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

Based on individual students. The measure is generated by looking at the progress made by individual students and then averaging it. So your comments in the post I replied to are wrong.

If you're suggesting that the existence of progress 8 and the expected attainment grades of individual students don't then affect those individual students then I'm afraid you are, once again, demonstratively wrong.

I actually missed one of my SATS science exams completely due to a dance exam that had been rearranged multiple times by the exam board. My poor Mum was trashed terribly for it by other parents for daring to allow me to miss something ‘so important’ especially when I was never going to ‘make it’ as a professional and it was just a hobby.

No I didn’t become a professional dancer, but I do work in science now and have postgraduate qualifications. It also didn’t affect my high school progression one bit.

A level results direct impact getting into University or possibly starting on your career path of choice. SATS do not, they aren’t comparable at all. Until reading this thread I had totally forgotten about that exam I missed, so you can imagine just how much that decision my Mum made when I was 11 has affected my academic life and career 🙄

What is desperately unhelpful about this their so important narrative is that kids end up stressed and anxious which flaws the results. Or they study endlessly and set themselves up to fail because they cannot sustain it. What matters is that your child is relaxed and confident and knows that a SATs exam at age 10/11 is not about anything other than what the school has achieved.

Exactly this!!

What is unhelpful is people spreading false information which is then passed on to children with them being told, "They don't matter," or "They're only for the school."

Children should absolutely not be pressured or hot-housed or anything like that. It's not helpful nor needed. However, they should know what they are taking and whether or not they should be making a serious effort with it.

Even at GCSE month they're born in makes a difference in their results and can only think there are loads of other things that affect how they're doing on any one snapshot week. Schools shouldn't be judged too much on it and individual children definitely shouldnt

No, I am not. Children don’t do worse because of their sats results.

But they can and do because of the higher level decisions made as a result of their expected attainment targets.

At this point if they don’t know it they don’t know. It’s that simple. For kids they don’t matter. They shouldn’t be cramming or stressing. It’s not going to help them at all and if anything will pull their marks down. These aren’t teenagers who are slacking off. They’re little kids. They are only capable of what they’re capable of.

If your target grade is an 8 based on on your sats but you are on track for a 6 then you are likely to find a lot of support and extra classes available to you in year 11.

If your child is pigeon holed at secondary because of their sats results that is a school issue. And is pretty gross. Schools should be striving for progress 8 scores of 1+ which means nurturing ALL children regardless of their sats.

As above. If a school is only basing support on target grades from year 6 sats that’s a problem. No good school does that.

Except they do matter to the kids and for the kids.

The fact that you're assuming teenagers are slackers and that kids are just "only capable of what they're capable of" is shocking and I can only assume that you haven't seen just what Y6 children are capable of when they are motivated, determined and want to put in the effort. That statements also flies in the face of all the research on education, academic progress and how metacognition.

Agree. Horrid reports shouldn't follow them

What a terrible message!

The message given to my DD's year 6 group was we know you're all going to do your best and achieve, but remember this is only one way of doing that. You all have many talents whether in sport, music, art etc. You are all unique and have your individual strengths. We are so proud of you. Remember to support your classmates as some may be anxious, but you are all going through the same thing so can empathise with each other. Paraphrased but I was very happy with this message and my DD who has Long Covid and associated anxiety has been coping really well.

Unless they're torturing animals or something similarly disturbing

I’m not sure you have fully grasped the meaning of the word capable. If you don’t have the capacity to do something you don’t, if you have the capacity to do something when you work hard and are motivated you had that capacity all along.

And I didn’t say all teenagers. I said they aren’t teenagers slacking off. Im well aware that the majority work really hard. But some
do not. And need a kick. Not during exam week mind you. But these aren’t those kids. They’re little kids.

moreover though no child or adult as ever motivated by the threat of “if you don’t you’re doomed”.

And the fact that they are aiming for high progress scores will mean that the children who are off track for their SATs generated expected attainment targets will be prioritised over children who are on track or have already attained it.

I've raged against some of the questions! In reading I find they ask a vague question that could have many answers but expect a really specific answer. As far as I'm concerned it is an absolute nonsense and the sooner they're over and they can go back to proper learning the better!

Again if poor school who isn’t monitoring children beyond sats. These are schools looking to smash it with a 1*. Not just make sure kids achieve in line with progress 8.

There is an enormous gap between "These are important: take ownership and put in effort," and "You're doomed if you don't do well."

To be honest, Y6 children are not little kids. I've seen some that show a maturity, empathetic awareness and intellectual curiosity that dwarfs some of their parents. They are capable of so much more than many believe, including (at times) not putting in the effort and needing to develop their understanding and appreciation of metacognition.

They are not important to individual kids.

What you've just said doesn't make sense. The schools aiming to have 1+ progress 8 scores are the schools making the most decisions based on the SATs generated targets because progress 8 is measured exclusively from the SATs results.

I have read the thread and I work in schools. I repeat what I said earlier and what the OPs school has informed her…and that is that many secondary schools have their own cat tests in year seven that they base their streaming off rather than sats. This is the case for all three of our local schools.