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?

@Sweettea1

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.

That's not really what SATs are for. The purpose of SATs is supposed to be to hold the school to account, it's not designed as a diagnostic test.

In any case, there are months between SATs and the next school year in which things can change. Secondary schools should be doing their own testing at the start of y7.

Schools should definitely be banned from doing mocks, extra lessons and revision sessions.

They shouldn't take place at all ever.

My child wants to sit SATS, they enjoy tests and seeing how well they progress. Are anti SATS people against them because of the added pressure, from some schools, or because their child performs badly under test conditions?

The only reason a child woukd be stressed about Sats is due to adult pressure.
So thats coming either from you or the school. If it's the school I'd write to ask they dial it down a bit.

For anyone who thinks the SATS are about the individual child, they really aren’t. I’m a TA in a Year 1/2 class. I can tell you exactly where each child is and I’m not even their teacher.
I can tell you, off the top of my head, what reading level every child in my class is on.
I can tell you which letters and numbers they write backwards, and who forms some of their letters incorrectly.
I can tell you which maths questions each child is likely to be able to answer, and which ones they are likely to struggle with.
I can tell you which children know which phonics sounds and which sounds they struggle with.
I can tell you which children cope well with sitting working, exam style (not that we present it to them as that at all!) and which children find it hard to sit still for more than two minutes and fidget.
I can tell you which child is bright but a perfectionist and will be stressed if they think they have an answer wrong. I can tell you which child isn’t academic and doesn’t care and will blast happily through even if they get it all wrong., and every shade in between.

The class teacher and I correctly predicted the outcome of all our SATS tests and phonics screenings last year! Within a couple of marks for each child. Shame we had to waste time actually doing the tests. Maybe it’s useful but I don’t see what for. Didn’t tell us anything and actually doing all the tests took time away from teaching the kids new things.

My favourite saying: “Children don’t get taller by being measured.”

SATS are not for the benefit of the children. So I think they should be scrapped permanently.

I wouldn't worry about them OP. Everyone will be in the same boat so scores will reflect that across the board.

And while I agree that home and school can certainly not help by piling on pressure, the reality is that some children find it all stressful.
I had a child last year in tears. Why? Because she had to sit and answer a series of questions and we couldn’t help her. I couldn’t even tell her if she was on the right lines.
I went over and over it with her - don’t worry, we’re not testing you, they want to find out if we’ve told you the right things. Have a go, doesn’t matter - didn’t matter what I said. She was sitting in a fairly unnatural situation, in silence, with no adult input. She was bright, and she wanted to get it right. In most lessons, she’d do the first question, check she’d got it right, and, reassured she was on the right lines, off she’d go. Couldn’t do that in SATs and it stressed her enormously. It is not a natural way of working for Year 2. Don’t assume pressure is always from adults, sometimes the children put pressure on themselves whatever we say.

YANBU. DC are at private school so didn’t sit them, private schools as a rule don’t sit SAT’s because they realise they don’t benefit the child. DC1 is now in Y7 and not sitting SAT’s in Y6 really hasn’t disadvantaged him at all.

The entrance exams to private school felt more intense than SATS. The latter have barely been registered.

I don’t mind testing I know it’s not for all dc, but prefer dc to have a go before they get older and it’s more of a big deal for them.

They also quite like doing tests. I realise not the same for all dc.

DD2 is in year 6. Compared to when DD1 did SATS when it was all that was talked about and DD1 definitely felt the pressure, I feel that the school have taken the pressure off this year and have hardly mentioned them. They are testing them lots though but not sure the children are seeing it as any different than other years when they are used to being tested regularly.

By now DD1 had done mock mocks and were gearing up for mocks in January so it definitely feels less pressured ; there has been no mention of mocks this time to my knowledge. I saw announced today that SATS won’t form part of school league tables this year so the pressure is off the school, they can now just do the best they can for the children. I’m in two minds as to whether they need to do the actual SATS exam but i do think they need to do what they can to get them to the level they should be for Year 7 and they’ll need to do some form of testing to evidence that.