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Original poster

SATS - THE DREADED SUBJECT SOMEONE PUT MY MIND AT REST PLEASE!!!

53 replies

louise35 · 02/05/2006 08:01

I've been doing some mock tests with DD, mainly science and maths, we've not done literacy yet. I marked the papers and on her sciences she has scored in the 80-83% regions and her maths have varied between 72-75%. Can anyone put me out of my misery and if your child did their sats last year can you remember roughly what sort of grades this equates to. I'm hoping these marks will give her a satisfactory grade. According to her school She may struggle to get level 4 with literacy and takes booster classes but from what I can see of her at home she reads and writes perfectly well, give or take a few spelling mistakes, so maybe her school is being a little bit fussy and trying to get their own scores up a little due to a bad Ofsted report. I'd be grateful for any words of wisdom. Louise xx

OP posts:
Freckle · 02/05/2006 08:15

How old is she? Which SATS is she taking?

Tortington · 02/05/2006 08:32

thats are purely for government statistics - they are not there to help your child.

to be perfectly honest with you, if i had gotten myself to a place where you are emotionally about it - i would withdraw my child from school for that day.

the pressure that is on children is unbearable.
its a fcking disgrace.

sats are for teachers and the govt to worry about. and i completely object to them.

my twins have sats in senior school next year.

do i look bovvered?

now GCSEs i am worried about - andthing else can go swivel.

dont get worked up - take your child out of school and bake some cakes, make a collage, paint a mirror with glass paint, open up a roll of wallpaper and step in some paint and do a foot painting.

get some balloons and have a water fight.

sats bloody sats. fkin hate them.

beetroot · 02/05/2006 08:47

I am with Custardo here. The teachers hate them, the kids hate them, the parents hate them. they are for government statistics only.

If yo panic, she will panic and you will have one sad little child on your hands.

I have a year 6 child too. Please just let her be!

Original poster
louise35 · 02/05/2006 08:49

Lol custardo that's just what I needed to lift me a bit. Grin I know what you mean, its more of a bloody testing excercise for the schools than it is the pupils. My poor DD has been bringing home these mock tests from school for months and its doing my head in. Some of the subjects are like something from the Krypton factor. One of the questions was a 2 dimensional diagram of 4 lots of joined up squares and the question was which of these shapes will make a cube when folded. The kids have to decipher this just by looking at them. Even I struggled with that and I'm 35 and I would like to think that I'm an intelligent person. I can't remember being taught things like that at 11. I think what's getting to me too is certain people at work going "oh my daughter got all level 5's" just to add to the pressure. I would just like to think that she's at a "normal" progress rate and not struggling. BTW Freckles she's 11 and doing KS2 maths, science and English. Still laughing at water fight etc ...

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beetroot · 02/05/2006 08:51

grrr. Hate the fact that they are made to do these tests at home. UNLESS they want to of course

sassy · 02/05/2006 09:11

Louise - please relax about the buggers.

I'm a secondary english teacher and I honestly think SATS are crap. All they are for is so that the govt can compare schools. They are frequently marked by non-specialists (we've known a Shakeapeare paper to be marked by an 'examiner' who had never even read the play in question!), and schools take very little or no notice of the results when setting or assessing pupils.

Hate 'em. I've just spent the last term ramming Macbeth down the throats of a Y9 SEN group and probably put them off Shakespeare for life, instead of showing them how dynamic, interesting, exciting and relevant he can be.

Chill out!

Original poster
louise35 · 02/05/2006 09:12

She seems to enjoy doing them in her own fashion but does not read the questions properly. She's got the ability but can't be bothered to take it all in sometimes but judging by the pressure the schools seem to be putting on them I think they're all suffering from SATS fatigue. Anyway I've decided not to worry about it any more, what will be will be. Grin

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Original poster
louise35 · 02/05/2006 09:20

Sassy, you've hit the nail on the head there. What should be enjoyable at this age is turning into a bloody nightmare. Her school has been ramming it down our throats about how important these tests are for the next step in the children's Education when actually all they are trying to do is make themselves look better in the eyes of the government. I remember loving school at her age, there was certainly no pressure for things like this. It hasn't helped though that the kids go to high school a year earlier then they used to, which is sort of forcing them to grow up a little too quick and adding more pressure. I didn't feel ready for high school at 12/13 so god knows how some of the poor 11 year olds must feel. I personally don't feel that my DD is ready, I think its going to be a big culture shock for her, but then again, they've got to go at some point haven't they!

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Orlando · 02/05/2006 09:30

Totally agree with everyone else and have been telling myself and dd that SATS are nothing whatsoever to worry about (or to be rewarded by a mobile phone for, as one girl in dds class is apparently being, fgs...) BUT... I've also been told by other parents that the SATS results are used by high school to judge what sets to put your child into. Which made me sit down and do a bit of maths with dd over the weekend.

Freckle · 02/05/2006 09:30

I agree with all below. SATs are a pain in the proverbial and do little or nothing for the child. I remember when I pulled DS1 out of school because of bullying in the middle of SATs week. The school was more concerned about getting him back in to complete the tests (because he is bright and would help bring up their figures) than they were about sorting out the bullying issue.

I contacted his secondary school to ask how important it was for him to complete his SATs, as I didn't want him to suffer because we'd pulled him out. I was told that the results are useful as a base point against which to judge his progress at secondary level, but, again, it is more to help the school than the child. Tbh secondary schools tend to do their own assessments anyway, so the SATs have little relevance.

Original poster
louise35 · 02/05/2006 09:42

I'm just going to let her do her best and see what happens. Like you say, secondary schools have their own ways of assessing the kids anyway. One of my DD's friends came to the house the other morning on the way to school and said her Mum had been making her revise like hell for her SATS and said that if she didn't do well then she would end up in the "bottom" classes and the school would take them to Flamingo Land every week because they could not think of anything else to do with them!!!! Shock. I think if you threatened most kids with Flamingo Land every week they'd probably jump at the chance, NOT a good idea to make threats in this way!!! I cannot believe some parents can get so fanatical, I know I was a little concerned about my DD's progress but getting to the point where you get obsessed does you and your child no good at all.

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sassy · 02/05/2006 09:43

Fr those concerned about secondary transfer, the results tend to come through too late in the day for setting groups anyway. We are given KS2 results when pupils start in Y7, but much more emphasis is placed on the little tests we do with them on induction day, and on what the primary schools tell us. And there is always some re-jigging that goes on in the autumn term when it becomes clear that a pupil has been misplaced.

Original poster
louise35 · 02/05/2006 09:45

I suspected that Sassy, is good that this happens because if a child appears to be struggling later on they can be given the most appropriate help and vice versa for those who appear to improve. Its a fair system.

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moyasmum · 02/05/2006 10:09

In my kids school they have a second chance of sats ks2 called springboard 7. have been unable to find out much about this, I cant believe it overides the yr 6 results .However whatever it is called ,if it helps a grade 3 maths handle sums in the big school then im fine with it.

TinyGang · 02/05/2006 10:17

Dd's school keeps them very low key.

They just do the test as/when the child is ready and they say the children don't even know they're being tested. We haven't had mock papers or anything home about them.

I get the impression the school only do them cos they have to. They haven't put any pressure on parents or children (so far) about them. I think they're doing them this month. I haven't even mentioned it to my dd.

I basically disagree too with the concept of testing children at that age, but appreciate her school's laid back approach if it has to be done.

2shoes · 02/05/2006 10:46

my ds has his yr 9 sats this week. can anyone tell me. will his marks in these affect his gse's in any way???????????????

Hallgerda · 02/05/2006 11:15

TinyGang, is your child doing SATs in Year 2 or Year 6? I have one of each and have observed that DS1 in Year 6 is having the pressure piled on (or would be if he had any problems) whereas DS3 in Year 2 hardly knows what's going on. Of course it couldn't possibly be because the KS1 results aren't published but the KS2 value added (which look better if the KS1 results aren't too great) are published.

NotAnOtter · 02/05/2006 11:19

i am with custy..mine have year 6 and nine this year well like NOW and i am a bit chilled - like them to do well for confidence but not really going to kick up a stink!

quanglewangle · 02/05/2006 11:42

Agree entirely with custy.
Not because my kids were stressed by them, alas they don't get stressed enough by exams. A bit of adrenalin for GCSE's wouldn't go amiss with my ds's imho. And I don't think it hurts to learn early about exam technique, as long as it isn't too pressurised.

But what I do object to is my kids being used as pawns in the game the government plays with schools. SATS aren't there to assess the kids, teachers say already know the childrens abilities. They are used to assess the schools. Unfair all round as it is simplistic and doesn't take into account other very relevant factors. Schools have to play ball because of their position in the league tables. Parents take notice of that as they have nothing else to go on.

It stinks.

quanglewangle · 02/05/2006 11:44

And what are they learning while spending so much time on preparation for SATS?
Seems to me that schools aren't for education anymore, just for pointless assessment.

Feenie · 02/05/2006 12:12

Louise -
re the flat cube question - the kids get a piece of tracing paper as part of the equipment, nothing to say they can't draw the net on that, tear it and fold it up to see if it makes a cube.

I've yet to meet a teacher who thinks SATS are a good idea (I have been teaching for 12 years). In Y2 we don't mention them because it's just cruel to worry a 6/7 year old and we can blag that the test is just the usual class work we normally do and get away with it. In Y6 we have a duty to practice the routine a couple of times because the rules are so stringent that SATS week can be like taking GCSEs - desks in rows, exam conditions, teacher can't even look at papers before sending them off to be externally marked, etc. All seriously scary if you've never done it before. Then we Y6 teachers chuck the curriculum out of the window and spend the remaining half term doing the fun stuff; anything so that their last memory of primary school isn't tests, tests and more tests.

HenniPenni · 02/05/2006 12:17

Feenie, thats very reassuring to hear about the last half term being spent doing fun things, DD1 is in year 6 and already is sick to the back teeth about sats and they haven't even done that much prep for them.

I really hope that the memories that she takes away from primary school are the fun memories and not bl*y exams.

Feenie · 02/05/2006 12:23

Bet you the teacher is sick of it as well!
I'm on maternity leave so am spared the run up this year, but feel so sorry for our Y6 kids and their teacher.

Feenie · 02/05/2006 12:24

To the op -
those marks would be enough to get a Level 5 (way above average) if your child achieved them under exam conditions (timed, etc.)

HenniPenni · 02/05/2006 12:26

Yep Feenie, DDs teacher hates them and certainly doesn't agree with them.

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