my SATs 20 years ago. Think they were a fairly new concept in the 90s(?) They were fine, scored well, no pressure really was bright child and did extended papers too.
Was described as a way to know where to level kids, results were used by secondary school to decided if you'd be in top-mid-low set for maths, sci, eng.
Obv longer term it has no affect on earnings potential, not put on cv or uni application, so minor benefits had as the test taker.

Nowadays, they seem to be a HUGE deal. Masses of pressure, painted as important! All for schools benefit. Not for kids well being. On that basis, WIBU to ask/decline for my child to sit the tests?

OP posts:
soapboxqueen · 15/05/2018 07:48

Peng

All things being equal, a child sitting a test at the end of primary seems like an obvious thing to ensure things are happening as they should. However for many children things are not equal due to a range of internal and external factors. Therefore the test is of no material benefit to the child, the teacher, the school or as an external measure. The number of children and schools this would apply to make the overall system pointless.

GreasyFryUp · 15/05/2018 07:48

@Fruitcorner123** my DS is a couple of years off sats but what great advice. I think they manage the process well at his school but I've just screenshot your post.

Lovemusic33 · 15/05/2018 07:52

My dd found the SATs very stressful, she is a high achiever and the pressure was on her to achieve well. It caused many sleepless nights, tears and stress. She’s now in year 9 and the SATs are well forgotten.

I did consider taking my other dd out for SATs, she has Autism and struggles with the English papers, school were very supportive and unlike when her sister did them it was pretty relaxed and no real pressure (different teacher, different approach).

hmcAsWas · 15/05/2018 07:53

Its overkill to withdraw your dc from SATS

If you don't think they are important and potentially too stressful, explain to your dc that their SATS results do not matter to them one iota, that they need not worry about them and how they perform isn't important. Job done.

Looneytune253 · 15/05/2018 07:53

Sats are what you make of them though. Our children weren’t stressed because no one made a big deal of them. Yes they knew they were having a test and did some extra preparation sessions but none of it was too much for a 10-11 year old. Seriously we need to stop babying our kids. (Obv genuine anxiety aside as that’s a real thing). The tests are part of the school system. If the school are putting too much pressure on the kids you need to be talking to them about it.

hmcAsWas · 15/05/2018 07:56

"I have a y2. He's too young to assess for dyslexia which seems ironic in the face of being assessed in SATs"

Scurryfunge - says who? I sent my dc to a private Ed Psych for assessment for dyslexia at the end of Year 1

Looneytune253 · 15/05/2018 07:56

@NukaColaGirl that’s horrendous. My daughter didn’t even really know she was doing them last year. Just a normal test for year 2, no fuss (supposedly) have the school been drumming it into her? That’s awful

thegreylady · 15/05/2018 07:57

My dgs started SATS yesterday (year 6) he had been ill the previous week so missed the run up. He came bouncing out of school saying he had had a really ‘fun’ day with extra playtimes between tests. He is a reasonably able child but does get stressed easily , however his whole class seemed very upbeat. It’s a tiny school rated Ofsted Outstanding in all areas.

DiplomaticDecorum · 15/05/2018 07:58

I can see the need for a quick check on the school to weed out crap teachers/schools, but it's gone insane. If there was a basic pass mark and only those schools failing were made aware than it would get rid of the annual hysteria and photographs in the local paper of 'didn't they do well'.

I withdrew ds1 from school at easter and actually taught him stuff. Secondary school can cope with it and didn't put him in the bottom sets as mentioned by a pp - that would just be ridiculous - and he's doing really well now.

Wellthisunexpected · 15/05/2018 07:58

I'll be taking DS out when the time comes. I was incredibly stressed for my SATS, really impacted my year 6 and caused depression. I was fine in yr 7 as secondary school approached testing very differently.

I'll just be telling DS he won't be doing the tests they are preparing for but he still needs to learn the stuff.

DS was a teacher and agrees with my view!

BlueJava · 15/05/2018 07:59

Why would you not want your child to take SATs? Exams are part of life and needed for many things these days (even jobs that used to have no qualifications now need them). So I have always had the approach that they should get used to them early on.

The pressure comes from what people take on themselves - the parents worry more than the children and then give off signals to the children that it is something to be stressed about. Currently have twin boys doing GCSEs at the moment, they are obviously a bit nervous but if you approach as "prepare well, do your best and you'll be fine" then there's no problem.

Porpoises · 15/05/2018 07:59

Last week one of my son's school friends (a normally very quiet and studious girl) organised a petition saying how fed up they all were of the SATs pressure. Instead of listening to what they were saying, the Head rounded up all those who'd signed it, gave them a right telling off, told them they were ungrateful to the teachers, made many of them cry, and made them apologise.

That is so sad @Nerdybeethoven !

Pengggwn · 15/05/2018 08:03

soapboxqueen

But that isn't true, soapbox, because schools aren't measured according to league table position. They are measured on progress. Within certain parameters, progress for most children can be measured against national averages, so, is school X adding a similar amount of value for children with SEND to school Y, with a similar demographic/size etc? If not, why not? You need data from externally marked assessment to make those judgements.

Starlight2345 · 15/05/2018 08:13

The reality my Ds has been pushed the past few weeks . If he wasn’t doing he would of been largely left to his own devices .

My son was not impressed with breakfast yesterday and did not have a great day at school . I am hoping today is better

soapboxqueen · 15/05/2018 08:19

Peng I agree you need data but the method of data collection eg SATs is so massively flawed to be meaningless outside of the statistical bubble it lives in.

If the tests themselves do not accurately reflect the children, they can't accurately reflect reality no matter what we do with the data afterwards.

Pengggwn · 15/05/2018 08:20

soapboxqueen

I'm not sure what you mean by 'the tests do not reflect the children'?

soapboxqueen · 15/05/2018 08:21

Peng I mean they do not reflect what the children can achieve.

Pengggwn · 15/05/2018 08:29

soapboxqueen

In what way?

Sunnymeg · 15/05/2018 08:47

If a child is withdrawn from SATs they will face a bigger step up when they go in to Y7. It is all part of the education process. Skipping SATs sets a very bad example and you could find your child asks to stay off school every time there is an important test or end of year exam. DS' secondary based their sets on SATs results, but at certain times during Y7 they held tests and moved pupils up and down the sets, depending on their results. Will you take your child out if their secondary if it does something similar, or take them out when they should be doing GCSE mocks? No parent likes SATS, but it's best to take a positive attitude to it and let them have the experience.The pressure at DS's primary was huge, but learning to cope with that has stood DS in good stead for all the pressure that has followed.

soapboxqueen · 15/05/2018 08:48

Peng I'm not sure how else to say they are not a true reflection of the child.

Pengggwn · 15/05/2018 08:49

soapboxqueen

And I'm not sure what that says! Looks like we are at an impasse. Grin

soapboxqueen · 15/05/2018 08:54

Sunny not all secondary schools use SATs in that way. Usually to do with how acurate they have found the results to be in previous years. It may even be down to one feeder school that throws the data off.

Sunnymeg · 15/05/2018 09:06

Soapbox, fair enough, can only speak from my experience. If as you say a feeder school can throw out the results, it explains why they continue to assess and change the settings throughout Y7.

taratill · 15/05/2018 09:16

My year 4 daughter has some undiagnosed SEN, she is on pathway for diagnosis for ASD, has just been diagnosed with low muscle tone which affects her handwriting. She has been cognitively tested and came up within the top 1% for her age in cognitive ability but is working at a year behind. She really really struggles with spelling even basic words. Her handwriting is so slow and laborious at the moment that this has held her back with maths. She is fine if she can say the answer and works a lot out in her head. She often can't get the answers down on paper.

All of this has led her to be anxious. Very anxious. To the point that she hates school.

Even in year 4 they are being prepped for the SATS. She struggles with spelling but every week she is sent the spellings for the SPAG test which she might be able to learn for a one of test but even if she can she can't retain it. She can't retain the basic words.

As a parent I want to encourage her that she is bright (ideas wise she really is!).

I am seriously considering withdrawing her from the remainder of primary school so that she can be taught the basics which she is not getting at school because of these tests.

Most of what is done in the SATS particularly in English is irrelevant when it comes to year 7 anyway.

My DS did not do his SATS he also has ASD and anxiety.

This is not me telling them that they are stressful and putting pressure on them. These tests are just ill conceived.

Ski4130 · 15/05/2018 09:52

We didn't really get the pressure when DS1 took the SATS two years ago. We'd just moved back from overseas and he went straight into a UK Yr 6 class that was preparing for the tests. He's a bright boy, not prone to stress and deals with new situations quite well, his school were also of the 'take it easy' approach to SATS, so lots of cake, breakfast together before the tests and a party day on the Friday when they'd finished.

DS2 is at a different school and started his SATS yesterday. Again, it's a fairly low pressure school, though has a more academic slant than DS1's school. They've done prep towards the tests, but we've only had one set of practice test papers home, and no extra homework towards them, so the onus has been on the school to prep the kids, in school time.

Though Yr 7 sets are guided by the results, at the school both boys do/will attend, there are Yr 7 exams halfway through the year and a lot of kids move up, or down, sets as a result.

The SATS are a measure of what the school have achieved, not really the kids, and that's what we told both boys. Yes they're vaguely important in that they determine Yr 7 sets here, but that can change again anyway, so do your best but don't stress. We'll have the same outlook when DD does them in 3 years.