How many of us have DS or DD going into year 6 and so having secondary transfer this year?

[RTKangaMummy]

How many of us have DS or DD going into year 6 and so having secondary transfer this year?

How do you feel about it?

DS goes back to school next Monday into class 6.

He has been at same school since Jan 1999, so sort of 7 years this year.

There is one class per year and they are a very close class, have got 26 children.

How do you feel about them entering into their last year at Junior school?

I feel sad that he is going to be leaving.

Is there anybody else who is going through this especially for the first time?

DS doesn't have any younger siblings so when he leaves primary school that will be the end for the family as well. IYSWIM.

Added to this is the secondary transfer issues.

I am sure when it comes to next summer he will be ready to leave as will probably grown up alot by then.

I was just wondering if others were thinking the same as me or whether it is just me being a silly neurotic mother again

.

I like that timetable cos DS loves science and english and maths is his least fav

I have been trying to take away DS stress BUT the teacher is putting soooooooo much pressure on them

I didn't realise that they were so short in length, so that is good

RTKM, sorry to hear about your son and the cycling proficiency. DS1 did a cycling course in the autumn term - places were limited but there was no charge. One day I drove past the line of cycling children preparing to turn on to the South Circular - I hadn't realised they would be so adventurous! DS1 is off to Kingswood in Norfolk in mid-June. HenniPenni - DARE sounds interesting - I hadn't heard of it, and I live in an area with a drugs problem.

All the best to everyone for next week! 7up, DS1 tells me he's going to be playing football in the afternoons.

Hallgerda Thanks

AFAIK DS hasn't learnt anything about drugs cos I asked him the other week and he hadn't got a clue about any of the names or anything

I should get some info so I know about it to explain stuff to him

That's a lot of hours of tests!
Please tell me they do Science A OR Science B and Maths A OR Maths B - not both?!

iirc they do 2 science papers

roisin your DS is in year 5 isn't he?

So he has them all to look forward to

did we have to sit all these tests!? i dont remember, im too old at 37

I never did any tests in top junior

The 11+ was stopped the year before me and so I was the first year of comprehensive

what exactly is the point of them anyway coz when they get to secondary they arent put in groups for their abilities until year 8. the classes im working with have super bright kids mixed with kids who can barely read

For league tables

\link{http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/education/04/school_tables/primary_schools/html/919_2077.stm\like this sort of thing}

seems mean to put all the pressure on kids just to sell the school so to speak to the next intake of kids.

anyway, are excited about big brother!13weeks of it, cant wait. my ds will be moaning that its on too late again

Yes deffo

I have been trying to explain to DS about what the tests are for but his teacher has told them that they MUST do their best

SO putting them under pressure

Which IMHO is stupid cos I think they will do better without the pressure iyswim

that really bad to pressurise the kids, dont think that has happened at my ds school. hes a bit too laid back (has revised hard for science) and says "its for the teachers benefit not ours!"

i told him that if he does well it will boost his confidence and make him proud, so hopefully he'll do ok. would expect him to do very well in english/science but not so good in maths but he could surprise me. when do we get to hear how theyve done, is it a letter from the school or LEA

It comes with the reports at end of term

What makes me soooooooo mad is that DS is predicted 5B in them so why all the pressure and all this bloomin practise

And I would rather that he had spent this time learning new things

DH heard a saying a few weeks ago

NO ONE EVER GROWS BY BEING MEASURED

So basically these children won't GAIN ANYTHING from next week

I do agree RTKM and felt the same myself last year. But now with a years hindsight I'm slightly less opposed to it all since..

1. often the brighter kids do actually enjoy the tests for some bizzare reason. I know my ds learned nothing from the exercise last year, but derived a certain satisfaction from them in any case.
2. It does help them to focus on attention to detail I suppose. Test taking skills are quite important through school (rightly or wrongly), so a bit of practise doesn't hurt.
3. Loads of schooling is about reviewing stuff they've already done (not just for SATs). If they were to press on and teach the brighter year 6's extra stuff the kids would only end up reviewing that again in year 7 as the senior schools wouldn't be able to assume any of them knew it.

So it's best to relax and let them get on with it at school and focus on extra curricula stuff at home as much as possible I reckon.

Good vibes to all year 6's next week.

Snorkle Thanks for that insight

I am relaxed as in not worried about the results

I just hate the way the school has and is still putting soooooooo much pressure on them

I think it would be better if the tests just came along and they had done a few weeks revision for them

But he has been doing practise SATs for them since September

When he was in class 2 and it was the SATs he wasn't in school for the spring term cos we were on a 3 month trip around the world

So he did work on a daily basis with us but didn't have any of the pressure that the rest of his class had at school

Too much pressure is not good, and totally silly if he will get a 5 in any case (the school is really only interested in getting as many 5's as poss.). If he's badly bothered by it see the teacher - a reassuring word to him from her (assuming it's a her) would help him more than any words from you and it wouldn't hurt to let her know she's stressing the kids out too much either.

I found out recently that our senior school (private) doesn't do ks3 sats - hooray!

His teacher is not really the kind of teacher that will take any notice of what parents are saying

iyswim

I come from a family of teachers and DH is a teacher so I know what a hard and responsible job they do

But she is particulary unfriendly

DS is going to DH school in september which is private andf also does not do KS3 SATs

Oh dear - I do know the type. Will have to be plenty of reassurance from you then, and don't forget it will all be over in a weeks time.

Thanks

RTK - well, ds1 is only in yr4 so we've got two years' yet. DS2 is in yr2 and we haven't heard a peep this year about his SATs or ds1's optional SATs - so I'm delighted!

I must say though, not doing KS3 SATs is another big advantage of choosing fee-paying at 11. The yr9s at my school (secondary) are stressed out, but once they are all over at the end of this week it will be a job-and-a-half persuading them that the year is not over, and they actually still have to knuckle down and do some work!