To be THAT parent? Yet another bloody test!

[Tessalectus]

My DC has completed their KS2 SATs last week, with all the pressure that had been put on them all year - constant mentions, booster classes, extra morning sessions etc.

I am a teacher, so understand the pressure the school is under to get decent results, even though we have refused to let DC attend any extra lessons, which they don't need as they are pretty much top of their class anyway.

But two days ago I found out that, this week, the children were subjected to YET ANOTHER bloody test, which forms part of the internal assessment. I am extremely pissed off.

What is the point? The tests now have no relevance - they are pointless from a school POV (even Ofsted don't care about internal assessments anymore) and even more pointless, given that any decent secondary school will even take the (halfway) controlled SATs with a pinch of salt.

WIBU to write a - reasonably polite - email to their teacher requesting the point of these? And when said teacher responded and tried to butter me up by telling me how well DC has approached their SATs and then telling me the test had been scheduled as part of the internal assessment, responding by telling them all of this is irrelevant?

AIBU to take this up with the head? My workplace is too far away to have a face-to-face meeting and I work all school days.
AIBU to have told my child to actively boycott any more internal tests?

I am normally a very supportive parent as I know the pressure from a teacher's perspective, but I will back my child up to the hilt over this.

I have decided I’m just going to let my soon to be seven year old just take his SATS next year without any intervention from me. He is struggling in certain areas and the school is trying its hardest to help him, so I have no concerns with the school. But the idea of SATS (I thought) was for the school to assess where the children were educationally and of course the government. I want them to have a true account of where my son is with any extra tutoring from us. So I’m not planning on piling on any pressure therefore I can’t see him really being that bothered about it when they come.

They already fo mental arithmetic tests weekly and he isn’t fazed by that 🤷‍♀️

What is the test actually on?

OP I’m almost scared to ask as you seem proper aggressive with this 😭 but- how do you measure performance without testing? I mean your point about SATs is obviously something lots of people agree with but internal testing is everything from a spelling tests to writing and essay surely?

Also feel free to keep emailing the school but they’re not going to change anything based on your email are they? So if you keep getting non commital emails
You’re going to have to give up at some point

I have to assume (and do, from reading on TES) that year 6 teachers are measured against SATs results, the same way I am measured and held accountable for GCSE results.
None of the internal tests matter as schools quite rightly know how much teaching to the test can be done.

It may not change a thing. I have another child who will start school soon. I don't want them to be subjected to constant unnecessary testing (but know they will be, to a certain point), but I will certainly ensure to protect them from any additional pressure.

The science sats test was dropped years ago but 2 years ago I was a y6 teacher and had to submit TA for science, so if it has been dropped it’s a recent change.

Anyway, back to the point: another reading test the week after sats does seem bonkers and pointless. Having been a y6 teacher, I cannot imagine the teacher wanted to do it. It must have been a direction from above. Therefore, a polite email to the head asking why and expressing your POV wouldn’t be unreasonable.

That'd be an interesting one as they barely had any Science this year owing to over-preparation for their SATs...

Like I said, their teacher is a senior leader.

You may make some progress if other parents agree. You might not have to give up.

My DC2’s school dramatically increased the amount of homework set this year. They had to back down after numerous parents emailed, spoke to teachers or simply refused to make their children do the work.

Yanbu. Testing children is ridiculous especially after a week of external testing. There's only a few weeks left of the year and after the stress they've just gone through they should be having fun.

Sussexmummys

There is a whole half-term of learning left. A test might inform the direction of that learning. Going to school should be fun, but a short test doesn’t stop the rest of learning being enjoyable.

Most of the information is forgotten over summer there's not enough time for the kids to fully learn and understand it they go over it again in the first weeks of year 7

Sussexmummys

All learning is a process of acquisition and consolidation. There’s no call to waste seven weeks.

Well I’m glad nobody seems to have told the local primary / junior schools here that there is a half term of learning left .

I don’t have a year 6 child (but I do know some) so I could be wrong of course but this next half term of year 6 in our local schools seems to be for school trips, a residential, parties, a leavers show and FUN. Massive focus on transition to senior school, as it should be, and on spending time together before people go their separate ways.

Who says they need to be wasted? The children know nothing about their local area, which has much historical significance. They have had so little Science education that schools like mine will have to play catch-up in years to come. And don't get me started on languages... there is so much opportunity now to complete project work other than NC stuff or deepening children's understanding of the world around them without the constrictions of SATs tests hanging over year 6 teachers.

Tessalectus

What was the actual nature of the test?

A reading test determining reading age. Which funnily differs in outcome from an alternative one they did at the same time by many months. And means the Maths version will probably follow soon.

So something pretty important that isn’t covered by SATS, and that can help determine which students might need reading intervention? Lasting about half an hour? I can’t see how this is anything other than teachers doing their jobs.

Tessalectus KS2 SATs measure progress across KS2 therefore the Y6 teacher is not held accountable for those results. They will use internal data for performance management.

And it is shocking that you - particularly as a teacher - would tell your child not to participate in a test that determines whether they are making progress in reading.

My child practically devours books and is well beyond their years when it comes to reading. No more progress needs to be measured - it has no bearing on their assessment in secondary school - why are we so obsessed with having to quantify everything?

KS2 SATs measure progress across KS2 therefore the Y6 teacher is not held accountable for those results. They will use internal data for performance management.

My primary colleagues tell me a different story.
And it would astonish me if it were any different. I've been in my new school for one year. I will be held accountable for the learning of several different GCSE classes across the last 5 years, regardless of my time spent actually teaching them. I will fail my performance management this year, mainly because I've had 8 months to make up for 2 years' worth of supply teaching in some cases. It is how the vast majority of schools work and why there is so much pressure on students in this system.

It’s not just about your child. The teacher has a whole class to teach and you are encouraging your child to make a big fuss over nothing. Get a grip. Yes, you are ‘that parent’.

I think YABU. Surely the reading test you are talking about is just something that is done pretty regularly throughout the year anyway, and benchmarks progress, they still have 6 weeks of school left, do you want them to do nothing from now on, as they have done their SATS? Also the SATS are very narrow. Other schools (possibly only independents) will also do tests in Science, Geography, French. They will use results to do end of year reports, and maybe give out prizes etc. Tests are only a big deal if you make them a big deal. As a pp says, the more you do them, the less of an issue they are.

I don't know, but it's a good idea to think about the difference between what is effective action to deal with a large-scale problem with over-testing all the kids in class or in the school or in all schools, and what's effective to deal with a serious problem for your own child. Is this useless test really a huge problem for your child? Using your child to make a political point isn't a good idea.

And is asking the teacher or head to justify the tests to an individual parent (you) a good use of the teacher's time, given that your DC is OK with it and doesn't need any special support. Or if you do write to the head, what will that actually change?

Is it a standardised reading test like the Suffolk RS? If so you are very unreasonable. It's a multiple choice and shouldn't cause any stress.

Tessalectus If, as you say, your primary colleagues are being judged on SATs results then the performance management system in those schools is deeply flawed. KS2 SATs determine if a pupil is WTS, EXS or GD. Those judgements don’t take into account the entry point of a pupil into Year 6. Therefore they don’t measure the year’s progress. If a Y6 pupil receives a standardised score of 99, they are WTS yet a score of 100 is EXS. To judge a teacher on one mark would show a lack of understanding on behalf of those responsible for performance management. Most primary schools will track a pupil over the course of one year and use their own internal tracking system for this. This is why software such as O Track exists. This can then be used as part of performance management as well as identifying need for intervention.

Unpopular opinion, but I think you're being reasonable. There is too great an emphasis on exams in our education system, at too early an age.

As a child, I felt so much pressure over SATs despite being a high achiever, that I ended up in hospital. I got placed in Level 6 across all subjects, but it was accomplished with absolutely no pride at my results - it made me dislike school, and made me dread examinations. More exams didn't make me feel less stressed at all, and I'm not someone who shied away from them (I ended up with a PhD from an Ivy institution). I distinctly remember children who were high achievers in tears over their results, having scored less than they wanted. This made no impact, one got a Mathematics degree from Oxford (after getting a 4c in math), the other went to Eton and started a successful company. We were all working class.

If I had been told that I'd been taking another series of tests just after the SATs, it would have been even more seriously detrimental to my health and love of learning. My mother almost did not send me for the SATs themselves, so I can only imagine her fury had there been more to contend with. We used the rest of the semester to work on cross-curriculum projects, which I loved and helped me feel more secure before heading to the next stage in my education - it even went on to inspire how I work today.