YEAR 3 SATS, too many tests at a young age

[Todaysworldandbiscuits]

My daughter has diagnosed autism and adhd. She has been coming home in tears and is really angry, and stressed. She has said school are preparing for SATS, and that there is a lot more work to do. She is so overwhelmed, and angry.

Is anybody having the same issue with their child? Are the school making reasonable adjustments?

I'm not quite sure how to approach it with school? I feel like we're always complaining about something. She sees the world differently, and I don't know what they already have in place. Dd swears that nothing is different, and obviously she's having a tough time, so it isn't working either way. I'm also sick of hearing, "it's to test the teachers." These are young children getting tested, and they worry regardless.

Ask what adjustments are already being made and then propose what you think is needed to support your dd. Does she have an EHCP

In Wales our kids get tested every year from year 2 -9 and there really doesn’t seem to be anywhere near as much as a focus on preparing in advance for them which I think is a good thing.

There shouldn’t be SATS in year 3. Even the ones in y2 are no longer obligatory.
generally I think the ones in y6 are utterly redundant (y6 teacher) as the secondary schools know that pupils are drilled for the test and results don’t really reflect true performance.
I would go to school and explain the impact that this is having on your child, ask why they are doing these tests and how they benefit your child. Consider changing to a more nurturing environment if they think SATS are great and a non-negotiable at this age.

There are no Year 3 SATS.
Only Yr 2 and 6 and the Yr 6 ones are happening now this week.
Do you mean Yr 2?
She really shouldn't be getting so upset - you need to talk to the school ASAP.
A lot of Yr 2s don't even know they are doing a test because most schools don't make it a thing.
Poor kid - talk to the school and find out what is going on.

Year 3 SATs aren't a thing. It's Year 6 SATs week but other than maybe borrowing a TA for Year 6, it shouldn't affect year 3 at all. If you are complaining before checking the facts, then yes, you probably are complaining too much.

No, the school are doing it for all of keystage 2, so year 2 to year 6. Optional inbetween perhaps?

I was meaning complaining in a lighthearted way, I don't really do that, but do want to safeguard my child.

I'm interested in hearing from anybody who has a child who is SEN going through similar.

I wanted to put this in another section, but AIBU gets the traffic.

Our school has assessments to judge progress (NFER which are private standardised tests) at end of every term and I can envisage some schools doing these same week.

My daughter, ASD, has had since Yr 3 and I think they have benefitted her (now Year 5). They get the kids used to exam conditions so they become less anxious about them for SATS. They just become a part of their school calendar.

All it takes is parents to say "they aren't a big deal, don't get worried" and for the child to realise they aren't a big deal and everyone moves forward.

That's not SATS though because they are official papers and they literally don't exist for Yr3.
You need to talk to the school. So what if you feel you're "always complaining" - parents frequently need to do that especially when a child has SEN.

Are you in Wales?

Our school does the NFER ones twice a year too. They just have two weeks they call ‘assessment’ week. Totally takes the heat out of SATS week as they’re so used to being tested.

Year 2 is KS1 - in England, anyway.

No, England.

I understand that, but for a ND child with SEN, it never gets better, unfortunately.

This hasn't worked for dd. She is very distressed about these. I suppose all schools and children are different. There seems to be a high pressure filtering down in this one, despite a lovely teacher. She hasn't started her medication yet though.

This will be the first year though if she's Year 3. So try and minimise the stress this year. And next year she'll feel it less. And the year after she'll be much better.

It's the second year, and she is waiting for adhd meds. I think she just needs a bit more support, I'll have a chat tomo with SENCO.