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Original poster

Another SATS thread.... Anyone's school really obsessing about them?

30 replies

MummyPenguin · 24/04/2007 10:31

DD is in year 6 so will be doing the dreaded SATS tests in May. Honestly though, her teachers, particularly the Deputy Head, who teaches the top groups (which DD is in) seems to be losing the plot over them. Since the beginning of term it's been SATS SATS SATS. DD says that's all they talk about. At times DD has been coming out of school very stressed due to the pressure in class to perform well. Yesterday morning the Deputy Head said to me that she'd 'had a word' with DD on her way into school and will be doing so with three other girls as they've slipped from a level 5 to a level 4 in the Maths test. She made it sound like it's something that's been happeneing for a few weeks (before the hols too.) I asked DD about it when she came out yesterday and she said that it was only last week's Maths test that she had got a level 4 in. All the previous ones are level 5. I said to DD that it was obviously just an off week, so not to worry too much, and that I'm sure she'll be maintaning her level 5's. DD said that the Deputy Head told her and the other girls that she was 'disappointed' in them. That's nice eh? They've been working so hard and they are only 11...

DD is going to Grammar school in September. Does anyone know if Grammar schools stream the children according to their SATS results in the same way that comprehensives do?

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islandofsodor · 24/04/2007 10:33

Most comprehensives (at least in the area dh teaches) don't reven stream by SATS results. They do diagnostic tests on arrival and they go by teacher assessment.

Many grammar school childresn will have come from private preps where oftenthey don;t even do SATS.

Original poster
MummyPenguin · 24/04/2007 10:37

As far as I'm aware, the comprehensive that DD would have been going to had she not been going to the Gramamar, do stream them going by their SATS results. Not sure exactly how it works though, so it may be teacher assessment led. The Grammar school that DD will be attending, as far as I know, the majority of pupils are from 'normal' primaries (not private.)

Another Mum who's DD has got into the Grammar school remarked to me that 'the SATS don't matter now' and it just made me wonder...

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Wotzsaname · 24/04/2007 10:38

I don't understand why you would say she will be maintaning level 5, when she got level 4 in last weeks test. Please...and as for the DH teachers remark 'disappointed' in them. FGS.

The school is pushing for a small minority to get level 5's for its own reasons.

My dd is a late August Birthday and is still 10.

Have I mentioned I hate SATs!

My DDs compreshensives don't stream until a later term. They let them settle in and reassess each student.

seeker · 24/04/2007 10:45

Secondary schools do look at SATS, but they also do their own tests, so they are only one of the elements taken into consideration when setting/streaming Year 7s. The reason primary schools obsess about them (while treating the 11+ as if it didn't exist!)is that they are used as a measure to judge the performance of the SCHOOL, not the child. I have said to my year 6 daughter that it would round off her primary school career nicely if she got the level 5s she is predicted to get, but it doesn't matter if she doesn't, so long as she has done her best. I reckon that there are far more important things for 10/11 year olds to be doing in their last term of primary school when the weather is lovely than earning Brownie points for the school! Althoug, to be fair, dd's school has had them outside every afternoon since the last holidays, so I can't complain!

Original poster
MummyPenguin · 24/04/2007 10:52

Wotszaname - the reason I said that she'll be maintaining level 5's is because she has been getting level 5's. Last week was the only level 4, which is why I said to her that it appears to be a one off, so not to worry. I didn't want her to feel bad about it, so I was hardly going to say "oh well, that's it, you'll be getting level 4's from now on." They're getting enough of that from the teachers who should know better. I know she'll get level 5's, I just posted my OP as an example of the lengths that some schools take SATS to and wondered if anyone else's school is as bonkers about them.

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Original poster
MummyPenguin · 24/04/2007 10:53

And even if she didn't get all level 5's in the actual tests, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

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Wotzsaname · 24/04/2007 11:04

No it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Glad she is doing so well, good for her.

I was not meaning to be critical of your parent skills, just that I have different views on SATs.

seeker - I agree it would be nice if they could enjoy their last year and not have this pressure, my dd comes home "test' 'test' 'test' again. Not enjoying her last year at all.

Hallgerda · 24/04/2007 11:15

DS1 went through this last year, and, yes, his school was just as bonkers about them as you describe. Anyone who tells you their child's school isn't, probably has a child in Year 2 not Year 6. And his grammar school doesn't stream for anything in Year 7, so the result had no effect on him whatsoever. His friend who went to the local comprehensive was moved up a stream over his SATs results.

You have my sympathies. Schools just shouldn't be encouraging children of that age (or any age, come to that) into really stupid obsessive exam behaviour. I just told DS1 the tests didn't matter (and prepared to take the inevitable stick when he told his friends ).

swedishmum · 24/04/2007 11:38

My Y6 dd is off on an optional trip tomorrow to a big sports event. Thank goodness for schools with common sense and a bit of balance! They work hard, have great teachers and have fun in the process. Just wish I'd moved my children there years ago.

Wotzsaname · 24/04/2007 11:40

{{{swedishmum - how are you feeling today, did you get any sleep? }}}

swedishmum · 24/04/2007 11:44

Yes thanks. Trying to be motivated! Went straight from school run 2 to BandQ to buy stacking boxes. Just need to stop checking my ebay items and use my laptop for something more productive...

harpsichordcarrier · 24/04/2007 11:45

god I hate SATS with a passion, they are of no benefit whatsoever to the children involved as far as I can see.
and I have never heard of a secondary school streaming on the basis of SATS results alone - and even if they did, it's just a snapshot and the children will get reassessed at the end of the first year at secondary school.
SATS are ridiculous and as it happens I think they will be abolished before too long.

emankcin · 24/04/2007 11:48

My children are in year 9. Their school is being very obsessive to the point where it sent home a timetable of what SATs to study for 6 nights a week.

The sats are essentially an enterance test to GCSEs. The child will be streamlined into GCSE groups determining their highest achievable grade.

MY children could be all out studying from the age of 14 to 21.

From experience i know that learning is not age limited. Therefore i refuse to be drawn into this obsession and let the studying overtake out homelife becuase our homelife has many different qualities and i only get just over 2 hours an evening with my children.

Therefore i would suggest that SATs are taken seriously only depending on your version of sucess.

Hallgerda · 24/04/2007 11:58

harpsichordcarrier, I'm in favour of the SATs as they give primary schools an incentive to bring as many of their pupils as possible (and not just those with the 'right' kind of parents) up to the standard they need to reach before secondary school.

However, it would be better for everyone if the schools spread the work load and the pressure rather than putting it all into Year 6.

Ali5 · 24/04/2007 12:11

MummyP. So sorry to read that this SATs nonsense is affecting your dd like this. Will reinforce what has already been said, our secondary school doesn't really look at the SATs results - they combine it with their own assessments and year 6 teacher assessments.
I'm afraid lots of schools get bonkers about SATs, and it's one of the reasons I'm looking for a new teaching job because our new head is obsessed with them!
Hallgerda - ha! SATs are way down the list of incentives primary schools need to raise pupil achievement as most teachers see them for what they are - a way for the government to prove how wonderful their education policies are .
It's very little to do with caring for each and every pupil's achievement.

seeker · 24/04/2007 13:05

And it's level 4 that children are expected to reach by the end of year 6, so all this pressure on them to get 5s is even more wrong. Grrrrrrr!

Original poster
MummyPenguin · 24/04/2007 13:12

They do them again in year 9?

Thanks for your kind words, Ali5 (and others too) DD's not as stressed as she used to be now she can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Also she was thrilled at getting into the Grammar school and I think this has somehow made it easier for her to cope with the pressure at the moment. Luckily, the school are providing some nice things for them after the SATS, a retreat day, a 4 day residential trip, yr 6 play, and they get to organise and run the infant sports day, so they've got a lot to look forward to. I guess it just feels to them that they have to go through a lot to get there!

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elasticbandstand · 24/04/2007 13:14

i am relieved this wasn't a year 2 stressing about sats
my ds was the same, mock sats throughout fro jan onwards, it seemed.. not good.

ShrinkingViolet · 24/04/2007 13:17

DD1 (Year 9) thinks it's funny how stressy some of her teachers are getting about the SATS - she's currently trying to decide whether to go along with her English teacher's advice to write x,y, and z in order to get the marks, or whether to write what she actually thinks (and can back up with evidence form the texts) but which won't get her the marks, becasue of the ridiculously inflexible NC system. It's a difficult choice - do it for her, or do it for the school .

Judy1234 · 24/04/2007 13:24

None of my 5 children have ever done SATS as they are in private schools. They have plenty of tests, marks, exam practice, end of year exam weeks etc but I never got the impression f any stress over any of it even though some of them were in some of the most academic schools in the country.

Hallgerda · 24/04/2007 13:44

MummyPenguin, the next lot of SATs may be the end of Year 8 for your daughter - DS1's school does them then.

The tests themselves are actually quite innocuous - as Xenia says, it is perfectly possible to do tests without getting worked up over them. They're rather less demanding than the tests for secondary schools (at least, DS1 found them so).

AliP, no matter how teachers feel about the SATs, I believe they do serve as a counterbalance against institutional low expectations of some groups of pupils.

christywhisty · 24/04/2007 15:56

As I mentioned on my other thread our school are very laid back re SATS. I here horror stories about local schools who keep kids in lunchtime and break for catch up if they don't think they are going to get the right results.

Children getting piles and piles of homework (once heard of year 2 children getting 50 spellings to learn over easter)

We don't get told hardly anything, not even the dates officially. Son can go in early to do Samlearning revision on the computer but it's not compulsory and son is actually finding some of it fun. The school still gets above average results.
Year 2 sats they didn't even know they were doing them.

elasticbandstand · 24/04/2007 16:06

that is the way it shoudl be for year 2, low key

Original poster
MummyPenguin · 24/04/2007 16:56

Yes, I have a DS in year 2, and he's not even really aware that they're doing anything out of the ordinary. DD and my other DS was the same.

My word Xenia, you must be loaded - 5 kids in private schools

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Original poster
MummyPenguin · 24/04/2007 16:57

were the same

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