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.

Sorry - for THEIR own reasons ...

Why do so many pupils/people struggle with math?

I've come across many parents socially whose children struggle with maths where the parental attitude is 'oh, I was uselsss too!' whereas the same parent, if their children were 'behind' in reading when the inevitable reading books are compared' is horrified and almost ashamed.

I once sat at dinner next to a naval officer who almost choked when I said I taught Maths to A level, turned out he was a navigator on a destroyer but they relied on computers or, as he put it, they'd be stuffed!

If parents were not so obsessed with SATs results and Ofsted reports then schools would be able to concentrate on teaching rather that feeding. People need to be honest, if you're looking for a new house then SATs results and Ofsted reports for the local schools are among the first things you look at!

I agree with targeted intervention but would not wish a child to be missing PE. Especially at that age.

If parents were not so obsessed with SATs results and Ofsted reports then schools would be able to concentrate on teaching rather that feeding.

My impression as a primary school governor is that the parents think/know that SATs are a piece of nonsense, and so do the teachers but they are tied to these by central edict.

Could they be offering this support with her MH in mind OP? My son Y6 has been offered tutoring this year to help with SATS. He is really happy with his "tutor". She is kind and from what I gather they apart from the core subjects talk about exam technique, how to approach questions, what to do if you feel panicky in an exam etc. He is so happy he has an adult he trusts that he can confide in. His confidence isn't great so this is a way for him to learn to control his fears, approach the exams calmly, what to do if you get stuck on a question etc. I am hugely grateful to the school for offering this. Could it be something like that maybe?

To me, this is a lot of worry about very little.

OP hasn't spoken to school yet so doesn't know what lessons her dd will be missing.

The drama here is 'child has been offered an intervention to boost her maths but parent doesn't want it.'

Luckily, it's not compulsory and op can say no. The school truly will not care beyond thinking it's a bit of a shame.

Many people struggle with literacy too. Just look at the frequency of grammatical and spelling errors on online forums. For some reason it's seen as fine to be unable to write coherently in your own language. As for reading comprehension, in any thread on here you can see examples of people unable to understand what they have read.
The difference is that an error in maths means the answer is wrong, whereas in language you can usually still get the meaning.

I've spoken to a member of SLT, who told me that on a personal level she completely agrees with me that this is not the best for dd however, she had to tell me that as a trust, they work like this as its what gets the best results in the high achieving schools in the academy.

I spoke about the importance of my dd mh and how at this stage interventions will be seen as a punishment by her and she'll shut down further. I suggested that they give her place to a pupil who will fully engage. Again was told on a personal level she agrees but professionally she has to tell me it's how they do things in yr 6.

When I discussed the importance of pe and foundation subjects I was told that the class did a fun science experiment on Friday as a treat! Shouldn't they have fun science lessons as standard not a treat?

I was then asked to try and 'sell the idea of interventions to dd'

I have arranged private counselling for dd I regularly cook with both my dc, I regularly read with my dc, I use real life to teach maths, I encourage my dc and I'm fully aware of the importance of maths. My eldest is predicted grade 9 in every subject.

My issue is not with dd being offered intervention it is with how she was told she was having intervention to improve her sats, how she heard you're not good enough. You're stupid. That's coming from her not me. I don't care if she is top middle or bottom of the class, as long as she's happy, healthy and tries her best that's all that matters. She's not happy, she's not healthy and thinks her best is not good enough.

And she'll probably miss art, pe, or technology, it's not been decided yet.

That's terrible OP. Can you take her out of school? Literally no one cares about SATS except the schools. My daughter was at a private prep and Year 6 was the most laid-back year because once they finished the 11+ exams in the beginning of Year 6, the rest was just super relaxed. If private schools don't care about SATS they are clearly not necessary for a child to worry about. Missing fun subjects gor extra Maths just to boost the school's SATS scores is awful

for*

So just as expected. It’s for the school to get high achieving results and nothing to do with the wellbeing of your daughter.

I would just tell the school no and not to mention it again. As you are doing - just focus on the health and wellbeing of your DD.

The two aren't mutually exclusive you know. It's never good teaching IMO to have low expectations of your pupils. You should be helping them acheive as well as they can and learn the value of effort and this can actually be really valuable in boosting self esteem rather than teaching the child that they're hopelessly trapped within the constraints of their mental health problems...

Nope but in this situation both the parent and the teacher she spoke to think this is not in the best interest of the child.

The suggestion of intervention is having the opposite impact - it’s affecting her self esteem rather than boosting it. I suspect the parent and teacher know this girl better than people on an internet forum.

I would be really pushing back on this - say that she can have intervention as long as it's not in place of these lessons. School should be able to accommodate this - I've been in several that do maths interventions either during maths lessons or at the start of the day as children are arriving.

My issue is not with dd being offered intervention it is with how she was told she was having intervention to improve her sats, how she heard you're not good enough. You're stupid. That's coming from her not me.

As a side note, can you work with your daughter on accepting criticism? That attitude will follow her around if you're not careful. Will she never have training at work? Will she never have a 121?

No one said she was stupid and from what you've said, she clearly isn't.

I know this doesn't answer your question, but is home education a possibility?
It's a wonderful lifestyle and does amazing things for children struggling with confidence in their ability and mental health. She can work at her own pace and not ever be "behind" - behind who anyway!

If you wanted to discuss it feel free to message me. My eldest is also year 6.

SATs are purely for the schools benefit not your child's. She's part of a cohort that missed a crazy amount of school during covid and still they are expected to be reaching the same standards as children that have gone before them!

If she's always struggled then help should have always been available. Not last minute to add pressure and prepare her for a test that's designed to make schools look like they are doing their job!

Only you can decide what's best for your daughter. Whilst I 100% believe maths skills are important, mental health comes first.

The frequency of grammatical errors is down to the fact the forum does not have an edit button. Certainly not to be used as an empirical example of gen pop literacy.

I think there's a marked difference between grammatical errors due to the lack of an editing button and those due to the poster's own poor grasp of English.

English is not my first language but I'm constantly puzzled by the number of posts that show the poster doesn't understand the difference between, 'Brought' and 'Bought', would have and would of (whatever that means!), 'effect' and 'affect'. It's also interesting that these types of errors are particular to native English speakers. They are not the kind of grammatical errors foreigners make. They have been caused by colloquialisms & slang and people reading less and less.

Dd was pulled out of pe for maths interventions, that was after be promised she'd never miss PE! The same week she missed art, she said she wanted to rip the worksheet up and run out. Instead another pupil noticed she was sad, made her laugh. Dd was then told if yiu keep laughing you won't be able to keep coming. She told me she's going to keep laughing.

I rang LEA and was told in our authority it is up to schools to decide when interventions take place; thank you to the poster who suggested I check this.

I have another meeting with the school on Monday.

Dd has always been average, never any cause for concern I previous years, has a good grasp of tines tables and basic skillls. It is quickness for the purpose of sats, her confidence and mental health that are holding her back.

*being promised

Oh goodness, this makes my heart sink.

I work in a Montessorj school and our 6-12 maths programme is outstanding.

Op, if you want to PM me, I am happy to share with you more sensorial and great ways to teach maths in a Family friendly, non pressurized way.

Am not in the UK, but share the topics she is doing and I will gladly help. No child should feel this way, and when presented nicely, maths is great.

Your poor DD - missing the subjects she loves and which make her happy. I’d be telling the school no more maths interventions for the sake of their Sats results. Average is just fine. If she was really struggling it should be presented as optional.

Half an hour of maths even less every other day of the school week should normally have dealt with the pb at home so that she can still enjoy school and you can give her an enjoyable and peaceful environment (self boosting) to "push" for life learning skills in maths. And that would be for a short period of time.