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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to keep my yr 6 off school if she is ill next week?

27 replies

ProstetnicVogonJeltz · 08/05/2009 19:16

Sorry. Another pre-SATs rant.

DD is getting increasingly anxious about impending SATs. I couldn't care less.

Apparently during the 'SATs talk' today they were told about
children who had chicken pox and had to come in to school and do their SATs isolated from everyone else.
Children who were sick before but came in and went home straight after.
A child who broke their arm one day and came in same day.They have to do well because it will affect what classes they are in next ytear (lies!)

THIS IS BLOODY INSANE

am vaguely hoping DD does come over infectious/ill next week just to thwart them. Bastards.

OP posts:

bigTillyMint · 08/05/2009 19:18

OMG!
I can't believe what crap some schools will tell the children just for the league tables.

cory · 08/05/2009 19:23

we had this last year

dd was ill with a virus infection and a flare up of her chronic joint disorder which meant she was unable to sit upright or hold a pen

they sent a TA round

apparently because dd's friend who was also ill got so hysterical at the thought of missing this important exam that her mum rang the school

(dd, who is well informed, regarded the whole procedure with a cynical smile)

but because of dd's appalling attendance record I did not feel I was in a position to say, no don't bother, she's quite happy not doing the exam

especially as dd was one of the pupils expected to get high marks

I comforted her with the thought that this will never happen again- if she falls ill in her university finals, she'll be able to take them later

cory · 08/05/2009 19:23

forgot to mention: TA took dd's exam down to dictation (hope her spelling was good)

cornsilk · 08/05/2009 19:26

It is all stoopid.

LissyGlitter · 08/05/2009 19:27

FGS, why do people get so het up about sats? Even if they do affect sets next year, if they are obviously in the wrong set they will get moved, up or down.

MrsWeasley · 08/05/2009 19:28

if children are too ill for school then thats it, they stay at home. END OF!!

cory · 08/05/2009 19:50

that's what I thought mrsweasley

dd did stay at home

and the next thing I knew there was a knock on the door

clam · 08/05/2009 20:32

My Y6 colleague and I are praying for a case of swine flu in school next week. Lets us all off the hook.

Original poster

ProstetnicVogonJeltz · 08/05/2009 20:34

it is such a load of shite.
never had this problem with DD1 who is so laid back she didn't even notice she was doing them. She still doesn't get stressed about tests and stuff. whereas DD2 takes everything absolutely literally and is climbing the walls with anxiety.
Me - I don't care about results. But I do care that my DD is being pressurised and influenced wrongly.

OP posts:

Smithagain · 08/05/2009 21:56

at the TA coming to the door! If you're ill, you're ill. Aren't you?!

cory · 08/05/2009 21:58

not if you're in top set, Smith

I doubt they'll be as assiduous if ds goes down with the flu

TheLadyEvenstar · 08/05/2009 22:03

DS1 is also taking his sats next week. tonight his class were sent home with every book he has written in or studied from since last september.....and trust me the bag was bloody heavy. He has a letter which tells us to ensure the children revise all weekend.

I have told him 10 minutes is enough if he doesn't know it now he never will....and all i want is him to do his best.

he too is in the top set..i think this puts extra pressure on them

Smithagain · 08/05/2009 22:09

Cory.

herbietea · 08/05/2009 22:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

sayithowitis · 08/05/2009 22:52

The year 6 children at our school are sent home every year at this time, with strict instructions to

Do something fun this weekend
get enough rest and relaxation
eat well.
Do not worry about next week.
Absolutely no homework whatsoever.

Sadly, there is a pressure on schools to get as many kids as possible to do the tests, even if they are ill. Why? Because parents like to see their school at the top of the league tables!

If the league tables were not based on the performance of a school in ks2 sats, much of the pressure would lift. Just as some of you have seen children in distress over sats, I have seen experienced teachers in distress also. I think very few teachers would disagree with the sentiments on this thread. Unfortunately, until parents find another way to judge a school, or Ed Balls makes the sensible decision to scrap sats, it appears we are stuck with them.

clam · 09/05/2009 11:16

The league tables are based on a percentage of the number of children on roll in Year 6 who get a level 4 and above. If they are absent for all or part of any subject, they are deemed to have not attained a level 4, regardless of their ability. In a one-form entry school, each child might account for over 3%, so if a 'bright' child misses the test, the school drops massively in the table. That is why schools get so fussy about absence.
If a child who is unlikely to get a level 4 is unwell, it makes little difference to those statistics if they are there or not. Harsh but true.
It's wrong, but that is why so many schools are anti the league tables. We're all suffering from it, not least the kids.

nannyL · 09/05/2009 11:27

good god... no way would i send an ill 6 year old to school to do a stupid SATs exam that just measures the teachers performance

that said i got runover on the morning of my first GCSE exam.... while in 'high dependancy' (ie for a week) the hospital wouldnt allow me to take any exams but less than 2 hours of being taken off high dependancy to normal ward i was taking (dictating) my GCSE exams to a teacher from my school who came to hospital so i could take the exams

i think GCSE's and sats are a bit different though

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 09/05/2009 11:38

If they're ill, they're ill. If that is too ill to go to school then it's too ill to take exams.

How ever did our poor parents decide which school to send us to in the pre-sat era?!

clam · 09/05/2009 11:55

nannyL, it's YEAR 6 (11 yrs old) not 6 yr olds! Not that that makes much difference, in my opinion.

pagwatch · 09/05/2009 12:04

one of the nice bits of having a child at special school and the other two at independent schools. is that we never even know when sats are on and the kids don't know either.
DS1 is 15 and recently asked me what sats were as he had never noticed that he had done any
I am really glad I don't have to try and isolate my child from the pressure of this. It is a terrible policy - for teachers, for the kids, for everyone.
Suggesting that an ill child go to school is nonsense - and staff turning up at the door is a fucking cheek.

nannyL · 09/05/2009 12:20

opps.. well i wouldnt send an ill 11 year old in take a stupid exam either!

None of my 10 charges have ever done a SATS exam (been nannying for 9 years)(and doubt any of them ever will) ... my oldest ex charge is now applying to oxbridge, and will hopefully be following in his parents foot steps.

Gorionine · 09/05/2009 12:25

How silly! How do they expect an ill child to perform? even if he/she is in the top set? That's bonkers!

brettgirl2 · 09/05/2009 12:30

SATs only matter to the school. They are totally irrelevant for the kids - she'll just get teacher predicted levels and secondary school will go on those.

TheLadyEvenstar · 11/05/2009 08:56

DS1 has gone to school in a terrible state of worry this morning. I hate the SATS lol

ArcticLemming · 11/05/2009 09:15

As a mother of only pre-schoolers I am completely gobsmacked by this! I can't believe they're piling so much unnecessary pressure on children so young.

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