DO you discuss SATs levels with your DCs(Y2)

[thebird]

DD1 had her report today. She has done really well and got 2a's overall. However she struggles a lot with her confidence and her report mentions that this is something holding her back.

I have prasied her lots for her great report but have not mentioned SATs levels as I dont want her comparing with her best friends (most of whom are I know will be level 3's) as again this will knock her confidence. As SATs are vert low key in their school I am hoping this will be the trend but we shalll see on Monday morning!

no. She wouldn't have a clue what we were talking about, for which I'm very grateful! I'm also grateful that the children in dd's class (also Y2) don't seem to compete over academic success (if it can be called that at this age), or too much else for that matter. Long may it last.

Hope the whole SATs thing stays low key for your dd too!

Umm just concerned as you know what some girls are like and they are quite competitive. If their parents explained 'oh you got a level 3 and thats higher than a 2' blah blah it would be awful for some DCs. But like you say hopefully this will not be the case but theres always one who likes to brag!

I haven't told DD. I told her she had done well and we were proud of her but if only she had completed her work and concentrated she would have done so much better! I would tell her as her two best friends are both quite competitive and one of them especially is uber competitive and uber intelligent and I think she would want to know if thy talked about it! Don't want to put DD through that so haven't told her!

I have not told my ds any marks. Just that I am very proud and he has been good and workd well this year. I do not let him see his report.

I've always discussed it from the POV that the government need to check that the teachers are teaching the right things the right way It's a test for the teachers, not the children.

I read the report out loud including the SATs levels. It never occurred to me that the children would compare.

These are teacher assessment levels, not SAT test levels. They pinpoint where a child is working at in the curriculum, and inform the teacher what to teach next. They are very much about the child, in that sense, just like any other point in primary school.

No - we read the written report bit about how she'd done and then looked at the levels later on our own. She wouldn't understand any of it as the tests were called quizzes when they did them - she has no idea she has sat SATs :)

Yup. We read his report together. LIke swash it didn't occur to me that the kids would compare - after all, it's not like it's something important like Match Attax or GoGos

Yes, I talked about levels with Y2 DS.

I didn't use to discuss them at all, but then spent much more time in the coal mines of levelling and target setting in KS3. As I imagine they also do in KS2, the pupils there assess themselves against the levelling criteria before and after starting a new unit, are expected to know their levels and - most importantly - have concrete knowledge of exactly what they need to do in order to progress. Why shouldn't DS? He hearts targets.

I'm aware that there is something curiously (and maybe distastefully) business like about this kind of approach to the curriculum, but it's far better than the kind of nebulous, 'feels like an A to me' English marking that used to hold sway.

We read DD's YR2 report together, and talked with her about all the comments, and her Y2 SATS scores.

She is aware of what the scores mean in terms of her own performance.

We never made a huge deal of how she had done, but did talk about where she felt she had done well, and how she could improve her work next year.

As for kids comparing and discussing scores -I honestly don't think in Y2 that is an issue, perhaps in Y6.

And anyway, kids are already pretty aware of who is good at what, be it school work, sports or dance, or who is best at being funny!

mankyscotslass - I know for a fact that there will be discussing and comparison of scores in the year 2 playground, by the kids, hence I will not tell my DD what levels she is at. One precociouschild in particular (who has got pushy supportive parents) I suspect will get 3's in everything and will make damn sure that everyone knows it. Sad but true.

my dd read her report herself and they state the average grade so there's no hiding it

I praised her more for her effort score which was A, think that's more important

Just to add, we did read her report together and I think the teacher comments and next steps for learning are far more relevant to a 7 year-old than numbers on a page.

DD has just finished year 1, but we get levels for everything on the report - even P.E.!

We talked about all of the teacher comments, which were lovely, and she knows the overall grade that she got for effort and for achievement, and she knows that she is "exceeding expectations". However, we didn't discuss the levels. Although these were very good, I just don't think a six year old should need to think about that sort of stuff!

We read the report together. She find't remark on the levels and neither did I. DS is in year 5 and seems to know the levels of everyone in his class anyway.

I've always let my children read their reports (as they are mumsnet children they could read them from reception onwards ) because it's information about them that I think they are entitled to - education is a partnership.

However, I have always emphasized that the stuff about being helpful and a good friend and trying hard and paying attention is much more important than anything else. And the bit where the teacher finds yet another way of saying "This child would do much better if it shut up and listened for 5 minutes" is also more important than anything else. This year, incidentally, it is "His leadership skills are very clear to see although he continually needs to temper his desire to have the last word"

Absolutely - yes!

My ds had absolutely no idea about SATS until I told him about his report. But he has worked very hard this year (as has his teacher) and has consequently done considerably better than I would have anticipated a year ago. I wanted him to have an idea of how worthwhile all that effort has been.

And I want him to be competitive! Competition was my main motivational force at school. The high I got from getting a good test score and coming home and telling my Dad made me always work my arse off. My parents never told me to work, do my homework etc. They just jumped up excitedly when I did well!

"And I want him to be competitive!"

Just so long as the competition is with himself, or at at least, only within his set, and not the poor brat who sits next to him who, no matter how hard he works will never do as well

I told my dd, she worked really hard and achieved 3's in everything. Why would I not praise her and celebrate her achievements.

How do you compete with yourself?

Being competitive doesn't have to mean publicly showing off about how brilliant you are, btw. Modesty is an equally important lesson.

Can't see the fun in competing with someone considerably less able than yourself either. For example, I don't imagine Andy Murray would particularly enjoy a game of tennis against me!

Sort of OP, I talked about the SAT results in a qualitative way (average, above average, terms I had to explain to DS) but I didn't tell him the specific numbers. I wonder if that's a way to help your DD?

It came up with DC3 the other night, because he was suddenly saying how rubbish he was at school (this probably is due to him being TOO competitive, I would be quite happy if he were less competitive, being so competitive creates way too many problems for him and us). Talking about the SAT results was useful for persuading him that he is doing fine at school compared to his peers.

Don't remember talking them thru in any way with DC1-DC2, no need?!

Mrsmipp, I'm not convinced that it's healthy to be too competitive. I always remember one of my classmates at school - she was very bright and worked hard, but never seemed satisfied with her results because she wanted to be "top". No matter how well she did, her first question was always "what did magicmummy get?"

I can't see that this habit of constantly looking over your shoulder leads to happiness - or even to better results. I was taught to compete with myself and this was motivation enough for me. Surely we want our DCs to take pleasure in their achievements, rather than to constantly compare themselves with other people.

"How do you compete with yourself? hmm

Being competitive doesn't have to mean publicly showing off about how brilliant you are, btw. Modesty is an equally important lesson.

Can't see the fun in competing with someone considerably less able than yourself either. For example, I don't imagine Andy Murray would particularly enjoy a game of tennis against me! grin"

How do you compete against yourself? Easily. For example. my ds was determined to get a level 5 in maths at the end of this year. It was a tough ask - he would have had to go up 3 sublevels. He missed his target by 2 marks, so now is determined to be a level 5 by half term next and has told his year 6 teacher that's what he wants to do.

And if you don';t see the fun in competing against somebody much less able than yourself, then you haven't met some of the super-competitive children I know!