How important are Year 6 SATs?

[catsarenice]

DS is in yr 6 and SATs are obviously approaching. The school are going on and on about them so much and I know that they are important for their data. How important are they for the children? Every secondary school we looked at said they will look at the results but do CATs (think that's what they're called) within the first couple of weeks of term to determine what sets they will be in anyway.

Yep - I was shocked when I read the letter! Mine won't be going!!!

The school is OTT not all schools put this kind of focus on SAT preparation

Well, they are used as predictors of GCSE grades so I think they're quite important.

They also teach dc how to sit exams - how to focus on what needs to be done within a certain time, how to check their work, etc.

But secondary schools will run their own tests (often CAT tests) in Year 7 on new pupils. And a lot can change betwen Year 6 and GCSEs.

I frequently hear parents say that KS2 SATs are just to assess the primary schools and don't have an impact on the children. Parents hear this, like the sound of it, because it suggests the outcomes won't make any difference for their child and they can tell their children this, as a way to reduce the pressure on their kids.
And it has become something which is pervasive and many many parents seem to believe.

• the primary schools will be judged by the SATs received by KS2, in term so fit they meet floors which are set for schools. If less than a certain % achieve 'expected or above' the schools will be judged harshly.
• primary schools will be judged in terms of adding value against the KS1 results and whether those of high,middle and low attainment have made satisfactory progress from the points they started from at the end of KS1.
• secondary schools will be given computer generated targets for the kids entering their schools based purely on KS2 SATs and when inspected will be held to account for how they achieve against those targets.

-with this in mind, schools will be keen to help students achieve their targets. They will offer interventions to those looking as if they might underperform, but in times of limited resources, might not offer extra help to get to the top grades for those with less than stellar KS2 SAts.

• schools will use a variety of techniques for setting students in different subjects - or not setting them. They may well use SATs, especially in the early days when there's not much more info. They may also use CAT tests carried out at the start of Yr 7 or ongoing testing and observations of the children - and of course good schools move people up and down sets based on their performance. BUT, those SATs targets will always be borne in mind when making a decision and can never be ignored. AND if you start in a lower set because your SATS were low, it is harder to move up - you have to more than prove yourself top sets are often very large, so someone might need to move down before someone can move up, and despite schools moving students, it can only happen so many times a year and many schools don't do it very often.
• SATs will be borne in mind when offering GCSE choices - both numbers kids can take and the academic level of those - ie 3 separate sciences for the most able,morgen measured as those with highest targets based on KS2 SATs, the no of languages offered etc.

The KS2 SATs won't mean all children can't be taught well or given the opportunity to do well. Good schools will do well for low, middle and high achieving children and for those who are recognised in those categories by KS2 SATs performance and by their actual work. However, to say that KS2 SATs don't matter for an individual child just isn't true, as many posters who have had kids move in the last year or 2 to secondary will tell you.

There are all kinds of problems with living in this kind of system, which is so rigid and measurement based. It is the one we live in though.

So what to do?

• Don't pile on the pressure with KS2 children and terrify them about awful consequences of SATs results.
• Do encourage them to work hard and do their best and be honest that the results go forward to the next school.
• Do accept offers of extra help/intervention later in the year and go to parents evenings and ask about areas of strength and weakness.
• At secondary, do keep an eye on how things are going and if you need info about how your child is doing or why they are in the group they are, or if you think they are not receiving all the help and opportunities available and needed, speak up.

Why is it useful for the child for them to be a predictor for gcse results? I can see why that is important for the school data but not necessarily for the child or am I missing something and being a bit dim (it has been known!)?

Why is it useful for the child for them to be a predictor for gcse results?

Perhaps because if they're mucking around and not working you could show them the grades they're likely to get if they carry on like that;. You could point out the limitations of geting poor grades - being unable to get certain jobs, get onn courses, etc.

@ChocolateWombat you answered my question before it appeared!!

On one level, after a certain point, having GCSE targets IS useful for the students - some thing to aim for. Not useful for the students in Yr 7 or for their targets to be only based on KS2 SATs.

The point is, that they are not intended to be useful for students individually. They are for schools to be judged and to set flightpath projections into the future. However, these things then IMPACT on the students, because of the ways schools have to respond to the information and try to achieve the targets, whilst still providing for each child as their needs require.

So, on one level it's true that the SATs are for schools and for government. But the IMPACT of this is certainly on individuals, and there's no getting away from that.

I suppose I originally asked as I can really see the school freaking out at the moment and it is obviously for their data not that they are genuinely concerned for the childrens' gcse results!

If i were talking to children in Yr6 or to older students, I would always simply say that they must do their best, because doing their best and performing better, allows them to have more opportunities and choices than if they don't.
I would say that measurement and tests are a fact of life. There are SATs and GCSEs and A Levels and each one determines the choices you might get later on. If you do well, you will have more choices given to you at GCSE. Later on, if you work hard, you have more choices about which job you will do, but if you don't do your best and do less well than you might have, there may well be less choices available in terms of job etc.
In the end, they can't control how they perform, but they have got control over how hard they try and doing their own personal best. All children can aim for this.

I wish you were a teacher at dc school @ChocolateWombat - I've always explained to my dc that a good education gives you more choices. You're not guaranteed to do better in life because you have better grades but you get more keys to try more doors. But the school is putting so much pressure on and it really doesn't seem right for a 10 year old to be worrying about exams already.

Teachers and schools are judged by the progress their students make. If a student comes into my secondary school with brilliant SATs results then they must perform equally brilliantly at GCSE, because that’s their flightpagh. Lots of poor souls who have been hothoused through their SATs now have GCSE predictions of 7-9 and severe mental health issues because of the insane pressure that is put on them.
As a parent I would go along with SATs to a certain degree, but do not give in to the insane pressure that can build up. Let the SATs be a true reflection of what your child can do with a realistic amount of preparation.
If you agree with me there, you must also accept that your school’s progress measure might not be outstanding.
Parents want outstanding schools, but they are not aware of the price their children can be paying in an outstanding school.
Yes, it’s a mess!

Thank you wombat. and copy, such useful information and guidance.

What do you think you'll do about the Easter "crammer" catsarenice? Do you think you're DC will want to go to be with friends, or not be bothered? Does the school do other cramming, at lunch or after school? I'm interested now as I've got two years to get my head around it and my arguments in place.

The children tell me that the school do a fun activity such as ice skating after each exam. Something about that makes me uncomfortable but I might just be being a miserable so and so. I'd rather the children were well taught, well prepared and the tests were taken in their stride. It seems as if the school are trying too hard to make things unstressful . I hope the exams aren't all in a row, all that afternoon fun sounds exhausting to me, but then, see above re miserable.

Definitely NOT going in for the Easter holidays!!! I've looked up the timetable online and it looks like 4 full on days of testing and then nothing on the Friday. To be fair, my DC isn't too phased by tests which is a good thing but I really dislike the way the school is going about it. I know they have their targets to meet but I don't see why their stress should be projected into the children. I know the jump to secondary will be hard and the amount of homework stressful (especially if gets into the grammar) so I really think they should get to enjoy the last year of primary. I think there was less pressure when I did my GCSEs, A Levels and finals all put together!!!!!

cats re Easter. Four days of tests all at once sounds slightly bonkers to me. I can understand doing one test in school to show how it works, but 4 in the holidays?

Yes, I don't remember any external pressure for GCSE, A levels or Uni either. We did regular rests all through my secondary school, it was just normal to us. That was it he sort of school which would give most MNs a heart attack just to think about. But then a fair few of my classmates didn't do GCSEs, they got jobs instead.

Sorry not 4 tests in the hols - that's the actual SATs timetable

This is an old post but people looking for SATs info will find it. I dont think it's fair to say that if a child is not in the top sets then they arent hard working, focused or want to do well. Some children struggle but still try really hard to do the best of their ability. Just a thought

personally with regard to my DD they meant nothing at all, all the way through year 5 and 6 she was told she would fail her SATS, she had always struggles with maths, which i informed the school several times a year only to be told she is fine and on target, till we reached year 5 and told she is way way behind. Roll on sats and she passed by 1 point. fast forward to senior school, DD was in the bottom sets for maths, english and science, before the end of the first term she was moved up with messages from her teachers that she ill be in all the top set by end of year 7 beginning of year 8