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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

Y6 Maths Sats

27 replies

ihearttc · 20/03/2016 18:10

DS1 was up until the end of Y5 a level 6B in Maths...they still gave the NC levels on the report at the end of the summer term even though they had been scrapped.

He did his Mock Sats last week and got the results on Friday and has been stressing the entire weekend about how badly he thinks he has done. As far as I can understand from him it was one paper in particular he found really difficult. Does anyone know how the marking system goes yet just so I can give him some indication of how he did?

He apparently got 32 on the Arithmetic Paper but didn't finish it, 33 on Reasoning Paper 3 and then 24 on Reasoning Paper 2 which was the one he found really hard. Think that makes 89 in total.

I know its no indicator of what will happen in the real ones but he has always found maths relatively easy so its come as a bit of a shock to him.

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Washediris · 20/03/2016 18:15

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mrz · 20/03/2016 18:19

www.gov.uk/government/publications/2016-key-stage-2-mathematics-sample-test-materials-mark-schemes-and-test-administration-instructions

BetweenTwoLungs · 20/03/2016 18:20

It's impossible for us to know, the government has not released any threshold or grade boundary so it's all guesswork at the minute. All we know at the moment is that after the children have sat the tests and they have been marked, the government will decide on a score which indicates whether the child is working at Year 6 standard or not. We are guessing that this score in maths may be around 60, although this is a complete guess. It's likely that there will be a threshold for children working 'above year 6 level', although again we have no idea what this would be. It may not even exist.

Those are pretty good scores, the reasoning papers are tough. You can get some good practice papers from CGP pretty cheaply that I would recommend.

spanieleyes · 20/03/2016 18:25

No body knows yet, we won't know until after the tests have been taken.
89 is still a good score-out of my 9 year 6's just two scored more when we took the papers recently. Reasoning paper 2 we found the hardest and most of mine were scoring in the twenties, reasoning paper 1 we didnt find as bad but 2/3 of mine scored more than 32 on the arithmetic paper-he really needs to practice that one to get the timing right ( we use twinkl half papers each week as practice, these have helped the class scores improve considerably)

Unfortunately we are working in the dark a bit at the moment-which doesn't help those who like reassurance-something we can't really give. All we can say is, you do the best you can!

Original poster

ihearttc · 20/03/2016 18:45

Thank you that's really helpful. They have been doing the CGP revision guides but not got any test papers...will look at those. Would they have practice Arithmetic ones as well? I think he is frustrated cause he knows that he can do them just ran out of time...he tends to flap when under pressure which doesn't help.

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Original poster

ihearttc · 20/03/2016 18:50

Oh and meant to say that only one boy in his class finished the arithmetic one and he scored full marks (he does maths for fun though-DS isn't that dedicated!)...so I'm thinking they can't have done much timed practice so that's definitely something to work on.

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TeenAndTween · 20/03/2016 18:52

To be honest, if he was a 6b end of year 5 I think you should both stop stressing.

He is obviously very able in maths and definitely ready for secondary. Even if he wrote nothing in his actual maths SATs that situation wouldn't change (though I accept it might take his secondary school longer to get a handle on his ability).

The parents who need to be concerned are those like me who have a DC who is only at L3 in 'old money' who at this time is not secondary ready.

Original poster

ihearttc · 20/03/2016 19:00

He is worried because the secondary he is going to streams maths from day one and they are notoriously bad for changing groups throughout the year. I think it's concerning him because something that he has always found relatively easy (unlike Literacy) he is now finding more difficult. And I'm only concerned because my laid back 10 year old has spent all last week worrying about stupid tests that shouldn't really matter at all so I just wanted to find out something to try and stop him worrying.

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Zipitydooda · 20/03/2016 19:04

Sorry for asking but why does it matter?
My ds is doing y6 SATS but not with stress or practice papers and scores as far as either of us are aware.
He'd also be likely to be level 6 in old SATS so he's obviously doing well and I'm sure he'll be fine whatever he scores. Is there any reason to be concerned? The secondaries test using CAT(?) tests and even if they use SATS for setting initially I'm sure they move children around.

TeenAndTween · 20/03/2016 19:06

That's fair enough if they set based on SATs and they are poor at moving sets around.

Smartiepants79 · 20/03/2016 19:08

If he was honestly a 6b last year then these papers really should be a doddle for him.
I have a few children working at what would have been the equivalent of the old 5c/b (and that's me being kind) in my current yr6 group. They all got similar marks to your son in practice tests this month.
I agree though, no one knows what the bench marks will be yet and it's certainly not work weeks of worry.
Twinkl website has several practice tests, especially the arithmetic one.
Arithmetic is out of 40 other 2 papers out of 35.

mrz · 20/03/2016 19:08

Not all secondaries use CATs it doesn't seem to be used at all in our local schools

spanieleyes · 20/03/2016 19:10

The CGP ones are easier than the sample papers IMO, whether they reflect the actual tests or not is anyone's guess.

Original poster

ihearttc · 20/03/2016 19:32

I think he was probably just a level 6 but not as high as a 6b despite what the report said. It wouldn't surprise me if he had gone down a lot in his abilities this year anyway...he has had a bit of an awful year not at school but at home with lots of personal stuff going on which is out of his control so has been very preoccupied at school.
I think in his head this is something that he can control hence why he is worried about it. I couldn't give 2 hoots what level he gets but he does. And the reason he knows scores and levels is because they are given out in his group within the class so they all know what "score" each other gets. Stupid idea in my opinion but I've spoken to school about it and they refuse to change their system.

I queried the streaming of classes at the open evening for the high school and they said they base them on the levels given from Y6 (I assume from SATS) and from the Y6 teacher assessments so I assume they don't do any other testing. My friends daughter is excellent at English but falls apart in tests and ended up in nearly the bottom set until April of Y7 when they reassessed everyone hence why I know they don't move people around.

He is good at maths but certainly not anything out of the ordinary so I think it might be a combination of slightly over inflated levels last year, lack of focus this year and the fact that they are harder than he anticipated.

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TeenAndTween · 20/03/2016 19:34

But the bottom line is that if your son is a 6b or so he will be in the top 5/10% of the cohort.

It doesn't really matter where they decide to draw arbitrary lines in the SATs results. Every child could be given 'working towards' but your son would still be near the top.

spanieleyes · 20/03/2016 19:38

The structure of the tests is also different, previously he would have had a mental maths test and two other papers which, whilst more problem based also included straight forward calculations ( and the children were also allowed a calculator.) This year the tests "feel" different and some children have found the changeover difficult to adjust to. I'm sure-with a bit more practice-he will be fine ( and 89 is still high!)

Original poster

ihearttc · 20/03/2016 19:45

No I know TeenandTween but he has nothing to compare the mark to if that makes sense? He has no self confidence at all and genuinely thinks he is useless at everything so in his eyes he has "failed" despite me and the teacher telling him otherwise.
I was simply looking for some reassurance regarding the marks so I could show him in black and white that he is "working at expected level" or "working above". I know nothing about how many marks the papers were out of so I didn't even know if he'd even managed to get half of them correct so couldn't offer him any reassurance.

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Washediris · 20/03/2016 19:45

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BetweenTwoLungs · 20/03/2016 19:58

Info I've had is that CGP are a bit easier, Twinkl are a bit harder. A mix of both probably good.

Washediris · 20/03/2016 20:03

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LynetteScavo · 20/03/2016 20:11

I've given up.

DD got a 2b in Y2. She would have got a 4b in Y6. She won't be "secondary ready" though.

If he was a 6b last year, he will do better than most kids this year.

DDs school recently had a SATs meeting, where we were told DC had to practice over Easter, turn up on the day evening if they were dying, etc. Then the HT said "It's only a test. If they mess up it won't affect the rest of their lives. Secondary schools will test them again in September anyway.....and really I'm the only person who's being tested in May. I need to show that the children in this school are being taught properly. Which is why, if you break down on the way to school during SATs week please phone the school, and I will come and pick you up."

It all seems to be so up in the air.....I'm not clear about marks etc. But I bet you will be able to show your DS when results are out how well he's done. Hopefully that will give him a boost.

I will be doing my best for DD not to find out her results. I don't need her comparing herself to others aged 10. How is that mentally healthy?

TeaBelle · 20/03/2016 20:23

When you say that the secondary school are rubbish at moving people around, if they moved your friend's dd in April (easter) and they are likely to do another shift in September, that's 2 rearrangements per year. That's great. I thought you now meant it took years to move. There's no way secondary could be adjusting sets each week

spanieleyes · 20/03/2016 20:25

Nor should it take from September to April to realise that a child is not in a set that matches their ability!

Original poster

ihearttc · 20/03/2016 20:31

Exactly my point Spanieleyes...7 months in a set which was way way below what she was capable of.

Obviously it's impractical to be moving sets constantly but that's an awfully long time to be "stagnant".

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TeenAndTween · 20/03/2016 20:32

Tea DD1's old school (DD2's to-be school) shifted maths if needed at every half term and every end of term in y7. It is very good at adjusting setting if need be. DD1 even moved up sets in maths between y10 and y11.

Lynette I have also been debating not telling DD2 her results. In practice tests so far she has been getting around 5/35 on the wordy maths papers... Telling her she got a level3 wouldn't have been so bad, but if I have to say she is at 'pre KS2' or whatever it will sound so depressing for her.

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