Year 2 SATS Help

[ClareL]

My DDs school still test their children with the SATS tests even though it is no longer required. I think they use it as a idea as to how the children are progressing etc. I was wondering if anybody could give me some kind of idea as to what these tests involve - as least I will know roughly where my DD will need to be concentrating.

Does anybody know if SATS are still used in Year 2 - or is it just year 6 now?

Any help please.

Do you know, I'd misread the thread title? I thought we were talking about KS2 SATS (which are done in Y6), not Y2 SATS. Duh!

That said, my views are even more of the "don't do anything extra" vein. Children in Y2 aren't even supposed to know they are doing the tests. They are meant to be done as part of the normal classroom activities, just being observed and assessed by the staff, plus some actual papers - but these too are papers the children are used to and they don't realise they are any different.

The most important factor in your child's education, more important that the standard of the school or the teachers, is parental involvement. If you are showing an interest and getting involved in your child's education (and that doesn't mean buying in extra exam papers), then your child will probably perform to the best of their ability.

Those of you here who are posting are clearly interested in and getting involved in your child's education. There was an article in the Observer this weekend which stated that research showed there was no proven benefit to children doing homework before secondary level. So presumably buying extra papers would have the same effect.

Smiley - x post. Stay c-a-l-m
The teacher will be far more worried than you should be - she's the one who will be judged.

I'm with Batters and fortyplus re practising and worrying about sats papers. I honestly wouldn't worry about it. My DD will be doing them too, but I haven't even looked at them. Was just interested because I thought you meant year 2 hadn't covered division yet.

Freckle - you are so right

Just to reiterate.

He's NOT doing any papers, I just looked at some.

TBH we only just have enough time to do all his homework and reading without any extra anyway.

The old practice maths paper my son did this morning two of the questions he got wrong were the subtraction question. He should be able to do this before divison.

Division does not come into the sat papers until level 3. Year 2 children are only expected to get level 2. If they get a lvele 3 at this stage they are very very clever. So do not worry about division, just concerntrate on adding, subtracting and alittle bit of multiplying. Just 2, 5 and 10 times table.

Good luck. At least my sister, who is a teacher, can help me out if needed.

With regard to there being more difficult questions on the papers, remember that there are several different levels covered by each paper. In KS1, children are expected to reach Level 2 (a, b or c). Some children will reach Level 3, whilst a few others might even reach Level 4. The vast majority of children in Y2 will not be expected to answer the questions which would give them a Level 4 score.

So if you feel your child would not be able to cope with some of the questions, don't worry. They are not meant to. Those questions are there to catch the exceptionally bright and able children.

Also, children improve in spurts and at different rates. I think Ronniebaby was concerned that her son's teacher had said he was still at the same level he had been in Y1. Well, maybe he improved dramatically between YR and Y1 and his brain is taking a little break before another spurt.

You can't get level 4 from a ks1 paper. Children believed to be capable of a level 4 may also take the KS2 paper.

That's right. I've only ever known 3 or 4 children to be put in for the ks2 maths test - and none for english.
Same story at ks2 - in the past 5 years only 3 or 4 kids have been put in for the level 6 test at ks2. The ks2 tests only go up to level 5.

The Level 6 paper was abolished about 5 years ago, that'll be why!