Year two mock Sats

[whinetasting]

My DD (year 6) struggles a bit academically. We had hoped that she would sit for some local Independant schools and so we've been working on practice papers a few times a week for the past 6 months.

She's just sat mock KS2 SATS at school and passed them- but only just. It's a very good London state school so there are a lot of children in her class scoring very highly. (In context a pass was 55, she scored 65, some children were getting 90+. (I don't know the basis of the scores- they weren't percentages). Similar scores in literacy and maths despite literacy supposedly being her strength.
She's really depressed and I'm a bit concerned. I've been really upbeat with her - praising her effort and being pleased she passed. However, I don't want to put her through the stress of London entrance exams if she stands no chance of passing. If a child is only just passing now what are the chances of improving a lot in a short space of time? We don't want to pressurise her for something that will ultimately be unsuccessful. I'm assuming a just about pass at KS2 doesn't bode well?

Very much depends on the school - some a very academically inclined and some are just places for people who don't want their children mixing with the hoi polloi. With those marks, she would struggle in an academic independent. I would see how she develops, many come on leaps and bounds later on.

When are the entrance exams? And I agree with pp that it really depends on the type of school you are applying for and actually what format the entrance exams are. FWIW, the entrance exams that my DC took were completely different to the SATS.

Having said that, I think a mark close to a pass in the SATS (when as you say there are peers getting 90+) is not enough for an academic school. I think scraping in and then being pitched against academically brighter kids all day every day can be miserable for a child, even worse probably than taking the exams and "failing".

Exams are mid Jan. She did better in the practice papers we sat so I was a bit thrown by her score. She doesn't do exams well - she panics and doesn't think clearly. Lots of the questions she got wrong she could have answered correctly if she'd thought about it more! However, this also doesn't bode well for entrance exams. We'd love to send her state and miss all of this out but we're in an area of massively oversubscribed schools and the only one we might get into (just outside the intake area last year but closest) is failing.

There seems to be a shortage of places for children who aren't academic superstars....
in context my neighbour just told me that half the year failed altogether as the new SATS are much harder so she's doing ok- she's just not super academic (or especially interested in it.). She loves her sport and her music and is hugely popular and kind. I don't want her feeling a failure but I'm short on options.,,

I think that's what alot of people say (including me!) when I went through test papers - the skill is working quickly and accurately and it is really difficult for children to do that. Maybe work on accuracy, then work on speed.

Do you mean last academic year's SATS (I think they're done in June / July in Year 6 so they won't have been done in the current Year 6 as yet). My DC sat the SATS last June / July and the actual marks were equated to scores out of 120 (with 100 being the expected level). Is that what you mean?

But your latest post is quite key when you say she's not especially interested in it - that would be the nail in the coffin I think of my aspirations as far as an academic school is concerned. Certainly here, there is a massive reliance on self motivation, independent learning, research etc. But if you don't have many options, then I'd probably enter her for them and make your decision once you know the results. In the meantime, make it all very low key, explain that its just about options, finding the school that will fit her best.

She's in year six. It was a mock sats the school devised. Apparently they were told the pass mark was 55 as it wasn't in the sats format. This makes sense as a lot of children who are perfectly able (were predicted high level 4s in the old system) were scoring in the 50s.

She's not interested in academics and nothing I do seems to make a difference. I'm genuinely ok after some internal struggles about her not being academic (despite DH and I having 2 Russel group degrees and an Imperial phd and oxbridge MA between us! She's very organised and motivated when she's doing something she wants to, so I can see her doing well in life -perhaps an apprenticeship in something she likes. If it's not an essay she works hard and people like her! I just have to get her into a school that won't totally fail or demotivated her.

Sometimes I hate London.

Can you find an independant school which is not so academic focused? In our city, there is an independant school like that, people who don't like big pressure send their children there, and they all said the school is very good.Although the final GCSE results is not as good as the selective independant school, but is similar as a good state school.

"This makes sense as a lot of children who are perfectly able (were predicted high level 4s in the old system) were scoring in the 50s. " actually it doesn't as in the new tests they won't pass

DS was top of his class at primary, and was predicted level 5 across the board. He took the entrance exams for the academic independent that I went to, and didn't pass. His experience was that they tested completely differently to the SATS, and he wasn't used to the type of test so ran out of time. It can be done (I passed when I didn't understand most of the maths questions in the days before a national curriculum standardised what was taught at primary, because I excelled in the English and verbal reasoning tests) but she may feel stressed with it only being a few weeks away.

Mrz my understanding is that the pass mark of the new exams is now closer to an old level five, hence all the children who were 4s either just passing/ just failing. This fits with DD who was predicted fives passing.

Some children did exceptionally well- it's a super state school with some remarkably high achieving children (and parents!)
We have located a school which doesn't seem too academic- however there are lots of children having it as a back up so it's also massively oversubscribed. As someone said to me recently, "there's no safe option in London anymore".

The content of the tests is closer to old level 5 with some level 6 and 7 for good measure

Crikey. That seems high. I'm feeling a bit better about her "pass" now! More info from my useful neighbour is that about 40% "failed" but the school aren't worried as they have time to get them there and most missed by a fraction. I know the school seem to have gone mad and the work and homework is intense- presumably to bridge the gap.

The children scoring really highly (90s) are sitting for places like Tiffin/SPGS which I haven't even bothered researching! Presumably people sit for multiple schools and so there may be places that become available after offers? Somewhere academically reasonable with good sport.... (dreams)
TBH I'm feeling awful. DH and I went to very average comprehensives in the 80s and so I think we dropped the ball on all this and didn't think far enough ahead. We thought you just decided to send your child privately....

Could you send her further out for a more 'all rounder' school? She sounds like she'd be incredibly well suited to somewhere like Wellington if you could reach a school like that. Maybe a prep for 2 years then a 13+ school?

If you are prepared to put where you are in London people may be able to make recommendations.