To thinks SATs don’t really matter?

[whodawhodaeho]

DD is year 6 and her class teacher( and year head) has told them that if they don’t do well in SATs then they’ll be put with the disruptive, badly behaved kids in ‘big’ school. Ie put in lower sets forever

I have told her this is nonsense - that the new school will assess her themselves up til Oct half term then stream sets for certain subjects (which they do - her DB is there ) and the SATs don’t matter.
And they continually assess and move kids around according to ability/ progress through school terms/ years

YABU - yes they matter, and yes secondary school will pay attention to the results

YANBU - they don’t really matter

Your tone is off. If you are a teacher you really need to stop minimising the impact covid has had in this group, it’s immense for many. I’m not the only one saying this.

im extremely disappointed that you are playing victim in this, it’s not about having a go at year 6 teachers, it’s about saying how do much teaching fell to parents during this cohorts junior years. Basically their education will have been heavily reliant on parents. Using these SATs results for anything which will affect these kids futures is horrendous. It means many of the most disadvantaged kids are fucked before they even get to secondary school. Surely you can see that?

maybe stop being so sensitive and accept this system is fundamentally flawed

I’m so sorry to hear your daughter has been do poorly. My DS suffered with a lot of anxiety too (as did many of his classmates since covid. They have had their education affected further by at least 2 hours a week of art therapy, time out sessions. Pressure over things like SATs is often just too much. It’s clearly not a fair measurement of these kids. To think they might haunt them for years is horrendous.

I hope your DD continues to improve

I am a teacher. They really do not matter, honestly

SATs are sometimes still used for GCSE predicted grades. It is very difficult to get these altered by more than a grade if this is the case. Most schools don't rely on them for sets because way too many kids get taught to the test or get too much help during the actual exam! (Yes really!)

Your child's reading age will be assessed in Y7 and this is also used as a marker for GCSE so get them reading as much as possible.

The big thing you miss out on is that lots of kids are late developers and this early target setting really does them a disservice, it’s absolutely shameful way to school kids.

Secondary teacher in a core subject. I've never even looked at my year 7s sats results!
I get to know them when I teach them based on their own merit, not from a test done months ago. We also do our own aptitude testing and subject tests in the first term that gives an idea of their ability. But at year 7 I take it with a pinch of salt anyway as so much can change between year 7 and 11.

SATS are important and the results follow the child through the whole of their time at high school.

I was told they didn't matter and put no pressure on my child and he didn't do well in them, kind of average. He was put with the disruptive kids at high school and is stuck with them for the whole of year 7 and 8. He has matured a lot and works very hard and is top of his maths class but is being held back by a class of kids who can't understand maths. The teacher is going over and over the same stuff and not moving onto the next subject. His class are a whole term behind and will cause him to be in a low set when they are streamed in Y9 and then it's hard to move up. So frustrating.

My second child has just done SATS and I told him they are very important and I'm hoping he will get good results and put in a good class at high school and can then reach his full potential.

I hear that most schools use CATs to assess the children in Year 7. I think the SATs is made more important so primary schools can get the highest results.

Exactly this, my son is a late developer and I feel that SATs are old and irrelevant now (2 years ago) but the school still use them and it's holding my son back. He is top of his Science class and his teacher said he will get into top set, no SATs for science. Whereas he is brilliant at maths but being kept down in low class based solely on his SATs. Shameful indeed.

'In most mainstream secondaries, I would say the very bottom set is usually students who have SEN or other challenges that prevent them from fully accessing the curriculum, and they need additional support. Often, they're a much smaller group than others, and schools will try to have a TA present, so there is a lot more adult support than in other groups.'

This is our secondary. Even if DD flunked the SATs entirely, she doesn't have SEN so wouldn't be in the 'bottom' set and the sets that the school does is at 5/6 levels with the kids who are way above others in the top, most kids somewhere in the middle and a set for SEN kids who need a lot of help but are in tiny groups to get that help.

@PeachyPeachTrees 'Whereas he is brilliant at maths but being kept down in low class based solely on his SATs. Shameful indeed'

If your child is very good at maths but being held back by the school you need to go and see them and talk about this

After a few emails and getting nowhere, I did have a zoom call with teacher and discuss it. He can't change class this term as he now has a gap in his learning due to being a term behind. I wish we had found out sooner but my son figured it out himself by chatting with friends and finding out they are learning things he isn't and sitting higher test papers. He has been given maths to do from home in the hope he can get up to speed and then hopefully he can be put in appropriate class in Y9. She said the phrase 'there's no guarantees about higher set' about 5 times which was annoying! Fortunately my son is happy to do the extra work as he wants to get ahead. He has a good attitude to learning.