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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To hate SATS?

66 replies

Comewhinewithme · 27/03/2009 17:35

DS is very bright and doing really well at school he is g&t in science and english .

However he was crying yesterday because he is scared that he is going to do rubbish . I have told him to just relax and he will be fine but he was so stressed about it all.

School are getting on my nerves because I think they are bribing the kids . We got a letter last week asking if ds would like to attend morning school which would mean a 7.45 start but they would get a free breakfast and at the end of it a gift voucher . They are also offering an extra voucher to the 3 children who attend the most .
Then they want them to go in during the easter holidays .

He is 11 plenty of time to be worrying about exams in the future .

OP posts:

clam · 28/03/2009 12:33

To all those who are considering the idea of pulling your kids out of school for SATs week... how many of you would consider sending your child to a school low down in the league tables, or deemed 'unsatisfactory' by OfSTED due to its poor results? Because that's what happens. If a child misses all or any part of a subject's papers, it is listed technically as a 'fail' for the school, regardless of that child's ability, and the school drops a certain percentage in the table per child. And parents then tut and complain and vote with their feet, the school loses funding and its reputation nose-dives.
Look, we all hate the darn things - no one more so than the teachers, but take it out on the government, who are the ones turning the thumbscrews on the schools for visible good results.

SparklyGothKat · 28/03/2009 12:35

I am not pulling my son out for the sats but have told that he should only do his best and that the SATs are only for the schools anyway, they will never benifit him

clam · 28/03/2009 12:49

Except that his secondary school might place him, initially at least, in ability-based sets according to his levels. Now in a good school, that should be reviewed and amended regularly. But the point is that people do take notice of how they perform individually, as well as the school as a whole.

BatmansWilly · 28/03/2009 13:01

We'll be in on Holiday when DS1 is supposed to sit his. Oops

paisleyleaf · 28/03/2009 13:05

Well Im going to be more careful of schools high up on the league tables after reading this. It might be 8am morning school, booster lessons and all this stress on the children that has got them the results.

purepurple · 28/03/2009 13:14

good point, paisleyleaf

there is more to school than acheiving high SATs results

SparklyGothKat · 28/03/2009 14:07

I admit when looking for a school when we moved I looked at SATs results.. I wasn't aware of the pressure the school put on the children though. Ds1 is very bright and i know he will do well, but I don't like my child being under so much pressure to do well. He is 11 FFS

sarah293 · 28/03/2009 14:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

juuule · 28/03/2009 14:53

Riven, I've not come across a school where the children 'didn't know' either.

MANATEEequineOHARA · 28/03/2009 15:06

I loathe SATS too. They screw up the whole focus of eduction.

Boozysuzy · 28/03/2009 15:31

There is a difference between 'didn't know' and a well managed process where the impact on children (in Year 2) and their families is small. Obviously Year 6 SATs are a completely different ball game!

Kayteee · 28/03/2009 15:41

at the teacher who "shouted at me that he does have to take them" at SparklyGoth!!

singersgirl · 28/03/2009 15:54

Wow - all these early morning classes and boosters and stuff. There's nothing like that at the DSs' school. And, last year, DS2 honestly didn't have a clue he was doing KS1 SATs. Their school doesn't do extra lessons for children to try and make sure they get a L3. If they're securely at that level, they don't need extra help.

And if they're high flyers in Y6, why would they need extra maths? The Level 5 maths is pretty basic for any child who's quite good at maths.

Original poster

Comewhinewithme · 28/03/2009 16:24

Actually thinking about it dd is 6 and it has not been mentioned so that is a good thing .

I am not going to be pulling ds out I just object to bribery been used and I do not think I should force him into going to early morning classes or easter school if he dosen't want to especially if he has other activities after school .

OP posts:

purepurple · 28/03/2009 16:36

I agree, don't send him to booster classes or school over the holiday

there is life outside school and punishing kids by making them go to school for extre lessons just so the school gets better marks in the SATs is not the way to instil a lifelong love of learning

if he needs extra help, he should get it at school
that is their job and the whole purpose of school

give the poor kids a break!

gosh, I thought I was about to break out in sond then, something about a brick in the wall

rachels103 · 28/03/2009 16:46

It sounds as though your ds's school is putting too much undue pressure on the children - I'm a year 6 teacher and whilst I'm preparing them as best I can I'd never dream of running before school clubs or Easter boosters....a bit of balance is needed.

The head, luckily, is very supportive of this way of thinking and is quite happy, for example, to send some of the y6 children to a tag rugby tournament 2 weeks before SATs...

However, threatening to take children out of school for SATs week or telling the children that they don't matter at all is counterproductive IMO (not that this is what the OP said at all) as it makes the school's job even harder, and sadly at the moment this is the flawed system that we are working under.

Roll on the day that we follow KS3 and get rid of them completely. Less pressure on the kids, the teachers and parents won't be absorbing the fall out from stressed 11 year olds.

candyfluff · 28/03/2009 16:48

my ds is also stressing over this and has started to hate school now because of the pressure ,its upsetting to know you have to send your child into school knowing they are having a hard time
he's a bright boy and got mostly a's in his last report but doesnt react well under a test situation where he has to rush .
roll on may when its will be over and he can relax.
the schools are pushing the kids to do better so they look good

fircone · 28/03/2009 17:05

those of you who are indignant about your dcs sitting SATs, what are you going to do about GCSEs? Because in the future, hopefully, they will go back to being more exam-based than continuous assessment, the cheaters' charter.

SATs don't matter anyway, so just tell your dcs to do their best and not get worked up about it.

Ds enjoyed his mock year 6 SATs. Like Cory, I told him the results don't matter one iota, but he should do his best for his personal satsifaction and as a courtesy to his teachers.

Original poster

Comewhinewithme · 28/03/2009 17:09

fircone That is exactly what I said in my op .

"Plenty of time to be worrying about exams in the future"

GCSEs will also have an impact on his future SATS will not .

OP posts:

clam · 28/03/2009 17:17

Basically, the SATs assess whether or not a child has attained what they should have learned by the end of Year 6, so they are ready for KS3. It seems that some schools are going the extra mile by asking kids to come in for holiday/early morning booster sessions. I wouldn't be happy about that myself but, equally, I won't be telling DD that they don't matter either. Assessment is a (sad) fact of life, and I don't think I'd be doing her any favours if I let her get the idea that it's all too much and that she can effectively opt out - in attitude, if not in actually absenting her from them. There's a fine line to find, in not letting them get upset and stressed, yet to nonetheless take them reasonably seriously (as with other school work) and do her best.

purepurple · 28/03/2009 17:26

I am all for assessment
but, SATs are not the way to do it

I would rather the teacher assess my children on a regular basis
i would trust this method more than one that involves putting schools in competiton with each other, stressing out chidren in the process by putting un-necessary stress on them

Kayteee · 28/03/2009 17:29

Mine will only do GCSEs if they want to and only in subjects that they may need to go onto further ed but we Home Educate so it's different for us.

sarah293 · 28/03/2009 17:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

clam · 28/03/2009 17:56

purepurple, teachers are assessing pupils all the time on an on-going basis. It's called 'assessment for learning' and underpins most of what is done in class.
The SATs are a government idea, originally to try to prove that standards were rising in schools, under their governance. The electorate can make their own minds up as to whether they are or not, as record numbers of pupils get higher grades each year, amid accusations of 'dumbing down.'

purepurple · 28/03/2009 17:59

I know that clam
exactly my point
SATs are not needed and should be done away with
they serve no useful purpose for the children taking them

and standards are not improving in schools, are they?

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