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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

Would you tell your KS1 child that Sats are coming up?

94 replies

MotleyCroup · 30/04/2014 08:29

Had a letter from ds school explaining that Sats will be coming up (with date w/c).

Letter explained that the children had been doing various 'quizzes' which I presume are old Sats papers, to get them used to the test.

Would you explain to your child that Sats are coming up? Or would you just let them carry on (the wk of the Sats) without adding to their pressure and not tell them they'll be doing these tests?

I'm pretty sure ds knows they've been doing old Sats papers as he mentioned that they were Sats but he doesn't know that the real thing is coming up.

What do/have you done (if you knew about it beforehand).

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Llareggub · 30/04/2014 08:32

I have. I've told my son it is a test to see how well the school has taught him.

Seeline · 30/04/2014 08:34

I didn't. Neither of mine were aware that they had taken them. I couldn't see the point of unnecessary stress - there is enough of that at KS2.

Meglet · 30/04/2014 08:35

I'm not telling DS anything. The school seem to know what they're doing. I'll just make sure he does a workbook page every day and we spend a little longer reading / talking about his book every evening. Every indication is that he will be fine anyway.

MumTryingHerBest · 30/04/2014 08:41

When my DC1 sat them in yr2 I didn't do anything. The school played them down and did very little to prepare the children (the majority of the class gained L3). From yr 3 onwards the school does SATs at the end of each year. Again they are not seen as a big thing so no preparation is given for them.

My DC1 is now in yr 4 so may be the last year to sit SATs in yr6. However, the SATs results in yr6 will be passed to the secondary school he goes onto and may contribute to setting in that school. The primary School will also be assessed against the yr6 SATs results. In light of these two facts I would imagine that SATs become a big thing during yr6 and consequently the school will prepare them for it. As a parent, I see no reason to do anything as I know the school will give all the guidance, preparation and reassurance needed.

In terms of what you should be doing will depend on the following:

What year is your DC in?

What year will your DC be in for the final year of SATs (not sure if you know that SATs are going to be replaced. However, by what is not yet clear).

How will your DCs SATs result be used and how will the results affect them in the future.

HTH

Flexiblefriend · 30/04/2014 08:45

I think it would depend on the child. DD will be doing SAT's next year, and I will probably tell her because she is unlikely to stress about it. If I had a child who I think would worry, I would say nothing.

AmberTheCat · 30/04/2014 09:41

I'd follow the school's lead and keep things very low key. If the kids have happily been doing 'quizzes', there's no point in worrying them by suggesting the 'real' tests are anything different.

MumTryingHerBest - the SATs aren't being replaced. From 2016 they'll be a bit different, to reflect the way the curriculum is changing, but they'll still be there at the end of both key stages.

FiveHoursSleep · 30/04/2014 09:57

I didn't tell my three oldest and won't tell my youngest either. There is no need.

UC · 30/04/2014 09:58

My DS is doing year 2 SATs soon. I haven't even mentioned them to him. I know the school has done some practice ones.

however, I know one other parent who has ordered old papers, and is making their child (aged 7) do a paper a night. Which seems mad to me. But then, this is the same child who regularly (by which I mean on at least 2 nights a week) goes to 3 different activities between 4 and 7 pm - including musical instrument lessons, swimming lessons, swimming training, football training, beavers, and drama class.

I wonder which child will crack under the pressure. Mine or hers?

MirandaWest · 30/04/2014 10:00

The tests your year 2 child will do are just one part of evidence their teacher will use to assess the level they are working at. Some schools will have carried out the tests already. The level a child gets in the test may be higher, lower or the same as the level that is reported as it may not be the level they are working at.

So I wouldn't say anything specifically to the DC (pretty sure I didn't when mine were in year 2).

HolidayCriminal · 30/04/2014 10:00

I don't recall mentioning it to DC at all.

Bramshott · 30/04/2014 10:04

I have DC in Y2 and Y6 this year. I don't think DD2 (Y2) has any idea, and I'm aiming to keep it that way. DD1 on the other hand....

craftynclothy · 30/04/2014 10:05

DD1's teacher has told them. He's explained it as a way of seeing what they already know so that the teachers know what they need to teach them next year (or some such). They've been doing some practice papers. I told DD1 it's just like when they do their spelling tests and stuff, that you just try your best and if you get things wrong then your teacher knows that he needs to explain it again.

craftynclothy · 30/04/2014 10:06

dd1 is in year 2 btw.

holidayseeker · 30/04/2014 10:14

I told dd1 when her yr 2 sats were coming up and it just caused her to panic so I won't be telling dd2.

MumTryingHerBest · 30/04/2014 10:15

AmberTheCat, I pointed out that the SATs were being replaced, not discontinued.

skinmysunshine · 30/04/2014 10:20

Our school tell neither the children nor parents the date of the tests. As parents we know vaguely when but we're specifically asked not to mention it to the children as they don't want to cause them unecessary stress

MumTryingHerBest · 30/04/2014 10:20

UC I wonder how much pressure that DC will be under when it comes to GCSEs, A Levels and University applications.

LittleMissGreen · 30/04/2014 10:52

I won't be telling DS2. Not sure that we even know the dates they do them. Our levels are teacher assessed in Wales, but they now have national maths and English tests that give them a ranking across Wales. I won't even be telling him the result. Really shouldn't be important to a 7 year old.

Original poster

MotleyCroup · 30/04/2014 10:54

Thanks all.

This sounds strange but I'll feel almost disloyal if I don't say anything? Does this seem odd? I'm of the opinion that everyone likes to be prepared for a test. On the other hand he's only 7 and is this hugely important to him at this stage. I also wonder how many other children in his year have been told by their parents and will mention it to ds anyway? Then he will wonder why I haven't mentioned anything! Argh!

I wish I didn't know if I'm honest.

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PastSellByDate · 30/04/2014 11:09

MotleyCroup:

I'm just a Mum but hopefully some teachers will be along soon. The SATs test in Y2 can be administered at any point - although some schools (Mine & yours at least) run it alongside KS2 SATs.

Now my advice is this. If your son has been doing mocks and the school has been 'preparing' him for this - then I would simply say that sometime in the next few weeks you may be asked to look at a booklet with maths questions or a story and answer a few questions. This may be done in your normal classroom or you may be asked to go to a quiet room and take the test. I'd stress that it doesn't matter how many he gets right, just that he tries his best.

I think it is worth warning them that they may be taken out of class (only a small number were taken out of DD2's Y2 class for L3 SATs papers) - because DD2 actually thought she'd done something wrong and was in trouble when they asked her to come to the Staff Room and got very upset. She ended up getting NC L3 in all subjects (which the school couldn't believe because she took one test crying and hiccuping the whole time) - but I think if I'd known they were going to do that or if the teacher had explained better what was going on (which to be fair was awkward - since most kids weren't sitting L3 papers) she might not have been quite so upset.

Other than that - I take the view that it is up to the school to prepare your child for the SATs. It's a test of how well the school is teaching all their children. It is used to roughly predict your child's expected progress in the school - but schools are rewarded for helping children to achieve more than the expected level of progress.

As MumTryingherBest suggests - for KS2 SATs (Y6) it is slightly more serious because these results are handed over to the new secondary schools and frequently are used to initially set pupils into ability groups. However, the secondary schools will also test Y7 pupils a lot - so a good secondary won't just look at KS2 SATs.

HTH

Elibean · 30/04/2014 11:13

I trust the school, and leave it to them to prepare children for the fact that they might be taken out of class in groups etc.

They do little 'tests' regularly anyway, so it won't be anything new to them - and as someone else said, the majority of the mark is based on teacher assessment anyway.

dd1 didn't even know she was taking tests, iirc. And did well.

dd2, currently in Y2, is more aware - I think they all are, in her class (lots of siblings!) but is totally unstressed about it. She takes her lead from her teachers, I think.

Elibean · 30/04/2014 11:14

Oh - and I agree that KS2 SATS are a whole different ballgame. I have a Y5 dd, and she knows she will be working hard this time next year, like the current Y6!

AmberTheCat · 30/04/2014 11:15

MumTrying - sure, just commenting on your suggestion that your DC in Y4 may be the last to do SATs. There was talk of a pretty radical overhaul of SATs, and possibly even getting rid of them altogether, but actually they'll end up looking pretty similar (just a bit harder ). What is changing is that schools will be judged on the progress children make as well as on the results they get, which I think is a good thing.

Bramshott - I have DC in Y2 and Y6 as well and, like you, the difference in the way they're approaching SATs is huge. My DD1 actually quite likes tests and isn't worried about them, but she's SO bored of the endless revision...

PastSellByDate · 30/04/2014 11:18

Hi Motley:

Our school plagiarized this for parents re KS1 SATs:

www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEYQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.holytrinity-pri.s-gloucs.sch.uk%2Fcommunication%2FTrinityTimesAndLetters%2FLetters%2FKS1sats_booklet_for_parents11.doc&ei=tsxgU4TpB5Cy7Abl1oGgCA&usg=AFQjCNGdzgoPW-A4AQ-ucl45mE1jOvwQ9g&sig2=_PbWjCnA9EchSN5eTe10dg

Also - if you want to understand how your child is doing - try BBC Bitesize KS1 - these are educational video games reviewing much of the information assessed in KS1 SATs in English/ Science/ Maths: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/ - you can select the level of difficulty - Medium/ Hard/ Really Hard.

Music is very annoying - but they are fun. You probably will find your DC has already played these at school.

HTH

Original poster

MotleyCroup · 30/04/2014 11:21

PSBD, thank you so much, that's great advice

His school haven't said what to do either way. They've explained it will all be 'low key' and to make sure your child gets to bed on time during Sats wk.

Will be ready for the half term break.

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