To think year 6 Sats should be cancelled this year?

[Blueraincoat20]

Surely it makes sense? (I think they should be abolished anyway but this year it feels particularly unfair.) This year group have had heavily disrupted year 5 (and 6), have had to choose secondary schools without looking around, potentially transfer while this is all still going on...

My DC is already getting stressed with all the practice tests etc, on top of having to isolate at points, changes in school routine, trips cancelled etc. AIBU to think enough is enough?

Also terrible that they use SATS for predicted GCSE grades! Very much hoping that by the time my DC get to that point GCSEs will be abolished - we test/assess far too much in this country.

I think it would be quite useful this year to have objective quantitative information on how behind the children are.
If your school is getting the children stressed about it I would have a word.
If the teachers are feeling stressed and under pressure and feel that they will be criticised if the children don’t make the usual attainment levels despite all the enormous challenges this year then that sucks and I really feel for the teachers, they have had to deal with so much.

The bigger issue is that the school is piling on the pressure months and months before they are due to take them . Aren't they still done around May time? I do think as it doesn't actually effect the child's future they should still go ahead, if nothing else as a measure of the effects of school closures etc due to covid (I know it's not a perfect measurement, but I think it's worth recording), but yes the pressure is ridiculous a) so far in advance, and b) at all.

Yes I'm not sure why they are doing practice SATs now and will ask!

As mentioned my DC has SEN so may be more stressed than other children - I still feel that it would be most beneficial for this cohort if they were cancelled, but I accept that's looking unlikely.

The sats data isn't important to children as individuals. They shouldn't be cancelled for the reason of children having missed out, uptight even provide a helpful indication of whether education can survive with this spotty application around the countrt. They are supposed to show the performance of the school. Ideally sats shouldn't be this massive cramming teach to test crap. Just a quick 'try this, do your best' sent away as more like a finger in the air would probably give a better picture over time for a school, but it's turned into competition for pushy parents and schools. The sats are also used to set gcse predicted levels. Which is fucking nuts because so many children experience different learning growth over time.

TBH I think they should do away with them altogether but they won,t.

One of mine didn't do them for a number of reasons. I simply told SENCO and the school child was not doing them, and if it meant keeping him off for the week, I would.

So far there has been no correlation with mine when it came to sat and gcse results.

If the teacher has to rely on the Sats to see a student is slipping then what have they been doing since September?

The sats are also used to set gcse predicted levels. Which is fucking nuts

Completely agree! Shocking.

My dd's primary sent a TA round to help her do the test even though she was in too much pain to even sit upright in bed. Apparently this was because one of her friends who was off sick with tonsillitis had become so upset at missing the test which she had been told was essential to her future. Also because both dd and her friends were top performing students and school didn't want to miss out on their grades.
Dd knew the test was not essential but felt pressurised into doing it. I was not impressed.
Their secondary did not even use the SATS for setting- they had their own assessments.
So totally unnecessary stress caused to a child in severe pain for no reason at all.

Oh @corythatwas that’s awful

That's insane. Why didn't you suggest they nicely fuck off?

DS1 has just done practice SATS for the first time. He has ASD and I worried quietly about if he would find it stressful etc. But he hasn’t at all and I think that’s the bigger issue here.

From the schools point of view, they did them now so they have a good idea of who needs more support in which area, at a point that they actually have time to do something about it before the actual tests.

For the kids of gave them a first taste of test environment which is desirable.

I think it totally depends on how your individual school approaches it. At DS1 school he couldn’t wait to go in on test days, because the school laid on a special breakfast with fresh juice, fruit, pastries etc, and they all got a cookie/cake after each test as well!! So it it was a very positive week for him, he was gutted when they finished!

Schools should not be transferring pressure to students.

canigooutyet I've wondered that myself. I think I was so traumatised by earlier experiences at this school when their previous head refused to accept dd's diagnosis and kept reporting us to SS that I hadn't quite clocked that those times were over and a more reasonable person was in charge. The TA who came round was very pleasant and no doubt acting in good faith- after all, dd's friend desperately wanted to sit the exam.

I agree using them is quite crazy but especially for the youngest as it's proven they continue to catch up towards gcse age.
Im sure secondary will also do tests to set them so actually it is good practise.
Year 6 would be about revising and improving and some kids catching up s o it's a good thing.
I disagree about us testing too much.
There is
Phonics y1
Ks1 sats y2
Times tables y4
Ks2 sats y6.

Dc hardly notice the phonics and ks1 sats.

Also dc school dropped down a few years ago on ks2 sats and they then, bought new online maths homework (there had been no maths homework before) and they have improved.
Ks1 sats i worked with dc1 (young in year) as had been behind and dc1 passed at higher than average. Imo without the test dc would have been left behind.
But there are downsides, kids are pit on a path from the reception baseline and then schools only have to try to get them to make average progress from there. So there is an incentive to undermark in year groups.
Same with the TT test im sure dc is doing more work on it because it reflects on the school.
Unfortunately sometimes schols/kids/parents need the incentive and a lvel to work towards.
Gcse/alevel is harder as.
That does determine futures the
. It is actually stressful for.kids/ they could be ill/have to isolate and miss them/ the
the exams without masks and probably no SD will probably lead to many infected.
The courses are actually 2 years of which they did miss months.

Whereas yr6 missed some of year 5. But would have still been doing reading maths and grammar at home.
If a child misses sats they dont
-have to.resit
-have no qualifactions
-might just be missing their predicted grades which does mean schools.dont need to put extra efforts in

Getting rid of gcses would be awful.
Already something like 1/3 of kids dont reach gcse maths pass.
Many kids arent good enough to do alevel so would have no qualifications.

@GhoulWithADragonTattoo

I actually think it’s important to do them as secondary schools rely on them. My DS is Y6 too. Everyone has been affected by Covid-19, it’s not like one child being sick.

Secondary schools don’t rely on them-they are a nonsense. Most secondaries use something like CATs once the y7s are in, in order to assess them in a level playing field.

Surely the results will extremely useful to identify the impact of the pandemic on education. Comparison with previous years would show which groups have been damaged most, then support can be given accordingly.

Not all kids are that bothered or anxious by sats though

YANBU but I think they should be cancelled every year. My eldest did very, very well in them but the stress placed on her from the school and teachers ruined her last year of primary school. I told her from the start as long as she tried her best they really didn't matter. But they still caused upset and tears a few times. And for what? What benefit was it to her? They may have played a role of determining which sets she went into but there's was lots of moving up and down sets to match ability anyway in the first weeks.

Yes I totally agree @Popcornriver!

Maybe we could say every year starting with this year

What we need above all is a decision whether or not they go ahead. I cannot see the government saying no as most of them would probably prefer the return to grammar schools across the board and the 11 plus exam.

@nosswith

What we need above all is a decision whether or not they go ahead. I cannot see the government saying no as most of them would probably prefer the return to grammar schools across the board and the 11 plus exam.

It was announced today they are going ahead

My dd is so excited about them! 😂😂if it was up to me, I'd definitely cancel!!

In some ways all the disruption makes testing more important. Having a clear idea of what each student has grasped and what they haven't should make it easier to ensure gaps are filled. But SATS don't get used like that, so YANBU at all. What they need is good diagnostic testing and the ability to respond to the needs it highlights.

I think they need to be done so when they go to y7 they know who is struggling with what and can make sure they are put in the right classes to get the right support thats what sats are for otherwise dc can end up in classes were the work is to difficult for them meaning they fall behind or to easy for them meaning no progress.

I didn’t realise they were coming up and just asked Ds (yr6). I always thought they were more for the school, I have no problem with them going ahead.

But there’s no stress attached to them at all here.