Home ed for one term/SATs

[karaokesmokey]

I'm considering home education for the half term between Easter and May half term for DD in year six. Re SATs-Yes, that is deliberate, and the point.

We don't have pressure on school places here, and DD is in the 2nd admission criteria. I do not imagine they will fill her place, and that is a risk I'm willing to take. (Worst case scenario, I can home ed for the second half of the term, too).

The school will not be chuffed, for obvious reasons. My question is, if they have a place available, and we are top of the list, and apply for it just before May half term for her to return after the half term, can they deny her it?

I don't wish to discuss the merits of SATs here, just whether pissing the school off can affect admissions.

Alternatively, is the £60 fine per absence, or per day? If DD misses SATs week, and I've ensured she's had access to the internet, my reading tells me she then can't sit them. Is that true?

karaoke check with your LA. I was under the impression that it was per parent, per day based on the experience of a friend, but it looks like that might be wrong. Sorry if I confused you, but hopefully that is wrong and you will looking at a smaller amount.

If you have a secondary place can't you just he. Her until secondary?

Thank you. I will clarify.

Our school never fines. People go away for a week all the time.

However, despite no term time holidays ever, I suspect for Sats week, they will choose to fine.

I could HE until secondary. But she's been a hard worker in the school for nearly 7 years. The final half term is all fun and games, and why should she miss out for the sake of a week?

OP, the school my dd has gone to weren't bothered she hasn't done SATS as they all did MIDyis during the first half term and will use this instead.
They don't seem to give targets either.
My dd was H.ed for 3 years though, I wouldn't liked to deregister annoy the school and then send my child back again.
Why not just H.ed until secondary and have some fun/ long holiday.

When she arrives at secondary and is withdrawn from lessons in order to do the sats exams she has missed, so that the school have the correct benchmarking, do you plan to also take another week off? We don't let parents or students know when we get them to do sats exams, to reduce the stress. So you may well find out that she comes home one day in year 7 to say she has sat them. And these will be the levels used, the only difference being that the teaching will not be fresh in her mind and of course she will miss the new lessons she would have been in.

What's changed with SATs this year? Words of one syllable for the uninitiated please.

KS2 content and expectations
KS1 six new tests

The key stage 1 comprehension my daughter is doing requires more reading and understanding than the game psychology paper I teach.

Game!? Gcse.

Iguana

I know several people, my dd included who have never done ks2 SATS in either year.
Many schools don't use them, and many dc don't take them.
Maybe the OP can check at school of her choice what they will do.
I do agree with regarding some schools not telling dc when, this happened with ds1 and ds2, but many years ago now.
Those were the days eh, when the dc just skipped out saying I did a test today, with no pressure at all.

All schools have to have baseline testing.

All state maintained schools have to do SATs too

At our secondary Y7 and Y9 students sit CATs test in October rather than SATs. It gives us a more accurate baseline of a child's true abilities as they are not able to revise, be prepped or have access arrangements. They are completed in three 30 minute sessions on a computer, with a range of questions read to them via headphones. However, their GCSE predicted grades are still based on their KS2 SATs grades.

I dread the requirement to retest Y7 students that have struggled with SATs. I can see this becoming my new job when I return from maternity, as I'm a primary teacher working in a secondary school with SEN KS3.

My ds's teacher showed the the KS1 example paper and, yes, Teatime it seems to be require more high level skills of retention and organisation than it does of reading and understanding what you've read.

Iguana it was just two short years ago that my dd did her KS1 SATS. She didn't really realise that she'd 'done' them, nor did I.

I think it's fair to say that this years cohort isn't going to be afforded the same relaxed approach.

I wish people wouldn't make blanket comments on what secondary schools do with sats score.

I have 4 children all 4 of them currently in secondary school. We have experience of 4 schools moving to in year 7

School 1 tested in first month and used levels from this
School 2 tested 2 Saturdays in July and August used levels from this
School 3 (a grammar school if that makes a difference as there is already a sort of "set") Didn't use any sets in Y7 and leveled them into sets in year 8
School 4 used first term to work out what level the children were in and leveled in 2nd term (much to dd3's delight as she found herself back with Best Friend)

Not one of them have used the SAT levels from primary school to decide what level they are in. However I know from DS's friend who went to a 5th school that his school did set from SATs levels.

So each school is different.

my 4 1 was sick halfway through the sats and hated it
2 and 3 were happy to take them and but did find it a bit stressfull
no 4 didn't care at all and just went on with her day.

Blanket comments which are 100% the case in every secondary school:

Each school will be set a target to reach for every single child with a KS2 test score.

Every single school with an arrival with no KS2 test score will baseline test somehow.

"Testing" when needed is different from Sats in year 6. It comes from a different place. It doesn't have the build up. It doesn't have 'booster sessions' as an after school club. (After school clubs to my mind should be extra-curricular, not a crammer college).

But, I don't want to get in to why I object to year six sats so much, suffice to say I do. Enough to lose a lot of income over. Enough to consider private education over.

DD is happy at her primary, and would like the fun 'goodbye' activities. But she will not be sitting sats. I just wanted advice on how best to do this, thank you for those that have posted on that point! Essentially, they haveto take her back if they have a place, and she's top of the list. After half term, I'll find out exactly how much the fine is, and be honest with the school, I think.

What I don't want when discussing with school is for them to think they can 'talk me round'. They can't. DD is not sitting sats. The only thing I can discuss with them is how that happens.

I asked DS today if his teacher has mentioned if they are going to have some tests or exams (he is 7 and in Year 2). He said: what test? what do you mean? No, my teacher hasn't said anything, why?
I said no reason, that I was just curious. I didn't said anything else because it seems that at his school the children are oblivious (or at least he is!).

We also haven't had any special meetings to talk about SATs or any homework with practise papers. If it wasn't because I'm always in Mumsnet I probably wouldn't know either.

KS1 is different to KS2. Then, I take the policy of just not telling them the results.

I'm not sure why you're against your DD sitting the SATs but if it's because she has SEN and is going to do very badly, then she can be disapplied from taking them.

OP, I am a bit curious. So, not taking SATs is your DD's choice, knowing she may have to sit it anyway in secondary? Or any negative reaction she may get from her school/ teachers/friends?
If I didn't want my ds to take it, I would take him out now, the build up to the test seems more stressful than test itself... Doing all the preparation and not taking it seems just waste of time.

I think I worded wrong, learning anything, isn't waste of time.

There would be no expectation for her to do badly, in fact the exact opposite.

I'm considering not returning next week.