SATS in Year 2

[holidayseeker]

My dd1 is doing her SATS this week she is 7 and in yr2. She is getting herself upset about them as she could not answer some of the questions. I have told her just to try her best and not worry if she can't do them.

Does anyone else think they are too young for these tests?

DD's school does not say when they are doing them, so they do not stress, and apparently they do not even know that they are doing them.

The school is at fault here not the tests. Majority of schools don't even refer to them as tests ours call it 'special work' and are very low key.

I think schools should be blamed for transferring stress onto the children.

DD's school didn't make a big deal of them either. They told the children they were doing a "special quiz" and they got given drinks and biscuits afterwards. DD thought they were great (probably because of the drink and biscuit).

The results don't really matter though - they are just a mechanism to inform your child's overall KS1 level - which is mainly based on teacher assessment. If your child has done much worse than normal, the teacher will take this into account.

DD2 also had no idea she was doing SATs.

They were referred to as 'special work' and she has done 'special work' on and off since Y1 so it was no big deal.

That would have been so much better if not mentioned as dd has known about it for weeks and then got reminded last week and they have been told they need to go to bed early etc. so that they do well.

Holiday it seems like schools which are just infants put a lot more emphasis on them than a through primary school.

caffeinated DD's school is just an infants and puts no emphasis on them. Don't think you can generalise.

Redsky I can't generalise you are right. I can only say in my experience. In my experience too they appear to be

Overly generous with their levels, or maybe through primary schools are cautious with theirs in year 2.

holidayseeker:

I've also had an upset child with SATs and my view was this was the school handling the test poorly.

Having asked around (and as others have suggested above) if your DD is getting stressed then it's due to the school (and teachers) handling the situation poorly.

There are absolutely no repercussions for your DD - regardless of how she does. DD2 actually went on to do remarkably well. Why was she upset? Because she was asked to leave the room and sit in the Teacher's coffee room to take a higher level exam (which the majority were not sitting). She thought she was in trouble or once again being moved out of her normal work group and panicked. Lots of tears and problems breathing - but they did settle her, gave her a glass of water and she went on to earn solid NC Level 3 in everything, which the teacher said was amazing given she took the test whilst still very upset.

DD1 wasn't upset or worried in the slightest but scored NC Level 1 in maths and science.

In both situations I found the results useful as a parent as my gut instinct with DD1 was she wasn't 'getting it' in reading, writing or maths. (Thus it spurred me on to do a lot more at home & more or less treat school as day care). Gut instinct with DD2 was she was picking up things very quickly (having benefited from being around a lot when I was helping DD1) - she needed watching of course, but I didn't have to worry as much.

Just keep reassuring your DD that these tests do not matter. It's just a way of checking to see whether the school is doing their job or not. If she doesn't do well - that's not a problem. It just means she hasn't learned this or that yet - after all school is where you go to learn (ostensibly) - and everyone learns in different ways and at different rates. The point is to get there in the end (i.e. able to add, able to read harder texts, etc...).

HTH

Thanks Past, my daughter is quite sensitive so any changes make her feel worried.

Hi Holidayseeker:

Your DD probably picked up on the change of mood and/or stress associated with these tests and found herself getting nervous about it all.

I think it's important to reassure her that in the scheme of things it doesn't matter but it's also important to mentally note that there's a whole slew of tests ahead in her future and that you are going to have to find ways of diffusing the tension for her.

It's a necessary hurdle to jump over and I'm afraid there's rarely any chance of avoiding them. Tests are also an exciting time - it is a lovely feeling if you do well, especially after a lot of hard work.

So you and your DD are going to have to come up with strategies to face these exams calmly - because you need a clam, clear head to do well ultimately. She has a few years off but I suspect the school will do practice tests. Don't make a big deal of it - but note that it has happened - it will be useful to remind her about them if she starts to get wound up in Y6.

HTH