State Primary to Private Secondary - SATS even more pointless?

[SqueakyShouts]

We're in Surrey and DD11 start Y7 in September.

She's at a state primary now but will be going to an Independent secondary. (Had a great academic scholarship offer from 1 already, just waiting on some others next week.)

Regardless of where she goes to secondary I am very zero-stress about SATS.

Her primary is putting on extra sessions but we've declined them. They clash with clubs, she's just had months of exams and assessments and we really don't care about the results (she'll get the highest level - she's ahead in all subjects as is anyway).

Am I right to think SATS aren't even at thing at independent schools? Some parents are saying we're wrong for letting her miss the sessions as they affect secondary school? (I'm not saying much about our choice of schools/scholarships etc)

She's already saying she's nervous for SATS and I really think she's had enough on her plate as the school assessments were a lot for a 10/11 year old. So don't want to put more on her plate.

They don’t matter at all - most children will have come from private prep I imagine and won’t have taken them anyway. No need for any extra stress, I’m sure the last few months have been enough for you both!

Sats don't matter at all for the individual child whichever secondary school they go to.
Most primary schools will massage the results to look good - training to the test, concentrating on those just below a border.
Useful for parents who have been fed bland lies about their child doing okay then get below standard in sats.
Secondary schools will have their own assessments once child is settled in.

No. They don't matter. I would consider pulling her out on the test days (and telling her you're going to) so she doesn't feel stressed about doing them because most schools do seem to put a ridiculous amount of pressure on the children (often whilst claiming they aren't).

Echo what everyone else said. I work at an independent. We do our own tests and assessments regardless of where y7 have come from. She's already done loads so if you feel it wouldn't set her apart from her friends too much, I'd definitely take her out on those days.

DDs private secondary doesn't even ask for SATS results because their preppies don't do them. They have an entrance exam so base initial sets on the results of this and then re-arrange sets in January after December exams.

State primary school teacher here. I agree that SATs are for important for schools (used by LEAs and Ofsted for accountability) and not important for children (my dd didn't do extra sessions and I played them down at home).

Totally disagree that schools massage the figures; that's tantamount to an accusation of cheating which very rarely happens.

But I do agree that the year 6 curriculum is often narrowed with too much test-focused teaching.

My dd's are at a private school they don't do sats.

SATS are completely pointless. My child's old school was in a panic and tried to get all the children in early every day for weeks ahead of the tests. A teacher also tried to tell me loads of rubbish about secondaries using SATS for predicting GCSE grades (maybe some do, but our secondary doesn't - I checked when I was told this).
The other annoying thing about SATS is, as you are leaving the primary, you never get to hear how the (primary) school felt regarding that year's SATS results. The results aren't published until December, so you only knew what your own child got ahead of that. And when you look at the national data, when it is out, it doesn't tell you very much.

And Year 6 is completely ruined by SATS dominating everything. Ridiculous.

We will be in this position next year. I will be getting my DD to do her SATs and participate in any extra sessions as required because I feel it's not a bad thing to just crack on and do what is expected of you. But yeah, they don't actually matter, because the private secondary doesn't do SATs.

DD went to state school all through and we found SATS to be an utter stress over nothing. We didn't place that much emphasis on them. My DD is a bright girl. The teachers, however, were telling all kinds of porkies like, your secondary schools look at these! They had completely lost their heads. When DD went up to Y7 there was no mention of SATS and the kids were just continuously assessed, going up or down sets as required.

Massaging is different than cheating - suggesting children don't come in that week just doing English and maths leaving things on the walls, have been round long enough to see all these things.

In the same situation we said to DC that it mattered to their Y6 teacher and their primary school, but not to them. So they should do their best as a thank you, but that it didn’t matter at all for them or their future school.

After 11+, SATs feel very easy and old hat, as they’ve already learnt the content and the exam technique.

Sats don't matter at all for the individual child whichever secondary school they go to.

This.

@fiftiesmum

Year 6 teacher here.

The way that schools administer SATs is moderated - 10% of schools will be subject to a no-notice monitoring visit. We definitely don't leave things on the wall (maladministration) nor do schools encourage certain children not to come in during SATs week- SATs are compulsory and absent children would have to sit the papers on their return.

Yes this.