Year 2 sats. Do they have to answer in full sentences?

[Blowninonabreeze]

Dd1 is doing her sats next week. She's completely unaware, doesn't know what sats are. Teacher plans to introduce it as "special work" which is an approach I'm thrilled about and exactly how I'd want it to be....

However, out of interest, I had a look at an old sats paper online today, can anyone tell me if children have to answer in full sentences when answering questions in the reading papers?

I suspect if dd were asked "why should a dog's garden have a fence?" She'd answer " so it won't run away" but does she have to answer "The garden should have a fence so that the dog cannot run away" to obtain the full marks for that question?

I don't know for sure but on the basis that ...
... my DS didn't answer questions in sentences and did well on his KS1 reading paper
and
-it's a reading paper, not a writing paper

I would say that they didn't have to :)

No, that answer would be fine. I always encourage children to try and answer questions using a full sentence, but as long as she has enough correct information written down, it shouldn't be marked down.

The result that is reported is based on teacher assessment throughout the year anyway so even if they did mark her down it wouldn't make any difference.

Thank you both. Will continue with the lazy hands off approach then!

Oh right, is it sats week next week? The school has said nothing, which I like, but it is kind of good to know what they are up to.

Clay Davis, can you explain a little about how it is done then, if it is not based on the test done in may?

Thanks

KS1 tests can be administered at any time so there isn't any "SATs week"

KS2 Year 6 tests must be administered next week

I think timing of SATS in year two varies depending on school. We had an evening info session about it. They do various tests (I think at schools convenience) but overall mark is based on teacher assessment using test results as one guide. Teacher assessment needs to be evidence based eg work done in class might be marked as kept as evidence.

I think it might have changed since I quit teaching but I can tell you what I think I know.

The level reported to the LA and to parents at the end of the year is the teacher assessment level. This is based on evidence the teacher has of the NC level that the child is working at.

The tests can be sat anywhere between Sept and May and is used to back this up. Some schools use them in Sept to give a starting point, some use them in Jan to give a mid-point and use these results to see where children need to go next. There's no official 'KS1 sats week'. It's possible your child has already done them.

Ok, thanks. My older dd had a different yr2 teacher, and we knew about the sats, because they did zillions and zillions of them, so in comparison I am glad that this time it is more low key.