Maths interventions Yr 6 I don't want my dd to do it

[Chocolate2cake]

My dd, age 10 in Yr 6 at school has been struggling with mh to the extreme I've found suicide notes, notes saying she's useless at everything and notes saying she's fat and ugly. I struggle to get her in school.

She's come out of school today upset because she's been told she has to miss lessons one afternoon a week (probably art or PE, lessons she enjoys) to do extra maths for SATs. I'm angry.

I've told her Sats mean nothing, in 5/6years time college, apprenticeships or sixth form won't ask about sats.

I intend to tell school tomorrow that they are failing to offer her a broad and balanced curriculum, that they are failing to support her mental health and this intervention consolidates her belief that she's useless.

For all those that will say secondary school groups based on sats our local doesn't, it using CAT tests.

Am I missing something? Primary school should be about enjoying learning I don't care what she gets in her sats. I just want her to be happy.

Nbu...tell school she will not benefit from missing lessons etc

Bu..support school, make her do it.

It's once a week and it helps her with her maths, skills she will need at secondary school. I would be jumping at the chance.

Mental health comes first by a mile. I would be letting them know this.

You are being so unreasonable. Lots of kids struggle with maths but the suicidal ideation and self-hatred you describe doesn't usually follow. Take responsibility for your daughter's mental health.

I think YANBU in not wanting her to miss a lesson she enjoys to do more maths if it will impact her MH.

However, maths is a 'long haul' subject, so if she is struggling in it it might be worth some extra time at some point, eg the summer holidays.

The issue isn't about getting a good SATs score, it's about being at a level she needs to be at to eventually pass the GCSE. It will be better to do a little extra for 5 years than leave it all until y11 (or y6 as in your school's situation).

MH trumps everything.

If she falls further behind with her maths could that possibility affect her mental well being more than a few weeks out to catch up. I would say it is better to catch up in the safe surrounds of primary where they have the time and means to do this rather than turn up at secondary and it not be noticed for a while that she is behind and then perhaps not have the support she is being offered here.

It's not the sats results that matter, it's the fact she's behind in maths. Do speak to them about her mental health and self esteem - but hopefully if they can get her more maths confident it will help her

Are you in a position to help her with her maths or pay for private tuition?

Yes, her mental health is more important but early intervention could really help her maths and ultimately improve several of her GCSE grades - I would try to find a compromise somewhere.

It sounds like school have handled this badly and 'sold' it to her almost like a punishment - so there may be no coming back from that, which is a real shame.

Eh! How isn't op?

Crackers

You are mistaken in your understanding of SATs and their longer term impact for your daughter. However, the school should not be pulling her out of a lesson/subject entirely for interventions. This is poor practice and I'd be challenging it too (saying this as a Y6 teacher).

Targetted, short-term and purposeful intervention would help your child improve in her confidence and understanding in Maths, which would also boost her self-esteem. But this should be done at other times and in a way that doesn't remove a child from a subject or lesson entirely.

Rather than be angry straight off the bat, I would ask for a meeting with her teacher where you can explain about her mental health and that you are concerned that being taken out of her favourite lessons will be detrimental to her MH. The consequence of that may well be that the intended extra Maths sessions won't actually help, as she won't be receptive to learning.

School aren't doing this deliberately to upset your DD. They are trying to help her, and having a solid grounding in maths will set her up for a successful secondary school career. If the school doesn't know about her specific circumstances, then they will use the same strategies that usually work for everyone. Hence the need for a meeting to discuss your DD's specific situation.

Maths is key to everything later in life literally very little you can do without GCSE maths. Also SATs do count in secondary school even when CAT scores are used for setting. By improving maths you can boost self esteem and set her up for secondary school better.
Could you compromise and get her a maths tutor outside school instead?
Talk to the school about timing of the extra maths but yes she should be doing it.

It’s not just useful for SATs though, this will help her overall with her Maths. These intervention classes will likely be more laid back, each child will get more attention than in class and it may really help her confidence.

Her mental health is obviously important and the school should be aware and trying to help her in other ways. Talk to the pastoral lead. Have you spoken to your GP about how she’s feeling?

Is she working at expected levels but school want to push further? Or is she not likely to reach expected standard based on where she is now?

If it's the former then I'd speak to the school but if it's the latter then I'd be encouraging dc to access the intervention. Good maths skills are so important. Achieving better at maths may have a positive impact on her self esteem and overall mh. It is only once per week.

Secondary schools usually use a combination of CATS and SATS. It’s doubtful they would just use CATs alone.

My daughter attended maths support lessons last year, as she struggled. She did find this beneficial (and it's definitely helped in high school) although she did it after school so didn't miss other lessons she enjoyed.
I also did practice tests with her at home, to build her confidence at actually completing the sats papers.
I appreciate that this may not be beneficial for your daughter, but may be worth considering - especially if you decide you don't want her to do the intervention lessons.
I did repeatedly tell her that I didn't care what mark she got and that it was no big deal either way too...I didn't just force additional maths lessons on her!

School are very aware about the MH but have been very slow in supporting her. This changed when they saw her run out of school and break down refusing to let go of me. She'd kept things hidden up until then.

I understand maths is a necessary basic skill but I believe this intervention is to move her up to the top level rather than being borderline average/top.

The school is very much academic focused and MH is not prioritised.

Thank you for your points.

My older child didn't do sats due to covid and is doing brilliantly!

It’s tricky as school have obviously identified her maths skills are behind her peers and some input would help. But it’s a shame it’s at expense of lessons she enjoys. Can school offer a different time or can you pay for tutoring after school.
If she’s struggling with maths now she’ll struggle at secondary and that will affect her mentally and in terms of grades.
I wouldn’t get too hung up on sats - school are saying her maths is below standard. Some input could really help. Whatever her career plans most require a pass in maths.

You're not doing her any favours by telling her, "SATs mean nothing". They mean something and that is, where your dc is in her Maths currently?. You say no one will ask for SATs at 6th form apprenticeships etc but it's not about that it's about passing Maths! she will need Maths for 6th form and all the other things you listed.

If I were you, I'd find out from school first exactly what level she is at with Maths (you should know already if she is struggling). It's not as simple as forget SATs and just continue doing what you like. You have to work on a solution where she can improve her Maths and also look after her MH. Poor MH is going to be further compounded if she eventually fails Maths and her options in life are very limited.

I’m with you OP. My parents had private maths tuition for me from Y4 onwards, I’m still shit at maths.

GP made an ugebt referral to mental health service...12 week waiting list to be seen.

I've arranged private counselling for her.

Personally I would agree to the extra maths help but I'd need to know exactly how behind she is and what the school is going to do to support her mental health at school.

My dd is yr 6 and also 10, she was behind in maths and as a result hated going to school as she couldn't cope (she's also autistic so suffers massively with anxiety). It was so difficult as she absolutely hated maths.

I started her on kumon at the end of year 5 and although she hated it at first, 6 months in and she's caught up and feels so much more comfortable going to school, doing maths.

It would of saved me so much money if her school had offered extra tuition, I'd see what they have to say.

Just explain to the school that she doesn't want the extra help and you're happy for her to continue with her regular timetable. They'll probably give her "place" to another child who could benefit.

DD (12) has SEN, she was getting quite a bit of extra help in lessons & also a few sessions a week one to one. She hated it & just wouldn't engage, had a discussion with the school and we agreed that there's no point in it carrying on, she wasn't getting anything from it whereas another child would probably be glad of it.

When Ds was in year 3 he was doing lots of extra interventions (core subjects and things like SALt) we realised that missing the things he enjoyed in school was making everything worse and undoing any benefits from the interventions.

I wouldn’t be happy for them to remove her from the lessons she actually enjoys and feels positive about, they should be encouraging a love of learning in all areas. I would see if they could offer an alternative time for the extra help and if they can’t I would say no thank you, given that you say she is about average rather than behind.
Some schools push SATS above all else.