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Original poster

So here we are- KS2 SATS Week...

849 replies

ampere · 14/05/2012 08:15

Feeling more nervous than DS2!

He's 'borderline', particularly in Literacy. He'll be so happy if he gets a 4 (as will I!) so off he went just now with me offering my last minute bon mots ('Read carefully! Most of the answers are in the text! If it doesn't make sense, you've not read it properly' etc).

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Katryn · 17/05/2012 15:23

My son has been doing practice papers non stop since Spring half term, and says school has become very boring. Before that he was doing 11+ so a very stressed year. He is also having to sit the Level 6 Sats papers, for which they have had no practice at all. The Sats seem to be about cramming the kids in the last few weeks, and all to make the school look good. I don't mind, as DS loves his school, but he curriculum becomes very limiting. The Year 6 Teacher said that too, she's fed up with it.

Iamnotminterested · 17/05/2012 15:59

Well, she's survived and swears bling that she finished AND had time to check her answers.

Hmm
Iamnotminterested · 17/05/2012 15:59

Maybe I should check my postings!!

She swears BLIND. He he.

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 17/05/2012 16:01

The thing is, if you can understand the logic, you have a calculator to do the number crunching, so it shouldn't take too long if you can understand the logic.

Voidka · 17/05/2012 16:07

DS seems upset with himself as he was totally thrown by one question, which was about Double J being half of K (?).

startail · 17/05/2012 16:18

DD2's Verdict is OK up to question 21, the last 4 questions were evil.

She doesn't know if she got them right, but the was enough time to finish.
(she's L5, but probably only 4th best at maths. literacy is her thing.)

She wasn't impressed with the reading paper for putting long questions in the middle. She didn't finish it and she normally gets close on 100% when practising.

bizzey · 17/05/2012 16:20

Ellen Glad you are ok ,and thanks for the info that we have been waiting all afternoon for while you went shoppingGrin

Ds seems to think it went ok..tricky but good ffunConfused. I had to let him read Ellens thread before he could remember any of the questions because he said he was shattered due to fantastic P.E session afterwards !!!! First one in fresh air I think !!!1

seahorse my ds doesn't like using calculators either...he says it is quicker withoutConfused

bizzey · 17/05/2012 16:22

OHHHHH my cross through didn't work !!!!

Bletchley · 17/05/2012 16:22

Well DS2 seems to think it was fine. He spent the afternoon going through a paper which turns out to be last year's level 6 paper, on which he got 42/50, the threshold being 25/50. So he's pretty solid and it appears I have been underestimating him for a while

simbo · 17/05/2012 16:38

My ds is really upset because he just could't get the questions at all, and when the teacher went through them he had mainly wrong answers. He said there were no boxes for workings, so he couldn't show them and pick up marks that way.

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 17/05/2012 16:39

Oh yes, if double J = half of K put in a number for J and a number for K that work. Nasty. In other words 2J = K/2, so 4J = K. So if J = 2, K = 8.

simbo · 17/05/2012 16:41

So he'll be lucky to scrape a 5c. Can we duck out of the L6 paper do you think?

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 17/05/2012 16:43

They only put boxes for workings on 2 mark questions where you may get 1 mark for your workings even if the answer is wrong, and they were nearly all 1 mark questions. I suppose the workings could often be done on the calculator. It was all the inverse type questions that stumped our lot.

KOKOagainandagain · 17/05/2012 16:49

DS is not home yet but will be in a state over the no boxes thing. The poor sod is clingling to the false belief of some half-heard, half-understood comment of his teacher that is didn't really matter whether or not the answer was right as long as you showed the bizarre way you reached your wrong answer and so can get marks that way! So to his mind he has scored well despite getting the answers wrong. Where do I start?

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 17/05/2012 16:56

I've marked a 'few' practice papers this year. The mark schemes are quite mean. In a question for example, where you have to add up three prices, then take them away from a £10 note to get the change, you can only make a mistake in the last subtraction calculation to get the 1 mark. If you make a mistake in the first addition, even though the method is correct, and that mistake is carried through, you often won't get the mark. Sad

KOKOagainandagain · 17/05/2012 16:57

Sorry - crossed with Ellen

Perhaps I should add that I know that a mark maybe awarded for workings that demonstrate the correct method or logic - I am talking about idiosyncratic 'ingenious' workarounds to being unable to subtract that do not demonstrate logic as we know it!

simbo · 17/05/2012 16:57

I think we'll just draw a line under the whole thing and forget it as best we can. I just wish the teachers wouldn't go through the papers afterwards. He said he thought he'd got them all right on that basis yesterday, but she only went through a few questions. Today she went through it all. She must have been able to see that some children were getting upset but just carried on.

My ds said that some questions just didn't make sense to him at all and asked to have them read. He's in the top 3 in his class, too. Obviously having an off day.

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 17/05/2012 16:58

Crossed again, KOKO? Grin

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 17/05/2012 17:01

They go through them with the DC? Shock That's just plain mean. Nothing they can do about it now! We go through practice papers with them because it is still a learning exercise, but the actual SATs themselves should just be forgotten, I reckon. Not by us desperately nosy parents of course

23balloons · 17/05/2012 17:01

I have been following for a few days. Ds thought the english papers were hard and boring, yesterdays's maths were easy but todays was harder.

He had a good way of working out the marbles one which seemed simple when he explained it. He took 2 + 5+2 away from 30, divided the ans by 3 =7 then added the 2 & 5+2 on.

I hope he has done well on maths as it has always been his best subject, his calculator was playing up today but he didn't ask for another. I suppose we will find out in July? He wasn't entered for L6 even though he has been a solid L5 for a couple of years, all the 11+ kids were entered though.

simbo · 17/05/2012 17:08

I'm really annoyed that she went through the paper afterwards. If he had come home and said that he didn't think he'd done very well, I could have said that we should wait and see. Now he knows for sure that he has done badly he is really demoralised.

simbo · 17/05/2012 17:10

Reckon I should have a rant tomorrow?

choccyp1g · 17/05/2012 17:11

23Balloons, do you mean all the kids who have passed the 11 plus?

Maybe your school is thinking that the grammer school will be full of level 5s so they to see which ones can do l6 to put the kids in sets.

Or perhaps it is a case of some parents pushed for it.

choccyp1g · 17/05/2012 17:12

grammer ???? I think i mean Grammar.

bizzey · 17/05/2012 17:13

THEY WENT THROUGH THE PAPER Shock

Ihave just asked ds and his answer was noooooo (teenager voice) they are not allowed..they went straight in an envelope....as if i am the most stupidist mother for even asking it !!!!!!!!!!!