... to hate SATS?

[Jourdain11]

Year 6 SATS, specifically. DD1 has barely been at school since Easter, what with one thing and another. SATS are next week and she's been fretting all week, getting more and more anxious and I have been unable to convince her that she won't be doomed to a life of failure if she doesn't do brilliantly.

All for attainment and I understand why testing is necessary, but they just seem OTT and too stressy for both teachers and children.

How's your DD OP?
I am really stressed with whole SATs thing as it's not something I experienced myself (I only attended university in England). My DD1 is quite bright and generally enjoys school but this year's has been difficult for her. It seems they hardly done anything else other than SATs prep. Some days even PE lessons got cancelled for SATs revision. There were after school clubs but by invitation only. Even today once tests was out of the way they were made to practice maths papers which I thought was ridiculous. Luckily my DD1 isn't too stressed just fed up with school and bored. I am in the flap now as I feel I haven't done my homework regarding it all. I was always told not to worry about results by friends but had no idea about impact SATs can have on child's future gsce options. I didn't think to ask at our chosen secondary how they set students or move them up/ down. Where I am from everyone is taught the same curriculum and those who struggle to reach minimum standard are given extra support. Aggghh I will sure be glad when this is over. At least school is giving them nice breakfast everyday of this week and planned treats for nearly every Friday from next week until the end of the term.

What happens to private school pupils as they don’t sit SATs? If they go to a state school in Y7 they won’t have the data needed for GCSE and Progress 8 results. What do schools do? I am just curious!

If they stay in private, it doesn't matter.

If they are in one of the many private primaries that still elect to enter some children for SATs then they will have results and use them like state to state results are used.

If they move from private to state without those results then they do not count towards the secondary school's "Progress 8" score but do count towards the 4s or above / 5s or above overall attainment data. What that means is that, from a data perspective, the secondary school need them to get whatever they are using as the pass grade (4 or 5) but they have no data-based interest in how far above that 4 or 5 the child attains. What this can mean, and what I have seen happen, is that energy is put into that child to ensure they pass but, once that is secured, they are no longer a priority.

The same is true for those that move from state to state but don't sit them or have moved from, for example, Scotland (where they don't do them) to England.

I just can't wrap my head around this at all.

The Y6 curriculum contains content that is exclusive to Y6 so that content needs to be taught before revision can even take place. Beyond that, writing is assessed entirely differently to exams and each child must have a collection of around 6 strong pieces, across different genres, that demonstrate their written ability.

On top of that, schools must be able to demonstrate that they are teaching a broad and balanced curriculum. If they aren't, governors, Ofsted, the MAT should all be flagging that. In fact, if Ofsted were to see that Y6 books were empty/reduced and that the wider curriculum was being ignored then that alone would be grounds for a failing grade.

Even if that wasn't the case and, as a Y6 teacher, I was told that I didn't have to teach the wider curriculum, that no one was bothered and I should just do revision, I physically wouldn't be able to make that last the number of lessons/days/weeks/months being talked about here.

I get that different schools have different approaches to assessment but I just cannot see how this kind of approach can even be possible to do, yet alone sustain in an educational environment specifically designed to "catch" this and stop it.

My DD hasn't had that experience. There does seem to be a lot of "revision" but I guess consolidation is necessary for learning. They do seem to have done less science and topic compared to my DD2 in year 5, but I'm also conscious that I can't make a direct comparison because DD1 has missed quite a bit of school and DD2 hasn't.

She was okay yesterday - she was very nervous but said that it was easier than she expected and she felt like she'd done okay. Unfortunately she's been sick again during the night, so I've had to keep her off this morning because she was still a bit dodgy first thing. She's really keen to go in for the afternoon if she's alright though, so we'll see. At least she seems less anxious about the tests now.

I am sorry to hear she's been sick again. My DD1 is pretty chilled now which is good, she's glad it will be all over soon.

I've no idea how they managed curriculum, I've not seen any of her workbooks because they were sent to moderation both times I've been to parents evening, so I assume they weren't empty haha. But at least since Christmas it feels like they did some sats prep most days. The only homework she had this year were sats workbooks. What I am particularly annoyed with is revising after exam for next days paper. Two more to go!

I have 2 DC at private. One now Y9 and one in Y6. Neither have done SATs. I don’t know any private Junior schools that do SATs near us, and we’re in London, so there are a lot of private Junior/Prep schools local to us.

Bloody SATs!

I am CoG at a primary school and I have just been in today to check how things are going. The children are all fine and are taking it in their stride because the school (with the 100% backing of the governors) do not make a big deal of it. They just tell the children that all children in the country are doing these tests and they all sit down and do it - they know it is not part of their normal day because the teachers have to cover up all the stuff on the walls in case it might give them clues to the answers. Madness - how does this enhance their learning in any way whatsoever?

You should see the barmy palaver that has to be gone through with the completed papers - they have to be sealed with a double key system to get at them and every time they are moved they have to be signed for - the world has gone mad!!

I am really stressed with whole SATs thing

Heavens above why!!!????

What is there to be stressed about? The SATs mean nothing - nada, zilch, nowt, nothing. It is a tick box game to keep the government quiet.

Schools know how the pupils are progressing and detailed provision maps for them with constant review - they do not need the SATs to know how they are progressing. They serve no purpose at all.

But schools are measured by, partly, SATs results and we know from reading these pages that many parents look at them very carefully when selecting a school. It's a bit naive to complain about SATs when so many want the results.

I am a KS2 teacher and I hate, hate hate SATS. Everyone does. I don't know any teacher who doesn't feel the same.

Had I known back then, what I know now, I would have kept DD off school though the whole SATS baloney

Schools have to be brave, put on their big girl pants, and not let the SATs get in the way of the pupils' well-being and education. Let OfSted judge them as they may - it is their job to concentrate on the pupils' education.

I have sat through several OfSted grillings as a governor and we simply show them the evidence of progress and learning, and our emphasis on values and well-being - the parents all fill in the Parent View - the children themselves tell the inspector what the school means to them and how happy they are. We make it clear how the SATs relate to the school population (lots of SEN in our school) and show evidence of provision maps and monitoring of progress. The SATs become an irrelevance.

Parents should not be using SATs results to judge a school - there is far more going on than they realise - and far more valuable things than one test on one day.

And schools should not be "teaching to OfSted" who, with any luck, will get their wings clipped soon.