Headteachers have voted to boycott SATS....

[deaddei]

but in RL what will that mean?
Will some schools not do them?

Actually, the number of children not achieving level 4 is around 14%.
But that doesn't mean they can't read, Beenbeta.

Save your 'disgracefuls' for hard facts.

BeenBeta the percentage has remained constant since the 1960s when you were having your termly exams which obviously didn't improve children's reading.

For someone so good at sitting exams, you're not too hot at answering questions, BeenBeta.

Blimey.
BeenBeta and I are of a similar age, and yes, I still have reports from primary school showing my exam results for that year.
But they were in all subjects- RE, History, Geography etc, not just English and Maths.
I am all for children having exams, but the phrase "being tested" is horrible- and sums up Sats.
I too am with LynnetteS- although it will be interesting to see if my ds's outstanding top of the league table school will boycott
Let's hope so.
Let's have end of term exams covering ALL subjects please.

I am a HT who voted in favour of boycott. All my children will go to High School with Teacher assessment that is a fair reflection of their current level. If the boycott happens, no-one will be in my office having full blown panic attack (last year) or getting a way off grade because they had a bad day. (every year) I can 'prove' their levels - just like we do for KS1. In practice, for my kids, we will stop the drilling of test technique and go back to proper interesting lessons - maybe even picking up on current issues of interest, like volcanoes or democracy. Learning will go on.

The important thing for parents to know is that no child will start secondary school without assessed levels. In our area schools are well aware of the work the children have put into preparing. Most schools are simply planning to give the tests to pupils a week later, self mark them and share the results with schools or parents without passing on results to relevant authorities. Obviously in this situation they are also happy for children to opt out of the tests, but are trying to take account of the fact that most children will be disappointed not to do them at this late stage. I personally think it's the best and fairest way.

Strawberrycake - opening the test boxes will cause HTs problems and is not allowed if you are boycotting, as far as I am aware.

Dwardle- you sound a lovely HT.
DD was predicted level 5 in science- got a 3. Went to pieces. DS is doing them this year...

Thanks! My point exactly.

Strawberrycake - don't use this year's tests, boxes have to remain intact to avoid separate maladministration hearings, according to NAHT.

Maybe we should do a bit of simple maths, that most year 6 kids will be able to do. Level 4 is the average result expected for a year 6 pupil. Now as everybody should know an average figure is the mean of all the answers added together and then divided by the number of answers. So it makes sense that if the average is level 4, that there must be those who achieve more than level 4 and those that achieve less than level 4. That is simple statistics.

What is simply not possible is for the government to say all pupils must reach a minimum of level 4 in year 6. It is not possible because we do have pupils who will never achieve even a mark on the P scales let alone a level 4. That is a fact of nature, just as there will be pupils who are pushing past level 5 in year 6.

There must be some measure of the child's progress which is not just about the teacher's thoughts on the pupil, that is some kind of formal test. It is the actions of the DCSF, the government, every media company and many parents in the need for league tables of schools that is the stupidity in the current situation, not the actual tests. Would you as a parent not be satisfied to know that your child is making progress at least in line with expectations? If so we do not need the league tables for schools, which is the real source of much of the anxiety of the tests.

Q: What is the percentage of children leaving primary school unable to read, BeenBeta?

A: None and plenty were on fee school meals.

Q: How many children were excluded from your village primary?

A: None, there was no where else to go.

Q: And please answer my previous question about the efficacy of SATs as a GCSE performance indicator compared to CATs.

A: I do not care what they call the exams. An exam is an exam and it needs to be rigorous and regular. The problem I have is teachers unions want to scrap SATs and replace them with nothing. They are against testing full stop - not just SATs.

Ah- well this was the plan around 3 weeks ago, but may have to change then, I've just seen that advice elsewhere. I don't know what we'll do to be honest, we have an acting Head (not paid as such, temporarily acting up) and acting deputy, obviously neither are in the NAHT but acting deputy is NUT. Both teachers are NUT.

BeenBeta-if the SATs go there will certainly be SOMETHING to replace them, APP or single level testing, or both. I personally as a yr 6 teacher would rather do SATs in terms of my own interests, far far less work. For the kids sake though I agree SATs don't work.

deaddei - I want exams in all subjects too at Primary school. Just like I had.

I say again that it is clear to me that teachers unions want to see no testing at all. Makes life easy and teachers unaccountable. I want them accountable like everyone else is in their job.

"Q: What is the percentage of children leaving primary school unable to read, BeenBeta?

A: None and plenty were on fee school meals."

Tethersend quite clearly asked you what is the percentage, Beenbeta.

BeenBeta do you honestly believe that we don't "test" our children?

I had no exams at primary apart from 11+ and, AFAIK, no child left unable to read.

lol at BeenBeta's complete lack of understanding of the vast and complex subject of assessment and monitoring in schools against her/his absolute certainty of her/his posts being gospel and unrefutable.

I love it when people appoint themselves as educational experts because they themselves went to school a gazillion years ago.

I rather think that parents should take some blame if their children are unable to read by the time they leave primary school. A parent really ought to notice. Exams won't change that.

The writing SATs test shows what a child can do on a particular day in one particular genre at one particular time. My assessment folder shows what the same child can do over a sustained period, covering a range of genres, styles and topics. I know which is the more accurate, clearly BeenBeta knows better!

I don't agree with SATs tests the way they are currently run, and I would much prefer everything to be based on Teacher Assessments, (which could be moderated in some way by some national sampling method).

But at this stage in the game I think it is wrong and unfair to pull the rug out from under the children as it were. ds2 is in yr6 and has been working towards KS2 SATs for the whole of his time in school, and particularly this year there has been a big build up. He will actually be quite disappointed not to take them and not to get a chance to demonstrate how hard he has worked. I think a lot of his classmates will feel the same.

Beta - in my secondary school we assess every class every half term. A proper summative assessment. The result of the assessment is sent home to parents in a short report along with grades for effort, homework etc. I assess far more often than I was assessed as a child. Far more often.

Kids have not changed much since I went to school but the UK consistently falls in the PISA rankings.

This stuff matters for our internatonal competitiveness. Sorry but we need to stop being PC about this. We need rigour, we need testing.

Beta Beta. Your in school tests were a whole different thing.
SATs tend to be worked towards, so my DD is sitting test papers just about every week. This is on top of other assessments.
In secondary schools they think the tests are not worth much, as some schools send almost everybody with 5s, and others only manage 4s, but on retesting in September they score very differently "it is as if some have forgotten everything over the summer".

Teachers on the whole do not (should not) invigilate exams, therefore if they go on strike during A'levels or GCSE it doesn't stop them.

This industrial action, if it happens will involve only headteachers/deputy heads. They just refuse to open the exams or do the administration. If the government can find someone else to do this the exams can go ahead anyhow.

I was thrilled when KS3 SATs went, and KS1, I am very sad these stupid ones are still happening.