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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Are your yr2's doing test papers in school?

65 replies

lovecheese · 11/04/2011 17:03

DD has done a paper called "The Spider Weaver" (?) recently; is it an old SAT paper or this years - in which case, eek.

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southernbelle77 · 12/04/2011 22:25

I have a copy of 'Spider Weaver'! DD hasn't done it, I just wanted to see what it was like! I got it off the Internet! DD will just be doing hers at school. Did think about giving it to her but reevaluated as she is only 6 and doesn't need that at home!

Feenie · 13/04/2011 07:22

Spider Weaver is yonks old - it's not 2007/2009.

seeker · 13/04/2011 07:31

It's not all teacher assessed so that there's something to moderate. IE - to check up on the teacher if necessary!

And maybe to give the children a low key introduction to sitting a test? No bad thing, IMHO. Please note my use of the term "low key" before people pile in on my abotu "exam stress"

mrz · 13/04/2011 07:31

You can get copies of old SAT papers on line but not the ones in current use 2007/2009

seeker · 13/04/2011 07:32

And so that the school have something tpo say to the parents who go on about "It's not fair if it's just teacehr assessment - Miss X doesn't like little Johnny"

And would therefore make herself look bad by deliberately marking him down!

Feenie · 13/04/2011 07:40

That's probably the perception, seeker, but in a actual fact a poor teacher will over rely on tests every time - the test is never the problem, since it's easy to administer. Thorough teacher assessment is more difficult and a lot more work. Some authorities won't even allow the test results into the moderation process - it's a case of yes, yes, but where's the rest of your evidence? The tests are such a narrow snapshot of a level - and certainly don't prove sound judgement on their own.

I'm not sure the low key introduction to a test is valid either, since Y2 teachers are at pains to make sure the booklets are as much like normal classroom activities as possible!

Feenie · 13/04/2011 07:43

But Ofsted and the LEA inspect and moderate the process - teacher assessment is getting very sophisticated in schools now. But you are right, seeker - it's about trust for teachers. It's possible to demand a second opinion from another doctor, but it's not something which happens as a matter of course. Yet teachers' judgements have to be proved over and over again.

Oblomov · 14/04/2011 15:21

Mrz, I have now had a look at a couple of the sat papers, e.g. Spiders web. , on-line. Just out of interest. Ds has weekly homework that is very similar.
But as you say, they are 2004, not the 2007/9 that is in current use.
Could you say a bit more about what the 2007/9 is like. I mean it isn't fundamentally different to the spiders web example, is it ?
Has 'that' much changed ?

mrz · 14/04/2011 17:18

The Level 3 reading booklet now incorporates both fiction and non fiction in a single booklet whereas the Spider weavers and Traditions from Africa were in two ... (I liked separate ones personally ... children not overwhelmed by quantity) but otherwise not much changes.

builder · 14/04/2011 17:24

I love the idea that a parent might prepare their children for year 2 sats. Why? What idiots!

(have the parents forgotton that Oxbridge don't ask for sats results)

pourmeanotherglass · 14/04/2011 17:43

builder - I was about to ask the same question - I thought Y2 sats were just used to give an idea of how they are getting on, and identify any children that need extra help. So all the work they do at school is preparing them in a way, there is no need for extra preparation.
My DD1 was in Y2 last year - I didn't really talk to her about Sats - I think they did a few papers the same week as the Y6 Sats - she came home saying they had been given some booklets to work through. Because no one (us or the teachers) had made a big deal about it, she quite enjoyed doing them. The only thing I did to prepare her, after she had told me she was going to be doing a literacy one the next day, was to remind her to use her best writing and spelling (as sometimes she tends to race through tasks)
My DD2 is in Y2 and hasn't mentioned these yet, but I think it normally happens next term.

mrz · 14/04/2011 17:46

All the work they do at any stage should be preparing them whether they are 7 or 11 or 14 or 16 ...

Oblomov · 14/04/2011 18:24

Thank you very much Mrsz.
Ds1 does not know anything about sats. I am assuming he has already been doing work, that is part of the 'assessment'. And he will have the actual paper, sometime in may, right ? But he has no idea. and I think that is, as we all agree, the way it should be.

Oblomov · 14/04/2011 18:26

Bldy sats. I'm sure I was out riding my bike, after school when I was 7.
Not sat doing bldy homework, writing a book report on a characters physical description and his personality.
I hate it. Hate it all. Its all wrong. God, they are only 7 !!

mrz · 14/04/2011 18:29

Actually my head and I said just those words after school today!

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