AIBU to at least consider pulling DS out of STATS

[JemimaPyjamas]

Firstly, I am posting here for traffic.

Secondly, of course I am going to discuss this with his teacher but I can’t at the moment as it’s the holidays!

DS is 11 in June and doing well at school (excellent in English, ok in Maths although he doesn’t find it easy or enjoy it like other subjects.) He’s become wound up and stressed and, long story short, it’s the prospect of STATS week.

The homework has ramped up as it’s now basically ‘revision’ and, briefly touching on it on parents evening his (excellent) teacher did say that ‘it’s for the school rather than the kids’ and they try and keep it ‘low key’ although I think that’s more on the actual week than to the build up.

A teacher friend in the secondary he’s going to in Sept said the children are assessed again there, I get the impression more informally, to determine what sets they go in and I am now wondering what the point of STATS, from the children’s perspective, actually is.

In the night I couldn’t sleep and found that some have taken their kids out and done other (constructive) things and I would be interested in hearing other views as I’m currently worried and also a bit clueless - I may be totally missing the point over why they are essential!

I don’t want to add loads more as typing on my phone (will be on my laptop in a bit) but we’ve tried some things to relax him about it but not loads so suggestions there are very welcome too. I’ve never taken him out before either. He’s not normally a stressy kid but I think he feels really pressured to the point where logic doesn’t work as well.

Kids don't get taught that 'its ok to fail'. That's not necessarily healthy.

Kids need to learn that sometimes they don't do as well as they might expect or others might expect, and as long as they've tried that's ok. They don't need to go over board with homework. If it's making them super anxious learning when to stop is also important.

I know that I needed down time before exams and that did me a lot more good than those who reviewed for weeks on end and crammed and were really stressed going into the exam.

It's your job to teach him where his 'happy medium' where he will do the best for him exists, instead of comparing or being compared to others.

Secondary Head of English here. Obviously students are assessed in Year 7 and throughout secondary, but schools use the SATs scores to measure progress all the way up to GCSE. It's much much more difficult to do that without that data. I'm not arguing that it should be that way, I'm just saying that's how it's done. We find CAT scores done in Year 7 much less reliable for this purpose. I don't think pulling him out is going to do him any favours.

Tbh honest this sounds like if you reframe it, these tests are a low-stakes way of letting your some get used to the experience of tests etc before he gets to high school and has to do them all the time. Maybe tell him the results don't matter and it's essentially practice at doing tests.

Just keep checking in with him, make sure he understands that nobody minds how he does in these tests and that you're proud of him for doing it. I think pulling him out will only make him more anxious when he gets to high school.

Maybe plan something nice for when the test is done as a treat and reward so he has something to look forward to.

@RedToothBrush great point about the homework. They mark each other’s homework in class, and I think that has been winding him up a bit, so a way around that is probably wise. The point about knowing when to stop when it is right for them is true, I hadn’t really thought of in that way. I want to emphasise that we don’t make it into a big deal to get it finished, but we haven’t repeatedly said that it’s okay to stop even if it isn’t finished either. Ironically, I didn’t really want him to think like that when heading to secondary in case that, combined with hormones, kicking off, makes it like pulling teeth. I know I certainly did as little as possible when I could get away with it, and I can’t imagine it’s unusual for teenagers.

@IHeartKingThistle I have only spoken to one teacher friend, so it could be that she is wrong, or that it varies in different schools or areas.

I’m not sure.

It’s SATS not STATS. What will you do when he has GCSEs? He has to get used to exam environments and this is a good place to start…

Hi op. I'm a teacher and understand why you are worried. However, I think you would be better to help your son to find strategies to cope with the normal worries of life and to use some perspective. In the long run, he will get through the week and feel proud that he did so. He will be part of the shared experience and doing the fun things in the afternoons with his peers. He will see that it really wasn't anything to worry about and, when the next stress comes along, he'll take it in his stride.

Our school issues guidance about how long Year 6 pupils should spend on homework each week. I tell stressed pupils to set a timer and stop then even if they haven't finished. Perhaps the teacher needs to remind the class about this as, if your son is worried, others will be too.

Exactly what I was going to say!
You'll do him no favours - are you going to pull him out of GCSEs too?
Tell him it’s for the school’s measurements, and - if he wants - cancel all further homework related to it. Aren’t SATs early May anyway? You’re very late to be thinking about this! How are you only now googling what they are?

@Hesma -a bit unnecessary to point out an obvious typo. And what about GSSEs? Seriously? There's 5 years til then! With loads of tests and time to grow and mature.

Technically you can’t pull your child out as they’re compulsory in state schools. You can pretend they’re unwell, but it will be pretty obvious they’re not!

In my experience, unless the child really, really can't cope with the stress of a situation, it is much better for them to face their fears and realise that things are not so bad after all. Otherwise, they learn that the way to deal with that stress is by running away from it, and they absorb the idea that their parents don't have confidence in their ability to face it.

Imo, SATS are actually very low risk opportunities for the children to acquire the skills to cope effectively with a bit of mild pressure. This will stand them in good stead when they get to secondary school.

However, you know your dc best, OP, and if you think that doing the SATs will pose a real and lasting risk to his mental health, then by all means, take him out. And then invest in intensive counselling to address the underlying issues before he gets to an age where opting out will have more serious consequences.

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves Or just wait til they grow up a bit. 10 is very young for some children to deal with tests like this.

And GCSEs and a levels. And apply for extensions to courseworks etc.

Honestly, just let him experience life. It doesn't have to be a big deal.

There's a lot of misinformation on this thread, as always happens with threads about the SATs. It doesn't help when there are teachers who also don't know how it works but, unless you're the key data person for your school/trust, you have no reason to.

SATs have two main purposes:
1. To provide a performance measure of the school's KS2 provision.
This is how the overall results affect the school. The assessment data will be compared to the stated attainment at KS1. This will allow a progress measure to be drawn and this gives an indication of how well each particular school drives progress through KS2. An average of this measure is kept on the school's data for 3 years and then replaced with newer data. It can help schools identify weaker areas to target for improvement and is used as part of Ofsted inspections.

2. To track the progression rates of individual children and set corresponding targets.
This is where SATs results matter to, and affect, the child. Your child will have GCSE targets set for them from their KS2 attainment data. This happens in all secondary schools that are state-funded. The secondary school is then judged on a "Progress 8" measure as to how well they have got the children to where they need to be by the time they take their GCSEs.

Why does that matter to the child?
Ensuring a positive "Progress 8" score is of high priority for department heads, SLT, headteachers, governors and the trust board (if the school is part of a MAT). This means that, at times, decisions about the running of the school are made with this in mind. This is often not spoken about with parents at all and teachers in the school may also be unaware. The extent of this varies from school to school but I have personally seen:

1. Results having an impact on which form group your child ends up in,

1. Results having an impact on which set your child ends up in, including some children being "locked" in a set that they shouldn't be in simply because they have to get a certain result and that's the lowest set still teaching the higher content. This also then means there are less spaces for children to move up from lower sets into sets teaching higher content.

1. Results dictating which band you are in with only certain bands being taught higher exam content and being allowed to sit certain courses like triple science.

1. The targets for children being used to identify those who are on target by themselves and those who aren't, even if they are performing at the same level. This leads to resources being used to support/boast the children who are off-track rather than doing the same for children who could do better but are already achieving their target. This can even go as far as:

5. The deployment of staff being informed by which children are "off-track" and those children having access to the stronger teachers.

I'm not saying that this is how it should be. In an ideal world, every child would progress at their own rate and reach their individual potential. However, this is how it's currently working in practice.

The best thing you can do is support your child without overly pushing them. Encourage them to think about how they learn as revision and review practices are for much much more than just exams. Talk about the exams in terms of them being an opportunity for the child to show off what they know, reflect on any areas they want to improve on and tick off one of the final primary school rites of passage / achievements.

Again, thank you for the constructive help and posts.

I am not expecting someone to be interested enough to read all my subsequent posts, but, as at least @CurlewKate noted, there is a BIG difference between the age of ten and when they will be sitting GCSE's which is something I have said myself too. I also haven't said I will take him out of SATS / GCSE's / any tricky combination while also passing on my apparent 'anxieties' but you'd think I was adamant as well as stupid by some of the responses. My fault for posting in AIBU clearly!

It's not, I am realising, the tests as much as the build up with all the homework and subsequent emphasis on it in school. He is not normally even remotely anxious, which is why this seems such a shock (particularly as it doesn't even seem to have any lasting implications.)

@electriclight Your timer suggestion is great, thank you. I will be using that one! I might fib and say his teacher suggested it too...

@Iamnotthe1 That is very helpful, thank you

@JemimaPyjamas Did you see my post about checking whether SATS make any difference at the particular secondary school he'll be going to? They do in some so you need to know before you make any decisions. Oh, and make sure you discuss it with him too- he may not want to be different to his friends.

I did, and they don't!

I think it's a bad idea as it's more homework / buildup related rather than the actual exams. This thread, in parts (!), has helped me realise what the issue is more precisely too.

Whilst this is helpful advice, it's only useful if the secondary school is completely open about their strategic and operational decision making with individual parents. That practically never happens because it's not the best interests of the school and not always viable. For example, a parent is likely to get pissed off if her son won't get additional support because he's on track but his mate gets weekly tutoring sessions delivered by a teacher because he's not, even though they are currently achieving the same grade. In that case, the school just won't communicate that with parents or explain why it's happened.

Moat secondaries will just give you the standard reply of "We do our own testing after they've been with us a little while."

He's going to be at secondary school in 5 months time, half hour homework a day is completely normal in year 7, so isn't it best he gets used to it now?

SATs are mandatory, you cannot opt out.

However, it's not normal for KS3 to have holiday h/w in a lot of schools.
Plus in secondary h/w won't be endless maths & English only.

TeenDivided

I used to get homework during the holidays in year 7, is this not normal?

I don’t think the information you have from his secondary school can be accurate at all. As far as I know, secondary schools track the achievement and progress of pupils every term against their targets for GCSEs, which are formed based on their SATs results. So SATs results are essential.
Also, if you stop him from taking SATS you are making him ‘different’ to his peers and I think this is best avoided if possible.

@TeenDivided I thought homework during the holidays and also the weekends seemed a lot too.

Secondary schools do use SATS as several posters have explained. You’ll be much better spending your efforts preparing your child for the SATS as opposed to giving him the option of opting out every time he has a challenge. They’ll be exams frequently at secondary, you’re not preparing him well by making it a big deal!