Upcoming SATS and constant testing of children

[cantfindamnnickname]

DS is 11 in year 6 - for the last half of last term and this term and presumably until the SATS the teacher is constantly giving them SATS papers to do, they are literally doing 2 or 3 tests every day and the pressure is immense.

I am not impressed and think its ridiculous - I have raised this issue with the Head and she agrees that its not the way to do it - she has only been there since January however and is making lots of changes to the school so I think she is reluctant to challenge this at the moment.

I do not want DS under this much pressure - is there any guidance from Ofsted about SATS or best practice so that i can go to head and force her to deal with the issue now?

My DC went to an outstanding primary. They are 17 and 13 now. DS left at the end of Y4 - he was at L5 then. DD left at the end of Y6 with a solid set of L5's and academically has gone from strength to strength. Neither of them worried for a minute about SATs and neither did we. Huge numbers of children at the school did exceptionally well. This was because they were well taught from reception and well supported, on the whole, at home. Don't recall any pressur at all or much in the way of practice papers either. SATs imo test the school, not the child.

I work in a small rural primary school. I have 9 yr6 children in my class, ( a mixture of years 4,5 and 6). So each of the children represents more than 10% in our statistics. Regardless of special needs or any other situations, if 6 of the children achieve level 4 or above we will just reach our floor target and will be rated good, if one less child achieves level 4 we risk being graded satisfactory or worse and could be put into special measures. This kind of madness is why teachers can't help but put children under pressure to achieve. I am not saying it is right but until we stop this madness and start setting more realistic targets the pressure will be passed on.

I am tutoring a Year 10 boy at the moment, trying to undo the damage that KS2 tests did to his confidence in English. His parents say it's taken this long for him to have the courage to take part in English sessions. Dreadful shame - he's A grade material.

The Y6 SATs was pretty much the only thing DS's school did well - I dread to think what the kids would have learned otherwise as the school had a very, errr, laid back attitude to teaching.

I wish DS school was nice enough to let us know when the children are having tests, to provide homework to practice before the tests, and in general I am grateful SATS are there... the darn school is so laid back they would be happy to let him go all the way to year 7 without noticing he couldn't even write 'family' at 8 just for the sake of not upsetting or stressing him out.

Actually, DS was so laid back with the last SATS that, as he was told not to worry as they were not important... he didn't complete half of the tests. Obviously, he was quite upset and shocked when it was 'revealed" that actually, the tests do count... He came back home angry with himself and saying the teacher was a liar

I do think that the school was unfair because whatever their opinion of SATs is it is their job to ensure that the children are prepared for the tests and can do their best so they don't feel cheated. The tests are a measurement of a schools success but lower SATs results can be a sign that there are issues in the school that need to be addressed. I don't agree with teaching to the test but there is so much emphasis on the results that it is almost a necessary evil.

"our children are the most heavily-tested in Europe and yet so many countries are doing so much better..."

I very much doubt it... I am only familiar with the system of two European countries, and unless they have simplified primary education greatly in recent years, the children get far more tests, far more homework and definitively spend more hours in school (8:30 to 5:30 school day anyone?)

Having said that... DS previous school used to sent him with 2 reading books and spelling lists every night (in reception). Current school (also in the UK) sends him home with... nothing. No practice at home whatsoever, apparently it is not necessary or advisable even when the school has far more children and a shorter school day. TBH the results speak for themselves...

ps. both schools are based in the UK and have respectable Ofsted reports. My point is that it is not that one country may have better education than the other... THere are bad and good schools everywhere.

I think that testing children to allow authorities and parents to see how well a school/ children are doing is wrong. Personally I don't credit much of the criteria used by ofsted neither. I think that testing children is a normal part of every childs education and has been as far as I can remember and is useful for streaming along with ongoing assessment.
People who complain there is too much testing need to realise we had the same, but not necessarily labelled. Last year infant before going into juniors, end of juniors before high school. End of 3rd year (y9) before O' levels/ cse's and of course cse/O level themselves. Now we have names for them sats, ks 1,2,3 etc.

""our children are the most heavily-tested in Europe"

This is just not true. I only know about France, but children are tested far more often there.

It's not the tests that are the problem, it's the league tables.

Trouble is, it's the league tables that people are looking at when they come on her and talk about "crap" schools. Very depressing.

Interesting thread. Makes me feel glad I took DD out of Y4 last year to home educate.

Then, ooi, why are you trawling through a thread about SATS, NonAtemia? If you have walked away from the Terrible System?

I am sick to death of them. DD has had at least one and normally two practice papers a day and had one of her two PE lessons cancelled each week until they are over.

ampere

To be fair, this is the first time I've been properly pissed off with school in 7 years. Ditto ds, I think.

KS1 SATs came and went without ds even noticing.

ampere am I not allowed to have an interest in what goes on in schools and education then, just because my child isn't currently in school? I expect I shouldn't read the TES forum either then?

I didn't say anything about a Terrible System either, did I - I'm afraid you seem to be projecting rather a lot.

I use past SAT papers as a teaching resource sometimes, I find them useful for gauging a level to aim at. Would I want my child put under intense pressure and drilled with several papers a day all through yr 6? God no.

noble-your wrong, higher sets will sit paper where they can get A-D - but no lower, Mid sets will sit paper for C-E grade but not be able to get higher or lower, bottom sets will sit D-F paper.
A mid-set pupil could well be encouraged into a B grade but will not be given the oppotunity as it is a safer bet to secure a C grade.

'Would I want my child put under intense pressure and drilled with several papers a day all through yr 6? God no.'

NonAtemia - I think you did say something about the 'terrible system' even if you didn't use those 2 words.

For a lot of schools there isn't the intense pressure and no drilling. It really is no big deal for some children and if there had been any hint of drilling and extra homework I would have resisted that as much as possible as a parent.

I think it is also dangerous to assume that the SATs count for nothing. They certainly counted for my DS. He was streamed based on his results and Yr 6 teacher assessments (which gave the same results). The CAT tests were the irrelevant ones. As far as I can see their sole purpose is to work out where he might be in 5 years time when he does his GCSE which as his form tutor says is just wild speculation at the moment.

nonastemia- do you not think that schools find past SATS papers useful as a level to aim at, too? Your one-liner about how glad you are that you've pulled your DC out of the system to homeschool having just read 3 pages of discussion about SATS seems to imply that SATS can only bring about stress, upset and anxiety, no acknowledgement that they can also be a useful measure of a DC's acheivement. There was a hint of 'smug' about it that I rose to.

You seem to want it both ways.

As I stated in the early part of this discussion, I am pro-SATS but anti league table publication.

The issues to me are: that there was a time not so very long ago when it was perfectly possible to pass from ages 4-16 in school with only one official test to your name, a failed 11+; and the sad reality that every day life is stressful and potentially anxiety producing. We do our DCs no favours by endlessly 'protecting' them from this reality- note the DC who was pissed off when he discovered that the tests do matter and he'd fluffed them by not being put under any pressure!

Year 6 dd had a paper for each subject to do over Easter, mocks before Easter, and they're doing a paper, or a bit of a paper, most days at the moment I think. It doesn't seem to be too traumatic and to be fair her maths has gone up two sub-levels since Christmas, so must be working!

What this school does have, though, is the shadow of the Level 6 Paper, which is causing some consternation amongst those who are and are not sitting it in both subjects!

In year 6, about to gO to secondary school- don't you think children of that age need to get used to doing past papers, revising for test etc? They will have to do all that next year won't they?

IMHO sats are a good thing, but even if you don't agree, they are going to happen, wouldn't you rather they were prepared and went to secondary school with the best sats results they are capable of?

TheOriginal, I remember the drama that bloody level 6 paper caused, it was ridiculous, it was all anyone talked about for months- who is doing it, who isn't, why isn't x doing it and y is? It was awful

The problem is that I don't really see what the alternative is to SATs.

I am really surprised at some of the intensive practice on here, particularly in Year 2 when it's all teacher assessment so no need to prep for a test on a particular day.

Fortunately my DCs' school isn't like that. As far as I can see, in Y6 they have done one of each paper as a practice at the start of each new half term at school. They still only get one piece of numeracy and literacy homework every week. Over the Easter holidays they were given a pack of half a dozen maths worksheets, and half of the year group got some extra Level 6 maths topic sheets (they set for literacy and numeracy across the two-form year group, so the whole upper group is doing the Level 6 papers in the relevant subjects). They haven't ever brought home a practice SATs paper and I've only seen a SATs paper in my work as a governor, never as a parent.

There isn't really anything to revise, is there? If they've been well taught, it's what they've been learning for the last 7 years.

The children are also used to doing optional SATs in the other year groups, as well as NFER (or whatever they're now called) tests at the start of the year.