To not understand the point of SATS?

[SweetSakura]

I'm lucky I guess, DS has tended to do very well on past papers etc so has been quite relaxed about them. But he has been bemused by the fact teachers /TAs have been going round giving a lot of help with answering the questions!
In two cases he said the TA definitely got it wrong as well. (his friend from another school, also very able was over and agreed with DS about the question and the correct answer )

Surely they are pointless if this happens in some schools (DS friend didn't see it happen in his school to be fair)

I would've told him to go back over his paper and check his work, or that he hadn't accidentally turned over two pages and missed a whole section. It's often the swivel-headed ones finding the tribulations of others 'hilariously funny', who cock things up 🙄

@Lonelyplanetif not published, will the results still be shared with secondary schools? My DD’s school has been going on and on about how the local secondary will use SATs to stream them etc, so if you do badly you will end up in the dullards class (paraphrasing)… then had the gall to email through this poem the night before they started:

SATS don’t see your beauty
SATS don’t see your worth
SATS don’t see the reason
You were put upon this earth…

Too little too bloody late!

It was the teacher who got the answer wrong not the child, that's why he found it funny! In the classroom he spends lots of time patiently helping teach others once he has finished his own work. He would never laugh at a child struggling. He was cross the teacher gave his friend a wrong answer.

And no Chinese whispers here, straight from my son who was able to explain what happened in detail.

Wondering why there is a mean spirited (defensive?) tone creeping in from some answers? I haven't done anything other than express disappointment that it happens.

You don't seem too concerned about the point of SATs so much as concerned we are all aware of the observational skills of your child - so, congrats on that. He sounds a peach.

There is very strict guidance around administering the tests.

You are absolutely not allowed to help the children. In fact, I know of a Head who was sacked for turning a blind eye to it.

Children can have someone to read the question (apart from the reading tests of course) and other adjustments, but not help.

It is possible they were working through the papers who had been excused from the tests. In our school, they are allowed to do them if they want to but their results won't be submitted. But discussing the answers within earshot of others is not allowed.

I think you must talk to the Head. I doubt you will be the only one if this is true, and as blatant as you describe.

@lethimhaveit he's just very able. He finished all the practice tests far earlier than everyone else too and the worst mark he got was one less than full marks. But yeah, attack my son rather than focusing on the issue in hand.

Of course I am concerned about the point of them. All that stress for teachers and students and then some schools follow the rules and others cheat, rendering them even more meaningless

Well I think you've got your answer :

It's not allowed. It will be taken extremely seriously. Talk to the head.

That's maladministration and needs reporting. It especially needs to be flagged up in these difficult times. The SATs results need to reflect and highlight just how much these poor kids have missed. I can't believe they have to do them.at all but if they must, the results should at least be accurate.

Our school has governors come in to observe the SATs. I also think about 20% of schools have spot checks done by officials

I would report to HT what your son says he heard

my DD has had an absolutely awful experience in year 6 because of SATS and how her school has decided to handle them. She used to enjoy school and she achieves well but any joy of school she had has been lost.

From the start of YR6 there have been regular SATS practice questions a week of practice tests in Feb and then just before Easter but with no real feedback on where they went wrong and how to correct it. These practice test weeks had all other things like art, PE, music cancelled and the days were test, biscuit, break, test, biscuit, lunch, test biscuit, home. So my child managed to consume upwards of 3 biscuits per day at school as reward (bribes for doing tests) while the school send out info on what kids should/should not bring in their lunch/snack

the 3 weeks prior to SATS everything was cancelled to spend those weeks doing practice tests (followed by biscuits). My daughter has become so anxious about the tests to the point her heart races, she feels sick, can’t sleep and cry’s. She spent all of last week off school as she could not cope with all the practice tests with no actual teaching/ showing her how to make corrections.

this week has been absolutely terrible. She has not been able to go in with the rest of the classes to take the SATS as I cannot physically get her to school short of dragging her kicking and screaming. She has had to go in separately at 12:45 to go into a room with 2 staff to take her test. Today she very nearly couldn’t do that, was late going in. Had to have a 15 min break between tests and had to pause her time during the 2nd test (and close her paper) to drink, eat an apple and compose herself.
I’m silently dreading tomorrow. But it’s ok because they are getting Dominos pizza tomorrow afternoon!

I now have a child who is a ball of anxiety and stress and I’m annoyed at the school using food as a bribe/reward. I’m hoping that once SATS are over she returns to her usual self but I am thinking that I need to seek some support for her going forward. I do feel that if the school had handled them differently my DD would not be at the point that she is now 😞

It was the teacher who got the answer wrong not the child, that's why he found it funny! In the classroom he spends lots of time patiently helping teach others once he has finished his own work. He would never laugh at a child struggling. He was cross the teacher gave his friend a wrong answer.

In two cases he said the TA definitely got it wrong as well. (his friend from another school, also very able was over and agreed with DS about the question and the correct answer)

was it the TA or the teacher?

That makes me so frustrated. My school, and many others, have worked so hard to make sure we follow the rules and then a minority of schools break them. It is maladministration and needs to be reported. We have two members of staff in each room to prevent this from happening.

I’m personally disgusted that sats are taking place, especially in year 2, and the fact ks2 ones are in mental health awareness week sums up the lack of understanding the dfe have.

They are a stick to beat us with. Our y2 data is already lower than normal. We know where each child is working and their areas for development, and testing children isn’t going to change our teacher assessment.

www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-report-maladministration-at-key-stage-1-and-key-stage-2

They are pointless, they dont tell you much about the school, they encourage teach to test approach rather than learners who have a clue how to use resources etc.

I suppose its almost directly inverse to the hallmark of a good school. So useful in where to avoid.

'It was the teacher who got the answer wrong not the child, that's why he found it funny!'

Yes, thank you, my own comprehension skills are pretty well-honed - although I've never performed so well that my worst mark was 'one less than full marks'. But the child was moved to - allegedly - ask the TA for the - apparently wrong - answer to a pretty straightforward question, so was clearly struggling.

I strongly suspect this is all bollocks, anyway.

@lorenzo TA I meant.

So your son is smarter than the TA, he’s just so bright and amazing. He finds it funny that the TA is thick, meanwhile he’s teaching the lower ability kids.

😀😀😀😀😭

My son's school have been doing past papers regularly since February. Even this week they've had the proper tests in the morning and continued doing practice papers in the afternoon. He's totally burnt out. It's ALL for the school as the local secondary school don't use SATs results to stream, they use their own assessments as we're on the border with Wales who don't do SATs.

He asked me today what would happen if he fails...
I said "nothing" and explained that it doesn't have any effect on anything. Poor DS.

Well, cheating is strictly forbidden in the SATs, so if you believe your son is 100% correct and cheating was going on at his school today, you need to report don't you?

This.

Most secondary schools don't even use them we use assessments of our own at beg of year 7 or on transition days.

They are basically as some PP's have said for statistics and data to determine what the average child is scoring NW, and if primary's don't come near to those scores then why?

My daughters school haven't hugely pressured them about SATs but he parents seem to be taking it very seriously.
DD broke her hand last week and the playground is now rife with gossip of cheating as she's had to have a scribe.

Don’t report it ffs. As we have all agreed they don’t matter anyway. Honestly some posters on here just look for any reason to make others’ lives difficult. Worst case scenario if they are found ‘guilty’ of this is that the school will be without a head for a while and probably go down the pan.

I'm going to ignore the negative comments about my son. They say far more about the people making them. He can't help that he finds this work easy, any more than a child who is struggling. And it is pretty ridiculous if children are being given incorrect answers.

As to the suggestion it is made up - I have better things to do with my evening than troll people.

We all know by now that the SATs are to see check that most children are performing 'above average'. And if most children are not 'above average' then that is entirely the fault of teachers who need to be hauled over the coals and have their schools turned into academies.

I haven't suggested I will report it. I just came on here to express suprise that it was happening.