To Coach/Make DD Practice SATs Work at Home or Not ?...

[RockinHippy]

Just that really, though there is back ground as to why I'm not sure what to do for the best...

She has health problems, Ehlers Danlos & has suffered a lot, especially over this last School year, problems with excessive SATs pressure & odd undermining teaching methods, along with poorly dealt with bullying & too frequent injuries in her last school took it's toll on her emotional & physical well being so badly that I had to take the decision to pull her out of school not long after Xmas -

Thankfully after a term of home schooling, she is now in a new school & is back to her bright bubbly self & really loving school again, she is very bright, so I'm pretty sure she is going to do just fine without any pushing from me, but though practice is always a good thing, she can suffer badly with anxiety, though I've seen a marked improvement in that since has been at this new school & she generally just seems FAR more relaxed about SATs - which I know won't be used for high school streaming anyway that's if we actually have a high school for her to go to, sob

I personally don't want to push her, after all she/we have been through, I'm just not really keen to make her do SATs work at home & risk making it into a bigger deal for her again - but I'm really torn as I see everyone else seems to be doing just that - the little bit I have done with her, she's gone from shaking uncontrollably with nerves when faced with a mock maths paper, (old school, issues with maths teacher) to now quite happily wading into it & doing fine -

She may not achieve what she's really capable of due to move of schools & too late for putting in for extra time allowances for pain in her hands etc etc - but she is much more relaxed about it & will at very least achieve expected level for her age, so does it really matter as if we actually managed to win our high school appeal, she will be re tested before streaming in year 8 anyway

I'm also really struggling health wise too, plus I still have the appeal itself to prepare myself for & though DD loves to work hard at school, anything I try to get her doing I know will be a battle - it always is - the terms home schooling was a nightmare - think full school days with a homework attitude

So I'm of a mind to just step back & let her get on with it, but with most people around us doing the opposite - I'm just not sure

??? TIA

is this year 2 or year 6?

Leave it. They are next week.

High school will make their own assessment anyway.

I'd say just do enough that she is familiar with the format if the paper so she doesn't go into panic during the actual test.

I'd leave it to, far more important to collect together all your appeal evidence.

Both for the appeal and for the Senco at whatever secondary she ends up at.

DD1 had a massively easier transition to senior school with them knowing that she was dyslexic and finds social the social side of school hard from day one.

Having a clear account of your DDs medical needs and the sort of support you think she needs on the SECOs desk (email inbox) before the start of term is well worth it.

This is my advice, fwiw, for all and any students in the last couple of weeks before SATs week.

1. read stuff - anything.
2. make sure you know your times tables off by heart.
3. go to bed on time.

That's it.

SATS results are of no significance to you or your dd whatsoever. Just let her do them with minimum fuss and no pressure.

Couldn't agree more Hmm. Great advice.

Great list Hmm
I'd add - Practice reading analogue clocks.

Why?
Because six years too late, and in the middle of GCSE revision DD1 might finally have learnt to do this.

She's an a grade scientist, she has better marks for scuba diving exams than the adults in her class (alsorts of dials and tables of figures), but she's dyslexic and analogue clocks totally throw her.

thanks everyone :)

That's pretty much what I was hoping for, I was just thrown a bit by the fuss some are making, friends not allowed to meet over the weekend, because they are revising etc etc.

She knows her tables well, she loves to read & she's already got 3 books on the go, thankfully she's finally got to grips with analogue clocks too nocomet she struggled with that too for some odd reason

Just number 3 we might struggle ?ith, she's a mare for getting to bed on time & is a bit of an insomniac if she feels stressed too.

I'm really glad her new school have been honest with the DCs as regards it all been for the schools benefit, unlike her old school who were heaping the pressure on with a trowel & it made her very ill.

So low key & no practice papers at home it will be - they are doing them at school - she had a little homework tonight & that was a maths SATs format too, but she seemed very laid back about it & didn't seem to realise it was SATs

Thank you

Definitely NO practice at home unless it will genuinely make her calmer/happier because she knows what to expect. Apart from times tables for a few minutes every night- which I would expect throughout primary school anyway.

10 and 11 year olds should be allowed to be children still. They shouldn't have to face this huge pressure of passing a test which is only really used to judge the school.

At this late stage, all 'revision' should be happening in school and it should mostly be recapping stuff they already know to improve confidence. If there's a gap in their knowledge, it can be addressed after the tests.

No practice at home. I wish my DD2's school was like yours, but they are piling it on. We have a pack of SATs homework the size of Manchester to be done by Thursday - I have no dug in my heels and said no, we will do 20 minutes a day on the L6 maths stuff that she finds tough and that's it.

And if the school suggests revision over the weekend they can get stuffed - we're having a relaxed day at home Saturday and are going on an archery shoot Sunday, fresh air and bacon butties/cakes will be far better for her.

Trust your instincts, OP - I'd go with the step back and let her get on with it. Makes perfect sense, and sounds like very healthy instincts, to me

If you buy into the near hysteria that seems to permeate half of society over kids' educations these days, you are likely to risk the shaking with nerves again - whereas equipping your dd with a relaxed, calm attitude to tests is FAR more useful than a few extra points in SATs!

Thanks - definitely sticking with my instincts & also concentrating on the appeal, which to be honest is the much bigger worry ATM

I was worried it might kick off her anxiety again as she's had a hell of a yr6 at her old school & it's taken a hell of a lot of "healing" to redress that balance, so I was reluctant to revise with her at all as a result of that, but then with so many of her friends in a state of panic & not allowed out this weekend because of SATs then I was a bit concerned she might panic more as a result - those friends are mostly at her old school, so I think perhaps I need to get her to back away from that until SATs are over, as their stress is affecting her too IYSWIM

Though her new school is brilliant & I'm realising that the teaching there is far superior too - DD was struggling with time on a couple of maths topics, as she had been taught a long winded way of doing things & as a result she insisted that was how it had to be done & DD has to show workings out for SATs too. She was stressing about this due to her slow writing due to pain in hands - new teacher has already taught her that this is wrong, she doesn't need to do it the way she has been taught in her old school at all, just show how it's done & give a correct answer & has now taught her a really simple & more economical way with less writing, which DD is really happy with.

Liking your idea of days out pointy I was at the "get stuffed" point with her old school too - the pressure was ridiculous & they were lying to the DCs about how important SATs are to high school - I'm from the 11+ generation, where a pass or fail really did make a difference to high school - but we had none of the pressure they lay on them today & it is just so wrong but I have a perfectionist DD who takes it all too seriously too, which ended up with melt down

So laid back no pressure week with a relaxing weekend planned :)

Thanks again everyone

Don't do any extra work but equally be aware that the results may form part of a picture for secondary. Ours sets from day 1 and sets are decided by SAT's as well as CAT's.

Thanks Apples because of massively excessive SATs pressure from DDs old school, I have already rang our chosen/nearest high school & asked - they don't used SATs at all there, but mixed entry classes & they then stream at year 8 - fingers crossed we win our appeal of course - if not I will be homeschooling again as no other viable choice [very scared emoticon]

I don't usually advocate drugging DC but a spoonful of piriton can be useful to help get them to sleep if stressed the night before.

Actually chipping as much as I also don't advocate drugging DCs either, that is a great idea :)

DD has actually been prescribed a Antihistamine by a specialist EDSH consultant we recently saw, apparently due to over active Mast cells it can help with DDs stomach trouble & more - it's not yet gone through the system to our GP, but we do have some of the same drug (Certrizine) left over from another ailment it was prescribed for

So I will do that as it could save on the IBS flare ups too :)

I'm loving her new school though - the year 6 kids & families have now been told - no revision - the school are on top of that & to let the DCs relax & unwind at home to help save on nerves :)

RockinHippy:

My motto is 'as long as you try your best I'm happy'.

I include a good night's sleep in that. However, we have found that watching a documentary or gardening programme off iplayer if DD1 can't get to sleep will help.

Classic FM is good to have on low in the background as well.

Also remind her that just because the school/ teacher is panicking doesn't mean she has to - remind her that pay is now performance related, that all the results reflect on the school's performance measures/ tables so school's take this very seriously - but that doesn't mean that their panic is her problem.

Just out of curiosity how was the school when your DD was off sick - did they send home books/ worksheets to help her catch up? I hope my cynical view that the answer is probably not is wrong - but certainly at our school children who have missed a lot of school due to chronic health problems (asthma, tonsils, etc...) weren't helped at the time and are now completely stressed/ freaked out getting tons to extra work to do in these last desperate weeks. Far better if the school had made an effort in small ways earlier I suspect - but a very odd culture at our school (heaven forbid you send a photocopied worksheet home with a neighbour for a sick kid).

PastaBelle

That's my motto too :) though sadly not much use with a perfectionist DD :(

She's in a different school now, things got so bad at her old school I had to take her out not long after Xmas as amongst other a lot of other things the undermining & sometimes bullying teaching methods in yr6 were having a massive impact on her self esteem, to the point of making her scarily fragile emotionally & physically ill too.

New school is completely different & I just wish I had moved her years ago - so far no need for me to ask for extra work if she's off ill, as she's loving it so much, she goes anyway, they are also accommodating her health needs FAR better than her old school too, so she's no longer as frustrated at not being able to keep up with herself, with writing etc IYSWIM - they gave her a tablet to write with, without my even asking:) - teachers also not panicking at all & if you see my last update has told now the DCs to relax before next weeks SATs :) which has helped DD calm down a lot :)

The cynic in you is very right as far as her old school went though - DH & I even sat in a parents consultation with the new teacher complaining about DD & how she was slacking/slipping & she had taken her off the G&T register as she didn't deer serve to be on it nothing to do with DD being the only DC working at her level at it meant more work for this teacher listening to her 2 teachers, you would think they were talking about 2 different DCs

I personally wouldn't have cared, it's nonsense anyway, but DD is a perfectionist & things like that affect her badly - lots of negatives, but when asking what we could do to help her - nothing - when asking for copies of spelling lists to help her at home as she was panicking - nothing - when DD was off ill, even long term as a result of infections caused by injuries happening in school & I asked for work to help her keep up & make sure she didn't miss anything - nothing - but I did use a couple of online services to help her keep up for DDs sake as she was panicking

Ironically it now turns out she has been taught a couple if things in maths that are not quite right anyway - very long winded ways of working things out - I had picked up on it, but DD had insisted that's how it had to be done in school & SATs -

new school says otherwise & DD is absolutely over the moon to have new, quicker & much simpler ways to do things :)