I'm not alone am I? How can I help my stressed, overtested Y6 dd to cope with the relentless pressure that comes from the school. Grrrrrr

[northender]

Apologies in advance for the long post.
Just that really. I'm not alone am I? Ds did Y6 3 years ago at the same school and it just bears no resemblance to what is going on this year as a result of the new testing system.
She is bright and in the top set for most things but that, apparently, is not enough. Already this school year they have been tested several times in each subject, in the hall, under exam conditions. Today they got results of an arithmetic test. Dd got 80% which she was pleased with but was then told she had to resit it today and if she didn't achieve 88% then she would have to do another test type exercise for homework. She missed history this afternoon as a result, to do the resit. Last half term she missed 2 sessions of history/geography to try to improve her reading comprehension skills.
Dd takes everything to heart and has taken a couple of hours to calm down tonight. She was upset and angry.This is not an isolated incident and although I recognise that dd's temperament does not help her, I can't see how this level of pressure is helpful in the long run. She seems like such a tortured soul at times and I feel pretty helpless. We have discussed with school how much to heart she takes things but I'm not sure they really get it as her teacher said to her today "Don't go home worrying about it"
We do lots of hopefully distracting stuff with her at home which she loves. She helps me with cooking & baking, is helping dh research my family history and does sewing & all sorts of crafty things with my mum. These things aren't forced on her but things she loves to do. In terms of formal extra curricular stuff she does drama and music both of which she loves.
I genuinely don't feel that going into school again will help, but as much as we say to her that it's not all about results, the school say the complete opposite.

If you've got to the end of my post then thank you

[northender]

Wow, this has moved on somewhat since Friday morning!
Thanks to those of you specifically responding regarding my situation with dd but I've found the other discussion really interesting too as I have ds in Y9 and obviously dd going into Y7 next year.

Dh and I have discussed this and will approach the class teacher and the Head about the way the school is approaching the new tests. If we aren't happy then we will go to the governors. From my previous experience with the Head and the governors, I don't hold out much hope, but at least we'll have done our best. We'll continue to reassure dd and to encourage her in maybe more creative ways of learning at home. Yesterday she spent 2 hours researching my father's family history. That involved all sorts of skills and concentration and she loved it.

For what it's worth I think it's really sad that we are moving rapidly back towards a totally test based system. I hate the way our education system is so politicised and always end up feeling that surely there must be a middle ground which would be best for the most if that makes sense?

[bearleftmonkeyright]

There should be middle ground and I think the better schools do that but just to make a wider point I can see it getting worse. The reintroduction of testing at KS1 is going to compound this for younger children.

Ricardian I am also a card carrying member of the Labour party. I cannot understand why as a member you cannot see the damage that has been caused by this government and this issue is largely why I joined. Testing achieves nothing and without some respect for the teaching profession then the next generation will suffer. I also cannot understand why you were so rude about my post. This was a head teacher of a large academy which is also a teaching school. She advises other schools on their assessment methods. I know teachers who work with her and hold her in high regard. I wonder what your impetus was for joining the Labour party?

[MrsMolesworth]

Wow. I had no idea there were some state primaries like this. Ours never gave a damn what results pupils got, rarely tested on anything and never did retests.

I was going to say, tell her these tests mean nothing. Secondary school won't set any store by them. 80% is perfectly good enough. But if they force a retest for a score of 80% then I suppose they do matter to the quality of her day to day life. What can you do, except complain to HoY/Head and governors that this is undue pressure and stress? This sort of pressure is fine at secondary once they are gearing up for GCSEs but in Yr6, it's silly.

[mrz]

The reports that testing is being reintroduced in KS1 are incorrect. There has been statutory national curriculum testing in KS1 for 25 years it was never abandoned.

[Djelibeyb]

DD's in y6. No tests yet that I have been aware of.
About 30mins maths and 30mins English homework per week.

It's the school you have an issue with, not the SATs.

Same here. Definitely a school issue. As pp suggested get some other parents on board and go in together. At this rate all the kids will be so burnt out they will flunk the "official" tests anyway. Stupid idea.

[bearleftmonkeyright]

But the key difference is that tests at KS1 will be externally moderated rather than teacher assessed. I think that is key.

[mrz]

They've always been externally moderated

[bearleftmonkeyright]

Hands up then, I've clearly got it wrong

[LuluJakey1]

DS- 11 months- will not be starting school until the latest date possible. DH and I, both Deputy Head's in secondary schools, are both saddened by what he will experience in schools during his primary and secondary years. It is awful. The government is destroying high quality state education as a concept. They want no responsibility for it and are allowing academy chains to run it and make massive profits from the money intended for children. Meanwhile, they will force schools through hoops of testing and children through a dull, luicrously hard curriculum and measure their progress with tests that are totally inappropriate.

If any of us have to produce an important piece of extended writing, we don't have to write it in half an hour and have it judged as our best effort at writing. We have thinking time, planning time, we write sections, go back to it, alter it, use dictionaries/spell-checkers, possibly a thesaurus. We re- draft it and hone it until we are happy with it. So why do we measure a 16 yearold's ability to write on the basis of what they can write in exams- under pressure, in response to questions they have never seen, with no access to any time to reflect, draft, review, improve?

It is a crass, stupid system and discriminates against groups of children- those who find concentration hard, those who have an additional need, those who take a bit longer to process language and think about it, those who have ASD, those who come from backgrounds where school work is not valued and no one encourages them or speaks to them much.

Why aren't parents protesting about this?

[mrz]

The press have reported it that way but it was a total non story.
There are new tests in May Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling replacing the old Writing tests, there will be one reading test which all children will take where previously there were separate level 2 and level 3 tests and a new arithmetic test.

[mrz]

Lulu there isn't a writing test.

[GoblinLittleOwl]

Is this school in danger of failing, going into special measures? Or is it a new Academy, with something to prove? (sorry if this has been answered).

I am all in favour of testing:' if it is worth teaching, it is worth testing', but only so that the results are used to inform future teaching. This pressure to gain higher marks in the same test, and missing other curriculum subjects to do so, is completely wrong. Your daughter's results may be used to bump up the average score.

It sounds as though the school is failing in some way, or her class teacher is not meeting the predictions the Head, or Assessment Co ordinator,has made.

Ask for copies of previous test results, for your daughter, for Y6 and for the school in previous years.
Why are her results not satisfactory; have they fallen, how do they compare with the rest of the year?
Is she not reaching her target; what is it, and, most importantly,how was it calculated, and who did it?

[LuluJakey1]

I am talking about 16 year olds and GCSE.

[Feenie]

There are two reading tests, mrz!

[Feenie]

Agree the press reports about KS1 tests this week were totally inaccurate - I've done a lot of shouting at the radio

[mrz]

Two parts of the same test that every child takes rather than some children doing one and some another sorry if I was t clear Feenie.

[mrz]

Yes Ive ranted at the BBC (and Nick Gibb/Nicky Mirgan) every time it was mentioned

[Feenie]

Looking at the sample papers, I am definitely calling them two tests!

How boring is the non-fiction?!

[mrz]

Not sure how interested average seven year would be with topics should I hope actual test is an improvement

[girlsyearapart]

I teach year 6 and there's no way we would do what seems to be happening at your school op.
We have been testing them to check who needs help where but there's no way any child would have to re take a test after scoring 80%!

[kesstrel]

"So why do we measure a 16 year old's ability to write on the basis of what they can write in exams- under pressure, in response to questions they have never seen, with no access to any time to reflect, draft, review, improve?"

Because controlled assessments have resulted in cheating in a number of schools (including the one my daughter went to). This is unfair on children who attend schools that don't cheat.

[IguanaTail]

You're correct kesstrel but the root cause of that is the ridiculous target-driven culture with league tables and performance management linked to results.

However, it is best for many children to assess them over a longer period of time. The priority should be that children are assessed fairly, rather than looking for a "cheat-proof" system.

[LuluJakey1]

Coursework was the best option,not controlled assessments. Controlled assessments are awful- exams by any other name. Genuine coursework was a pleasure to teach, children really engaged with it and enjoyed it, were motivated by it and produced the best they were capable of. If you take the things out of the system that make it unfair to children and that stop them doing their best, there is no need for teachers to try to overcome hurdles.

There has always been cheating in exams- exam papers opened before the exam. The exams officer at our school was sacked foe that 15 years ago. Papers lost. Children given extra time or allowed to add things. Teachers altering scripts.

[IguanaTail]

I agree - coursework was good.

Actually when I did English at GCSE the entire thing was a folder of coursework.

[LuluJakey1]

None of this horrible overhaul of a whole system is about teachers and coursework. It is about a government that would prefer fewer children achieving higher standards. It is about keeping people in their place in society. That is why these exams are not criteria referenced- they are not about children demonstrating they can meet grade criteria, they are about limiting the numbers that are allowed to pass.