SATS cheating - by the Head!

[Dilemmaramma]

In my DC’s final SATS exam yesterday, the headteacher was overseeing and they picked up DC’s paper, DURING the exam, flicked through it, then rubbed out one of the answers and told DC to try again. They also pointed out another wrong answer and indicated DC should re-do that question.

This is clear cut cheating, right?

YABU - don’t report it, the whole year group could get their SATS voided and they’ll be devastated
YANBU - this is appalling and the Head needs to be investigated

They are used at my school.

Of course it should be reported. It depresses me enormously that so many problem don’t think that cheating is a problem.

Sets change all the time, it will soon become obvious if they’re in the wrong set.

Do you mean that for every four children there was an teacher? In a 3 form entry school that would require 23 members of staff, which is obviously not possible for most schools.

My ds did his maths gcse alone... With his phone. Head of year gave him it back....

I can’t believe so many are saying the head’s behaviour wasn’t a big deal!

As a HT who follows the guidance to the letter, I find this so frustrating as our grades are then judged against those who cheat.
But, it won’t hugely impact your child. Morally it needs reporting but I’d also fully understand if you didn’t want to.

I think you should and could forget the idea that you’ve been out in any kind of difficult position and are facing some kind of moral quandary. Absolutely nothing bad will happen if you just ignore this and stop caring - I think you might look back in a few years time and wonder what madness overtook you if you go down the reporting route. People do things that are against ‘the rules’ all the time, it’s not your job to correct this. Feels on the same level to me as people who reported next door’s lonely Grandma coming round during Covid coz it wasn’t allowed. Sats are a total joke for all concerned anyway. This thread is quite mad.

No, they cannot during SATs. Absolutely against the very strict rules and protocol.

Me neither. And how many have no idea of exactly how strict the rules are.

That would go against the guidance.

You were not in the room, your child saw something and is certain it was cheating and changing answers.

You can do what you like in terms of “reporting” it but it is your child who will be asked to explain what they saw happen, what they heard. What child concludes, which could be incorrect.

There could be another explanation.

In any event, it’s your child who will be in the middle of it all. Is your child ready for the anxiety, pressure ? If you child is correct -(then what, satisfaction??) vs if your child is incorrect or didn’t fully understand the situation, how will they cope with being wrong & upset over false assumption. How will you cope.
What if Theres a closing of ranks, & you both feeling more aggrieved…because you think/know that everyone is lying.

looks like lose-lose situation for your child.

is it worth it?

No, people who have no integrity and prefer the easier option of turning a blind eye to cheats are quite mad. Of course there are bad consequences - other schools, who don’t cheat, are made to look worse in comparison, and at least one child is given the message that cheating in an exam is acceptable.

Lonely granny is not a good comparison at all - in this case the person cheating, and involving a child in cheating, was the person in charge of the school's values and ethos.

I don’t think the Head will admit to this, why would they admit it? If you write to them and complain, they will just say they were rubbing out what was an unclear answer so that your child didn’t get penalised for lack of clarity. You’ll never be able to prove it. Even if your child is telling the truth, I doubt the Teaching Assistant will risk their own job and go against their boss/Head if you do complain. I just don’t think it’s worth the fallout for what is a couple of marks on a Y6 sats paper! Don’t think you will get what you want out of it eg an apology from Head / resignation from head as they will just deny it

Loads of schools cheat with SATS. The pressure they are under is unbelievable. I have heard lots and lots of stories like this from kids eg saying the teachers actively spelt out words during spelling tests; kids were told - you might want to check that again - about a specific question during a test. It's not fair because the results are all over the place. It happens all the time. But it won't stop until the government stops making sats the be all and end all and using then as a stick to beat headteachers with. I feel sorry for teachers and headteachers. So, no, I wouldn't report it.

It's seems like the Standards and Testing Agency don't really give a shit anyway:

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/exclusive-dfe-refused-act-sats-cheating-findings

Lots of us are under immense pressure at work. It still never justifies cheating
It's an absolutely awful example to set children, for starters.

I didn't realise so many teachers had so little integrity

I can't believe you think that's a moral equivalent!

I can't believe people's bar is this low. MN is full of people slating teachers for the most trivial and spurious of reasons. But full-on cheating in a public exam? Absolutely no problem at all, apparently.

Of course it's a moral quandary for the OP.

I'm afraid I think it's mainly teachers who are trying to minimise the cheating. Perhaps because they know they do it themselves?

People do things that are against ‘the rules’ all the time, it’s not your job to correct this. Feels on the same level to me as people who reported next door’s lonely Grandma coming round during Covid coz it wasn’t allowed.

People generally fall into two categories: rule keepers and rule breakers. In my experience, neither group can understand the others at all.

Don't be ridiculous

Not getting that at all, I think you are wrong. I recognise some fellow teachers on this thread and they are dead against cheating and appalled. It’s parents that are minimising it through lack of understanding.

He hasn't given her the answer. It's isn't a GCSE. It's just to determine what set she goes into next year realistically. He moved she's made an error asked her to look again. Yes it's technically cheating but he didn't give her the answer he knew she has just made an error and knew the correct answer

Maybe. I'm a bit shocked tbh. Not shocked that people cheat - there are always people who are willing to do this kind of thing. Shocked that people are so blasé about it and defend it.