How important are year 6 sats

[spicyorange]

Thats it really how important are they? Do you have to let your child take them or can you request that they dont.

You can't withdraw your child, and can be fined for unauthorised absence. My kids would be cross if not there as they get, bananas, extra play time and lots of fun activities for the rest of day.
It is very important for the school. It shouldn't be so important for your child. But some schools do use it for setting or streaming. Also if my son had got his level 4 in English there would have been less funding for him in secondary.

Make sure you tell your child that it is a test of the school, not them.

You have to let your child take them - they are a legal requirement.

You can 'choose' to phone in sick for them for a week - but that sends the wrong message to dcs, and also loses the school a chunk in the league tables percentages, which isn't really fair, particularly if you looked at the league table position when choosing the school in the first place.

The tests are a snapshot of how your child is working on that day - some secondary schools use them to set children, some schools take more account of the teacher assessment which is also given and has 50% equal weighting, and some ignore them all together and do their own CAT tests.

They're a snapshot in the same way as a GCSE is a snapshot. They are in fact the culmination of an intensive period of preparation, IME. You child's targets in secondary school will be based on them.

Thankyou for the replys i wouldnt keep dd off for them just was more wondering if they had anything to do with going up to senior school.

They've already done mock SATs, they're used to sitting tests.

What would you gain by doing all the preperation and then not sitting the tests?

Their levels will form part of thir school record. They may or may not be used by senior school to stream - but they will be used to set target grades for the end of KS3 and GCSEs.

Quite frankly, my lot love tests! We've done our first practice SATs this week and they all wanted to do more! I had to dig some old papers out to have another go for some. The maths in particular are very popular, I have two boys who do tests when they need to calm down or are feeling stressed!

Some senior schools use them for initial setting in some subjects. My DCs for example were setted for maths in Y7 based on their Y6 SATs results as the school decided the maths scores are reliable. The school said they didn't bother for English or science as the results were affected too much be some schools "cramming" in Y6. Results will in all probability be used to set targets for the end of KS3.

They are used to set targets right through to A level.

Hi spicyorange

I've posted elsewhere on this in a bit of a rant so I'll keep this brief.

1 - this is a snapshot of your child's reading/ writing, maths & science ability in Y6.

2 - some schools spend a great amount of time preparing for the test and others don't.

3 - the pressure for schools is they are judged in league tables largely on the basis of these results.

4 - as tax payers are funding education of the next generation (regardless of whether they have children or not) the government is obliged to establish that education has been going on, so this standardised test is a means of establishing that children are being educated to a minimum standard.

5 - do secondary schools set children based on these exam results? Yes, initially, but you will also find that during Y7 your DC will be tested repeatedly to establish where s/he is at and ensure s/he in the proper sets. A good secondary school should be attempting to place students in the appropriate ability group and continuously monitoring their progress and adjusting accordingly. So ideally this is just an initial placement, and it shouldn't be 'for life' in secondary school. However, given that it will set the tone for how things start - it does mean that you should encourage your child to treat KS2 SATs seriously and do their best.

6 - Do you need to study for them. My feeling is no. This isn't the 11+. This is an exam that establishes that if your primary school was doing their job right your DC should attain a 4b or better, unless there is some mitigating circumstance (illness, special needs, etc...).

HTH

For our secondary a bit of gentle revision is wise for DCs capable of getting level 5 to be sure they do get it.

Competition for the top set is pretty tough despite being on the very edge of a grammar school area.

A good first impression goes a long way.

DD1 is dyslexic, she is good at real maths less so at the tables and quick mental stuff needed for SATs. It's taken to Y9 to get from set 3 where she should never have been to the top of set 2.

I would say not so important for you/your child but important for the schools.

Primary schools put a load of emphasis on year 6 SATS, but as a parent I wouldn't add to that.

Although secondaries will use primary SAT results for initial setting and targets, they also retest and re-set so it won't determine the course of your child's school lives.

Secondary schools don't/shouldn't use test results to comparatively
restrict access to the top sets in the way that the 11+ does. They do not have a fixed number of top set places for which all children are competing - rather they are trying to match the teaching level/speed to the needs of the kids they have.

I did notice key stage 2 grades in maths english and science still appear in one corner of DS latest progress report.......He's in year 10 so I don't think they are of any interest now.

Thankyou for al your replys its made me understand what they are for.

Pastsellbydate thankyou that is good information my dd will not come near a 4b at all we just want to reassure her that as long as she tries her best thats fine.

DD received a set of low 4s in her year six SATs 5 years ago - just received March AS results: 2 100/100 UMSs and a 90/100 UMs in tough subjects (Maths, Philosophy and Further Maths).

They're important but they don't define a child. ;)

But sadly the SATS may define the teachers' expectations of the child. I teach secondary - I'm given a print out at the beginning of the year with what grades my new students should be getting (based on Year 6 SATS). I have to mark and report accordingly. So two of my Year 7s may get the exact same grade, but one might get a house point and loads of praise and the other might be told how disappointing it was and that they need to do better. It only works if the targets are bang on for each child so IMO the SATS NEED to be a snapshot; the kids I get who have been 'coached' too much sometimes end up with unattainable targets and end up demotivated, and the ones who perhaps weren't prepared enough or panicked on SATS day might be underestimated from day 1. Of course I get to know them and know what they need and can do, but my opinion will NEVER change the targets on that spreadsheet.

IME, it quite often doesn't work. Sorry to be negative but the data-driven system just depresses me. Just support your DD through it (I'm sure you were going to anyway!); she can only do her best

IHeart - also, your 2 kids with identical grades - the one below target may be invited to a booster group (near GCSEs), whereas the one above target will just be told how wonderful he is :)

You could simply take the practical approach, school places are well set, kids have outgrown the school since at least Christmas in year 6. It is not a leagal requirement if a child is not on the Roll of a state funded primary.

You can home school for the rest of the year, DC will learn deeper and wider than school daily SATs test practice. Good senior schools ignore the SATS anyway, state funded ones have to note them down, but are fine for intake who do not come from state junior schools and therefore do not have a SATs grade. They make top sets in the top schools despite their mysterious provenance [in case you're being spun the lie they are setted on SATs].

If your judgement as a parent that the hassle possibly bordering on abuse that 10/11 year olds get from a desperate HT is the slightest bit negative, why hesitate? Send the home schooling letter to the HT, and your child could have the best primary school experience in their life between now and year 7. Think lessons in the park, by the seaside, child hassling you to explore some new topic on the long long list of things that school may have neither imagination, inclination nor capability of covering. There are 5 incredible months April to August before year 7 when you can strengthen their enthusiasm for education.

Despite some strange and unpleasant messages from HT, all our DCs have miraculously managed well academically and socially in each of the honey pot schools they went to, and expected to in their ancient uni east of London.

Primary HT was last seen approaching other ex-parent offering to tutor their now secondary child... despite her own DD parting company with her chosen school having not made the requisite sixth form entry grades. The EW officer was adamant that he would not be seeing us again, despite Governor/HT attempts to involve him in browbeating us into the SATs. Perhaps it was clear to him their educational welfare was safer in our hands than the school's?

It's not about sitting exams, most of us would do all possible to help a school, but sometimes people just don't know when to stop and seem to think 10/11 year olds are dumber than they are. HTH.

Nct - sounds like you had a bad experience with a primary school. And in your position I can totally see why you took your kids out.

However, your experience is not typical. Most schools don't waste Y6 on SATs practice. And my school is certainly teaching my kid more creatively than I ever could.

For example, my Y6 child has been on 3 very interesting trips in the last 2 weeks. 2 of which I couldn't do as a parent.

His D&T project is also well past the level I could do at home with him.

His social skills are improving every day. Again I couldn't teach him that at home.

He has a school camp c

So, your advice is good for a few schools. But don't generalise it. The vast majority of schools provide a far better education than your limited experience.

Nct - sounds like you had a bad experience with a primary school. And in your position I can totally see why you took your kids out.

However, your experience is not typical. Most schools don't waste Y6 on SATs practice. And my school is certainly teaching my kid more creatively than I ever could.

For example, my Y6 child has been on 3 very interesting trips in the last 2 weeks. 2 of which I couldn't do as a parent.

His D&T project is also well past the level I could do at home with him.

His social skills are improving every day. Again I couldn't teach him that at home.

He has a school camp coming up. And a school production. Neither experience can be recreated at home.

He's organising part of the Olympic themed sports day. He's got a maths topic he has to teach to the rest of the class. He's recently taught the class public speaking skills.

He's campaigned to change lunchtime eating arrangements.

So many things that can't be done at home.

Oh, and he's enjoyed every minute of it.

So, your advice is good for a few schools. But don't generalise it. The vast majority of schools provide a far better education than your limited experience.

Some of our Y6 pupils spent last week in Sicily the rest were in a forest with Thrills and Skills for Life

Dd's old primary school did practice SATS tests every week from January to May. When DD sat an entrance exam to a grammar school she sailed through it because she said it was far easier than the practice tests in class.

The problem is that the school is such a high achieveing primary school that it has made a rod for its own back and can't afford to let standards slip (more than 60% achieve level 5 in English and maths and last year no-on got less than a 4).

That's no excuse though - we regularly have level 5 figures well over 50%, yet manage to provide the broad and balanced curriculum which Y6 children are entitled to, with lots of trips and visits happening all the time.

Yes bunbaker, it was recently school of the year... and since there are apparently only four schools nationally where everyone gets levels 4+, it may even be the same one...

HT mentors other HTs, in addition to her daily SATs half days, so Indigo yours may be lucky enough to get a few tips from her. It is almost a normal school except for May year 5 until May year 6. High staff turnover though, for a school of the year.

We all have experiences to share, so perhaps generalisations should be avoided by readers.

mrz yes I can see a week in Sicily or a forest is comparable with five months in Italy, Dorset, India and Cumbria, learning how to build a generator, working with village schools, and more importantly the apparently miraculous senior school progress and welfare since.

We still bump into other parents who are supportive and openly envious of what we did. You may think you don't have the resources to home school, but invention comes naturally when it comes to your own children's welfare.

We think that our kids should see education as a positive and continual force in their lives, and frankly that got lost somewhere in the HT's ambition to win every prize going. We found out later from a member of the Governing Body that HT even spun the lie to them that we were not allowing DCs to sit any formal qualifications such as GCSEs or A levels! Other parents also report she has difficulty with the whole truth especially when it comes to the Governing Body, but perhaps that's another secret of 'success' to pass onto mentees.

spicyorange the answer to your question is after all, you have the choice as to whether they sit SATs, and will not get fined or criminalised for it. It's not a big deal, but if it's affecting your child, there are better ways to educate than let them experience bad faith.

nctoprotecttheweeones did I say it was?

The point is they aren't in school cramming in SAT practise after SAT practise they are learning and having fun and still achieving. So don't judge all schools in the country by your admittedly poor experience. Presumably you initially chose the school because of those same characteristics?

There is no way there's only 4 schools where everyone regularly gets 4+.

I'll have another look :) But I think last time I looked about 170 did last year?

And of course another very large number who don't exclude kids with severe SEN who regularly get very, very close.

Also HEing is one thing. But long trips to India and Italy? That's a serious amount of money you're talking. Unattainable to all but the very few. (I'm not short of money - but that's because I go to work to earn it....)