Protest against SATS?

[Bluelagoonlover]

My daughter in year 6 is getting really stressed about SATS. She's also stressed about not doing SATS and being the odd one out. Anyone else in a similar situation and thinking about peaceful protest / objecting?

Can I ask why she is getting stressed about them? Is it that the school keep banging on about them and every lesson is devoted to SATS practice? Or is she someone who just gets stressed about tests?

What would your peaceful protest be? Would you keep her off all week? There are rules about catching up papers under certain circumstances so I'm sure if she were of the school would be in contact with you to and it might be hassle you (and they) just don't need!

Have you had a chat with the teacher about her worries?

I think both tbh

I'm going to talk to the teacher. Peaceful protest would be writing a letter to the school, lea and government explaining our point of view.

What's the stress about not doing them and being the odd one out - have you already opted out of them?

At the end of the day it's a test for the school not the kids. It's looking at how well the school has taught the kids the national curriculum.

Do carry on but that's not really a protest that's just providing feedback! A protest would be standing outside the school on test day with a sign saying you're boycotting the tests and want to encourage other parents to join in.

My child is quite behind. I can't see her meeting any of the standards for her age group. My expectation of her is clear. She goes in and tries her best. I've explained to her the results don't have consequences for her. The teacher told me this too.

It is a test of the school, I agree, and that's why I don't need the hassle and fall out that they will have on our family. My older child was fine with them, my youngest isn't.

My middle child didn't have to do SATS due to Covid, but we'd have pulled him out. We decided that when it became clear that KS2 SATS were partially used to estimate GCSE grades in the pandemic, as well as the fact his upper school use them to set classes - I don't think it's actually always true that the results don't impact the child at all.

At the end of the day it's a test for the school not the kids. It's looking at how well the school has taught the kids the national curriculum.

This is not the only purpose of SATs. Really wish people would stop saying this as if it’s the complete truth and nothing else matters.

I would be open to protest, but not outside school because I don't think that would be fair.

I don’t think you’re being unreasonable at not wanting to have the stress and fallout that it brings home. It’s a ridiculous pointless exercise and so stressful for kids.

My protest was to pull mine out of school altogether and unschool though.

More parents should be advocating for better for their children.

i taught in Year 6 and for the majority of 10/11 year olds it’s incredibly stressful.

Just let her do them but keep it very low key and explain they are just little tests and not a big deal (even if they are).
We told our DC that we didnt care how they did in them but just to try, no revision or anything like that either

The do set target grades for GCSEs and are the official accountability measure of progress children should make in secondary.

I agree with SATS and parents telling they are not important is doing them a disservice imo.

I want to know how my child is doing and as they progress through secondary school, tests will become more and more regular. If they don't reach the expected grade, surely it's good to know that they might need a little more support?

This.

Right or wrong, it’s the education system we are in. They are a statutory record of where your child is against KS2 statutory curriculum content. Therefore, they set the trajectory for GCSE grades and progress. That is the official data schools are held accountable to - no matter what they internally do,

Right or wrong, of your child does a stellar job in sats and starts falling behind - you can guarantee secondary will be on it. More so than for someone who wasn’t at standard anyway. They need to show progress and are accountable for it. Budgets are tight, staffing is tight, many don’t have the correct subject teacher. I’d want mine to do the best they can so they will get the support to stay there.

Equally, they flag children who need extra support going forwards. They need to get used to tests every big term in secondary and being set accordingly.

To say they have no impact is old hat and outdated. They literally predict your child’s progress for GCSE.

I actually think Sat's are really useful as it means there is loads of really focused learning in year 6 where they go over and over the same material. Until this year my daughter has struggled with maths but she's really taken off this year with all the repetition.

Yep all of this. Also when I was setting students for year 7 there'd be a handful who didn't have data and it was a pain in the neck - I basically had to just slot them into a group where there was space and hope it was a good fit. Sets could get re-jigged later but didn't happen as a matter of course. This was for English and Humanities subjects.

I guess some kids fit the mould and some kids don't.

No it’s not just this. I do wish parents wouldn’t write this. The standardised score in the SATs is an indicator of the number of GCSEs a child should achieve. Reaching a standardised score of 100+ in reading, writing and maths does mean the Secondary Schools will be watching your child to ensure they’re on the right trajectory.

You might not like them (fwiw I agree) but it’s the system we work under and as such they are important.

Tell her every year 6 child in the country is doing SATS, it's no big deal. It's testing the school, not her.

What are you doing to help her stop being stressed? Protesting won't help, it'll just make you seem like a drama queen.

So if a child arrives at your school from an independent (who don't sit SATs) or from abroad they could be out into the lowest sets because that's where there is space and never taken out of it? Even if they were extremely capable?

That seems... Unlikely? Ridiculous? Bloody lazy?

At the end of the day OP you know your child best. If it will be better for her to not sit them then withdraw her. High school will work itself out one way or the other. Sure you may have to make a fuss, but sitting SATs doesn't magically unlock support, chances are you'll still need to fight if she needs it.

Protest as well by voting to get or keep Tories out where you live, be it in May local elections if you have them and the general election when it happens.

You can’t withdraw children from the SATs unless there are some very specific circumstances. Also, I think it’s still the case that if a child is absent on the day of the test they take them at any time in the following 2 weeks so just keeping her off school for the tests is unlikely to work unless you also keep her off for at least the following week too. At which point she’s had all the stress of being over prepared for 2 terms and will miss out on some of the fun post SATs stuff

I’d never put anyone off writing to their MP to give their opinion and if she wants to do that it’s great but you may be better in the longer term looking at relaxation and coping strategies and helping her to be prepared and manage as much as you can. As a general rule avoidance is rarely helpful and often makes a problem worse in the long term even if it relieves the issue in the short term. And at some point you are going to have to get her through GCSEs which really really will matter.

Unfortunately some schools really really do not help with the way they go about trying to improve their results so there may be things that are causing her anxiety and stress which are out of your control.