what will level 6 english sats involve

[kilmuir]

back from parents evening and teacher has said that they are hoping to put DD in for level 6 sats paper. I assume a comprehension piece

My dd did level 6 sats maths and english last year. She found the maths ok and got the level 6 but the english was really hard - she brought home a practise paper. It was so different from the level 3-5 one (I work in a primary school so I know what these are like). Yes, it involves reading and comprehension but much more in deph, and unless they're used to those types of questions, they wouldn't know how to answer properly.
However, the school will probably prepare your dd between now and May. My dd was only told just before the sats.

That's interesting Timetraveller. My DD is also likely to be entered for level 6 reading (got a 5A in Yr5). The Head has confirmed that some children will be sitting it and that they are shortly going to start coaching them. I know that last year it was a bit of a last minute decision to enter people, so hopefully that means they'll be better prepared this year. But in light of your comments, I'm watching this thread with added interest for any useful information about how to help her. I'm all for her having a decent goal to aim for, but she will definitely get knocked sideways if she's faced with something that she really struggles with. It's a fine balance between not being pushy just for the sake of it and helping her feel ready for the challenge.

It's good that they're going to be coached, and hopefully your dd will enjoy the challenge. My dd was told a couple of weeks before the sats, and brought home one english paper, that was all the preparation they got for English. I think she may have had more preparation for the maths, she brought home a few maths papers. But we didn't do anything extra at home.
She was actually a bit cross because they had to do the normal sats all week, then the following week, some of them had to do the level 6 sats as well - she thought was unfair having to do both!