Y6 SATs

[shebird]

Just wondered if any teachers or parents can give me some guidance about Y6 SATS as DD1 is my first to go through these tests. I am pretty confident in DDs teacher and they already seem to have increased the homework which includes a weekly maths, literacy and spelling task. Is this enough or should I do more at home but also don't want to stress her out either. We have been firming up on her times tables and doing a little bit extra maths here and there as this is her weak area. Any advice greatly appreciated.

firstly they don't affect your dd at all, it is a measure of the school. at secondary they will test again if they are going to stream them.

do you know her levels from yr2 SATS? Have you had any interim levels from the school since?

my kids are doing selective entry for secondary and i've found the maths bond books are stretching enough to be at the top end of the syllabus at the right age (eg 9-10 for yr5, 10-11 for yr6)

definitely make sure her times tables are up to scratch if they aren't already. get her reading, - they will do plenty of tests in school i'm sure. Do you know what the school typically gets? eg % at level 4, % at level 5?

I am not sure of the results the school typically gets but I can guess that the majority will achieve level 4 or above with quite a few level 5s and maybe even a few level 6s. DD didn't have a great year 5 due to a really weak inexperienced teacher (that's a tale for another thread) but finished at about 4b for maths and literacy.

so she should be a solid level 5 at least. i wouldn't be worrying!

I am hoping so, but there was such little progress last year I feel like she needs to play catch up.

i queried this last year as DD1 levels in literacy are: (and in yr2 she was identifiied as gifted in literacy but tbh i haven't seen much progress since, i guess she just read very early!)
yr2: 3
yr3: 4c
yr4: 4a
yr5: 4a
apparently the marking scheme/criteria are not linear. there are criteria for yr2 where a level 3 basically means exceeds. yr3 and yr4 are marked off one set of criteria. yr5 criteria are marked off the yr6 SATS criteria so a different set from the yr3/4. So no movement in yr5 isn't unusual due to the shift in criteria. Yr3,4,5 is teacher assessed of course so subjective.

I also think they're pulling back on the literacy levels because it is so hard to get a level 6 in literacy compared to maths and SPAG. nationally the % is very small and declining each year. fair enough really, level 6 is pre-GCSE standard.

Hi tess73:

DD1 (now Y7) went through KS2 SATs last year.

First off this is a standardised test which generates results used to measure whether the school has met it's targets:

at present 65% of pupils must achieve NC L4 (effectively just 4c).

The government has flagged the intention that NC L4b is 'senior school ready' and are now starting to ask schools to report % attaining NC L4b

I've also read that there is an intention to raise the standard to 85% of primary pupils achieving NC L4 (?4b). But it's getting to be election year time.

So this is a test administered as a check by the government that tax payers money has achieved what it was intended to: i.e. educate young children to a good standard ensuring that they can roughly read at their chronological age and add/ subtract/ multiply/ divide.

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At your next parent teacher meeting - I'd raise with the teacher's what you can be doing at home to support your child to achieve NC Level 5 (since she's a 4a - in literacy). I'd also work out (if you don't know) how she's doing in maths & science. Science should be teacher assessed but schools are randomly selected to take a KS2 test in Science each year.

As someone advised - with maths sound recall of multiplication facts to x12 is critical. There are tons of on-line maths sites with great games links:

BBC Bitesize KS2 Maths: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/ - just have an explore & you can set difficulty level. Also BBC Bitesize has good review materials for English & Science.

Woodlands Junior Maths Zone: resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/

multiplication dot com: www.multiplication.com

a bit of 'game time' consolidating times table skills really can help.

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Other than that relax and leave it to the school. Do the homework they send - but don't do their job for them. It is their job to educate your child to this standard - your teaching her how to divide/ do algebra/ write an essay/ etc.... is doing their job for them and is definitely not what tax payers are paying average salaries of ~£39K for (in our area at least).

HTH

Thanks to all for the advice and some great ideas. I agree in theory with leaving the teaching to the teachers but the quality of teaching varies so much it can be a bit of a lottery.
I have no doubt that DDs year 5 teacher was not up to scratch something the school have gone to great lengths to gloss over and forget about. Suddenly they are in Y6 and it's all pressure with homework and lots of assessments because the school will be judged on their SATS. I wish the school would have shown more interest in y5 rather than piling the pressure on these kids having to play catch up in Y6.

Tess73 - Yr2 is also teacher assessed and Y6 reports teacher assessments as well as tests. All should use the same agreed whole school assessment criteria which should be moderated both in and out of school.

Don't stress. It is more a test of the school than each individual child. Nobody will ever care what she gets in her SATs again. Just let her enjoy school and whatever will be will be!