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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Yr6 Sat booster lessons-what are your views of them as teachers

44 replies

ggirl · 27/01/2014 09:47

Ds is doing them for maths and english. One during school time and the other after.

I appreciate they are good for school and child but I do kind of feel for the teachers having all this extra work to ensure best SATS results possible

In an ideal world you'd have the time during normal school day to ensure kids were at their best.

Interested to hear teachers views .

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TeenAndTween · 27/01/2014 11:26

Parent here:
In an ideal world the teaching would have been good enough during years 3-6 to not need them.

deelite72 · 27/01/2014 12:54

Hi Parent here too (sorry)... It seems to be the norm for teachers to spend additional time with the kids for SATs. Hats of to them. The point of the booster lessons is to hone in on SATs related subjects without interfering with the rest of their lessons (i.e. languages, history, PE, etc). Having these sessions in the morning/after school means kids can just focus on SATs work rather than having it thrown into their normal learning curriculum. In the end, your DS will benefit. Don't worry about teacher. It's part of the year 6 job and they're well able to cope. Good luck to your DS. It all seems so stressful and then before you know it, year 6 is finished! It's a pretty full-on year, but one kids tend to really cherish.

gleegeek · 27/01/2014 13:11

No Sats booster classes here - no mention of Sats yet I think if your dc are coping OK, then it's a chance for them to really build their confidence and make sure there are no gaps in their knowledge.

januarysnowdrop · 27/01/2014 13:16

It's not usually the teacher's decision - it's up to the head. If they feel it'd be beneficial, they get teachers to offer them (one year our school had a bit of extra money in the pot and actually paid us to run them, but those days are long gone now!). I agree it'd be better if they didn't exist, but having said that, I've had a lot of fun with small booster classes - a bit more relaxed than teaching a big group, even though it's got a serious focus, and we can really help to boost the children's confidence. Ultimately SATS results matter more to the school than they do to the child, so I'd hate to think any children were being forced to do these classes or being made miserable by them.

Original poster

ggirl · 27/01/2014 15:15

TeenandTween - yes my thoughts too.
My dd wan't offered them when she was in yr6 but she prob didn't need them as much as ds does to reach his full potential..lazy wee bugger
There is an element of guilt too on my part , dunno why ,there just is.
Anyhoo , hats off to the teachers I say!!

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pointythings · 27/01/2014 15:32

DD2's school is doing them because they only barely cleared floor target last year and got an OFSTED 3 so they are running scared.

They aren't compulsory though. The school is running booster/support classes and is running extension classes for children going for L6 as well, and they seem to be good at making them enjoyable. DD2 is doing the L6 ones - reading, SPaG and maths - and her confidence has just soared. In reading all they do is read and discuss some very high quality children's literature and talk about how the author gets their point across in terms of techniques and language used, inferring from reading between the lines and so on. DD2 says it has really helped her writing and the whole group loves it.

In maths it's more targeted at what's in L6 but DD2 is one of those who doesn't believe she's good at maths - she does now.

I too take my metaphorical hat off to the teachers who are not just putting in the effort but making sure it doesn't feel like horrible endless drill for the children.

Snowdown · 27/01/2014 15:43

Parent here. I wish it wasn't necessary the teaching had been up to standard from year 3 through to year 6, I'm not convinced it benefit our dcs getting booster lessons up to the Sats and basically no formal teaching till they reach secondary, I think, particularly where a child struggles to reach a level 4, a few months maths free is certainly not beneficial.

gleegeek · 27/01/2014 15:54

It has made me realise what a farce SATs are though. If some schools are doing a lot of revision and other schools not doing anything, then how can you compare schools and their results with one another?

Also it makes me worry slightly that dd will be at a disadvantage when she goes to secondary as they set according to SATs results... She is a fairly bright child, but IMO her school haven't stretched her at all, so her results, whilst probably being good, will potentially not be as good as a child from another school....

noramum · 27/01/2014 16:08

Parent here but for a Year 2 child:

DD came home saying she is in a reading lunch club. Ok, I suspected it was because she has some issue with comprehension so it was to boost it.

When I asked her teacher, she confirmed it but also "to help her to get a better SATs result". I was astonished that they do it for a Year 2 SATs. I mean Hello, we are talking about a not even 7 year old child who is on Gold level.

Sorry to hijack, I just wonder what the Junior school will do in 4 years time.

ICantFindAFreeNickName · 27/01/2014 16:17

Gleegeek Are you sure your secondary sets according to SATS results. All the high schools round here spend the first half term assessing the children, as they know that their SATs results are meaningless, as some primary schools spend the whole year getting ready for the tests and others just do a little bit of work in the month before.

gleegeek · 27/01/2014 16:28

ICantFindAFreeNickName well that's what they told us when we went to look round! I'm sure if a child is hugely out of place they'll move them but the word on the street is it's easier to get moved down than up I asked if they did CAT tests and they said no.

Starballbunny · 27/01/2014 17:56

The more I think about them the less I like them.

DD2 did extra maths after school for the top group to have a go at L6. In the end they didn't have enough sessions and she didn't get it. I suspect a couple of the others might have, but purely on being senior school teachers children and/or naturally good mathematicians, nothing to do with the quality of the primary school.

For her personally entering her normal maths SAT and Y7 with a bit more confidence did no harm. She was very philosophical about the L6 paper and far more excited about their play.

But from the point of view of ofsted judging primary results and the starting levels senior schools are expected to work from, last minute evening cramming classes are not very fair.

JonSnowKnowsNothing · 27/01/2014 18:00

We're doing them from next week. Suits me as we're getting paid this year. They're totally non compulsory and we hold them before and after school. Almost all staff are involved. The children do tend to enjoy working in such small groups - we only have 30 year sixes so the support groups range in 2 to 5 in size.
It's physically impossible to be absolutely there for 30 kids when they range from P scales to level six, so I think the children like the chance to say "can we do some work on XYZ. We also bribe them with snacks....

JonSnowKnowsNothing · 27/01/2014 18:01

Our secondary definitely sets according to SATs.

oodyboodyboocs · 27/01/2014 18:19

My Ds's school have offered a level 6 maths club, which he is loving. I've never seen him so enthusiastic about an activity before. They set them optional homework which he sits down to do as soon as he gets home. So for him it's been a great opportunity.

Wellthen · 27/01/2014 18:23

Hate them. Forced to do them. Yes its extra work. No its not fair that the expectation falls entirely on year 6.

MrsKCastle · 27/01/2014 19:12

Don't like them. I think children should be allowed to be children. My DDs are much younger, but if they are asked to attend something similar at that age, I'd be very reluctant.

If they are offered, they should be genuinely fun and motivating.

And we should (of course) be able to put a lot more resources into the other primary years, and not have this huge cramming issue.

Original poster

ggirl · 27/01/2014 19:27

Ds had his first one today and enjoyed it , squash and biscuit helped.

I agree it's the panic cramming in yr 6 that's unfortunate

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lljkk · 27/01/2014 19:55

I don't think our school does them, at least I never heard of it (thank goodness). They set from CATs and work in class.

Doyouthinktheysaurus · 27/01/2014 20:04

Ds1's school is doing them for maths at most levels I think.

Ds1 has been doing it since half term before christmas

On the whole he enjoys it, he's being challenged because they are doing L6 maths which he loves. They also get toast from breakfast club 3 days a week which goes down well!

I do feel for the teachers because it's an extra on their day and they work extremely hard anyway. I do hope they aren't pressured into doing it.

MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic · 27/01/2014 20:23

I hate them for the reason teenandtweens stated. DS1 didn't go, DS2 did but only because he succumbed to bribery with snacks (from the school, not me!) DD's only in Yr5 but it'll be her choice next year - I don't agree with them but I wouldn't stop her going if that's what she wanted to do. The DSs secondary school does an entrance exam and they set according to that, so the SATs results really don't have any relevance for us. As long as they try their best, I'm happy. I refuse to put pressure on them.

I'm not entirely convinced our teachers are that happy doing them.

spanish11 · 27/01/2014 22:44

My dc did a lot of sat papers in year 6, also a booster lessons twice a week, at the end my dc got a level 6 in maths and level 5 in English and grammar.
The secondary school where he is going is not using them to set the children, because they use cat.

WingsontheWind · 27/01/2014 23:18

Just find out what they are missing when doing tem. Would be sad if they missed out on 'fun' lessons to do boosters...

NewtRipley · 28/01/2014 17:28

They are a sad indictment of the pressure our Primary teachers are under to get good results for the school.

Some children enjoy them, but I still think they should not be necessary.

SE13Mummy · 01/02/2014 20:31

I'm not a fan of before/after school booster classes and have declined to run any for my Y6 class. My preferred approach is to make an extra teacher available so that all the children benefit from additional attention/input and there is greater scope for stretching each child at a level that is appropriate for the individual. This is the set-up in my class and I love having the time to work with every child during every lesson-the beauty of having two teachers for 25 children.

My DCs' school seem to run compulsory booster classes. I won't be sending my DC if it's out of school time unless they're desperate to go for fun. I think dancing, Brownies, playing and having friends over is far more important than boosting their school's position in the league tables!

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