Bloody SATS

[Ledkr]

I know they are important to schools but its madness at dds school. They've gone on and on at them a out it for months, extra homework, extra lessons and generally created a great deal of expectation and stress.
Poor dd gets migraines and they are currently rife due to her worry over sats. She thinks they will impact on her going to her already allocated secondary school.
Then yesterday she came out with a list her teacher had given them. Apparently it's bed early a d a good breakfast (preferably cooked) which obviously all children need everyday.
It seems ott to me but hey.
Anyone got any comparisons?

I think SATS are a complete waste of time and so unnecessary and stressful for the poor children. DD hasn't slept before midnight for e past three weeks (she already has sleep issues anyway).

She has decided to just sit there and not do the papers!! She said she might try a bit in English but defo not maths (she is already getting level 5's so it's not as though she needs to up her levels).

She hates pressure and I'm really worried about her. There seems to be more stress over SAYS than there does over GCSEs!!!

DDs school also said about breakfast.....dd never eats brekkie as she can't face it, even though I tempt her with lots of healthy options so hoping she doesn't flake out during the tests

She has decided to just sit there and not do the papers!! She said she might try a bit in English but defo not maths (she is already getting level 5's so it's not as though she needs to up her levels).

How can she already be getting 5s if she is going to sit there and not do the papers?

I can't quite believe you seem to be posting that with some glee, btw.

No I m posting it glee, just saying what she has said.
What I mean is, I can't do anything about it.....I can't sit there with her tomorrow and make her write it.

She is cross about doing them and tells us she isn't going to do them.

Fom out point of view, if she does nothing, it doesn't matter. She is working at level 5 in maths and 5/6 in English so what I meant is, we know she usually works hard so it's not the end of the world from our point of view. Of course, the school would be annoyed if she didn't fill them in (and I'm sure she will do them and is just being hissy with us) but as they are only for the benefit of the school in reality, we won't tell her off if she did decide to just sit there.

idontknowhow This makes me SO angry

How DARE the Head threaten the children like that!

Of course no-one wants their child to be singled out by not doing them, but I would be seriously interested in starting a campaign to boycott. Funnily enough, there was a letter in The Sunday Times today suggesting such.

That should have said NOT posting it with glee

She may be working at level 5 but the level that will be officially recorded and passed onto her next school will not be level 5.

idontknowhow I would make a formal complaint if the HT said that! Not entirely sure the governors would be happy with him saying that! If a child is sick, then they cannot make them go to school!!

Yeah, stuff the school - they've only spent 7 years getting her to those level 5/6s after all. So what if they are now 4% or whatever down before they even start?

She is in a middle school so not moving up in September.

Utterly, utterly pointless. No matter how much teachers say they are hardly doing any work towards them and 'it's no big deal' and 'we deliver a rounded curriculum' blah, blah, blah, they know their schools stand or fall on these results as parents and Ofsted place value on them.

But what is the benefit to children? None.

And so what if a level is not formally 'recorded' by taking SATs, surely any decent secondary school can sort out a child's level for itself.

Or are you saying secondary school teachers are truly so stupid and its a case of 'computer says no' so we can't possible stream or teach this child for the next 6 years because they didn't have a formally recorded level for KS2 SATs to plot our data.

It's all bollocks. Take an arbitrary point - test a child and then as long as they follow a linear path along said arbitrary data graph, job is done. It is fundamentally flawed because it rests on an assumption that tests at 7 or 11 reveal ability or capacity to perform at 16. Based on what evidence??

feenie I wouldn't have said the schools have spent 7yrs 'getting' her to that level......she has never really tried to get good results. She just does what she does and is at the corresponding level.

As a forces child, she is on her 5th school so not doing too badly considering the upheaval she's had. For us, emotional stability and having nice friends she enjoys spending time with is of far greater importance than her academic grades at this age.

I am so glad there are other Middle School parents around loopy, the SATS don't feel quite as life and death with regard to Secondary School sets, Next year's tests are more important.

To be honest though Sparkling' we really don't care about any exams until her GCSEs. I really think the govt have stopped appreciating that teachers are extremely capable of regularly assessing their pupils through normal class tests and their work.

I don't think our middle school has yr 7 tests?

I think ours has CAT tests. Whatever they are.

My SIL who is a teacher told me the other week that if a yr 6 child is not likely to get level 4s, then they aren't given extra help as is likely they won't achieve good GCSEs. And that kids who are already achieving level 4 and above aren't helped to move on either as they already know those kids will do well at GCSE.

So she explained that the schools are really only bothered about those kids just below level 4 who they can pour all the resources into to get them to up their levels.

I don't know what CAT tests are either

Would a primary school do level 1 and level 2sats in same week?

dd1 said her teacher was out class a lot last week.
last few weeks been normal weeks no difference
so dont think shes done year 2 sats yet.

made bit more obvious as shes one of 10year 2s in class with 20years 1s gues year 2s be taken to seperate room.

we done no prep.

spoke to teacher few weeks ago she said dd contining to make progress.

shes still in lower group guided reading, getting one to one help rom ta twice a week for reading and spelling since xmas something called snappy sounds and rapid read.

she loves scieince but dont think they test that anymore.

Maths seems like shes improed but she tells me most of her maths groups are year 1s.

would the sat level be diffrent to end of year level in report out in july?

does a low level in year 2 mean she would struggle in year 6?

shes bit like me can get good results but needs to work hard for it.

So she explained that the schools are really only bothered about those kids just below level 4 who they can pour all the resources into to get them to up their levels.

Only in shitty schools - and then those same results are used to set targets for equally shitty GCSE results.

Also, your SIL in talking out of her derriere anyway - schools must also ensure children progress by two levels between KS1 and KS2. So if children who attained 3s in Y2 'only' get 4s, the school is in big trouble.

I may have misunderstood her explanation I guess.... Think she may have said something about the two level thing.

But yes, the school she works in does have a lot of children with SEN and EASL pupils.

But yes, the school she works in does have a lot of children with SEN and EASL pupils.

Sorry - not sure what you mean there.

I'm not sure what SEN and EASL pupils has to do with it

When feenie said a shitty school, I was explaining that the school where my SIL works is a school with a high number of children with special ed needs and English as a Second Language so has a much higher proportion of children who don't achieve level 4.

As a teacher in a school with many forces children, I can assure loopy that all the same rules apply. In addition to providing a stable, welcoming environment, we also have to ensure our children make good progress (2 levels progress through KS2). We rely on other teachers, their KS1 assessments and their tracking through KS2.

(Sometimes, we despair.)

So, although I agree that emotional stability is very, very important, academic progress is just as important - otherwise the child is being disadvantaged through the chosen lifestyle of his/her parents.