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Original poster

Reader for SATS yr 6

27 replies

Lumpytits · 08/05/2017 10:31

My son said he will have a reader for Maths in this weeks SATS. He is borderline for achieving the required standard for Maths. However his English/Reading is very good. He did reach the expected levels for all subjects in Yr5. I am confused as to why the school has given him a reader???

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Allthebestnamesareused · 08/05/2017 10:36

Does he have any problems recognising numbers in their written form? Readers for maths can only point at the mathematical symbols and not say them out loud eg. + = etc.

Original poster
Lumpytits · 08/05/2017 10:42

No. The school have never mentioned it either.

OP posts:
sazzleevans · 08/05/2017 10:59

If he is taught with extra help in a small group the test can be done the same way with a reader. My daughter is dyslexic and she has a reader for maths but they can't provide it for the English as the idea is they are testing your reading.

Original poster
Lumpytits · 08/05/2017 11:47

For the last few months, since they started practice SATS papers, he has been in a maths group that gets a bit more help. I was told this was nothing to worry about. Annoys me that he is only getting extra help now to get a potentially inflated maths scoreHmm. Why have they left it until yr 6!Angry

OP posts:
sazzleevans · 08/05/2017 14:56

Yep! That would annoy me too! He's getting the reader for that reason. Imagine if he'd had this support throughout!!

jamdonut · 08/05/2017 17:58

Maybe it helps him to understand the question better if an adult reads it out to him?
I'm a SATS reader...today with the reading test we were just there to chivvy them up a bit, but for tomorrow and the maths tests we are allowed to read the questions if they request it. As someone els said, we can't read symbols out.

mrz · 08/05/2017 18:25

If his reading is good and it's isn't normal classroom practice for him to have a reader the school is breaking the rules.

"Some pupils with specific needs may need additional arrangements to be put in place so that they can take part in the key stage 2 (KS2) tests. Access arrangements are adjustments that can be made to support pupils. Headteachers and teachers must consider whether any of their pupils will need access arrangements before they administer the tests.
Access arrangements should be based primarily on normal classroom practice and they must never provide an unfair advantage. The support given must not change the test questions and the answers must be the pupils’ own.
Failure to apply for, or administer, access arrangements appropriately could result in a maladministration investigation at the school and the pupil’s results may be annulled.
Access arrangements might be used to support pupils:
• who have difficulty reading
• who have difficulty writing
• with a hearing impairment
• with a visual impairment
• who use sign language
• who have difficulty concentrating
• who have processing difficulties

administering the tests
If a school receives a monitoring visit they must allow visitors to: 
see evidence to show that pupils using access arrangements, for example prompters, scribes or readers, are doing so in accordance with normal classroom practice 

RebelRogue · 08/05/2017 18:41

Did he have mocks so far? Did he have a reader for any of them?

lorisparkle · 08/05/2017 18:46

My son has a reader and a scribe and whilst I am thrilled he is now getting the support I did question why he had never had that level of support before. He told me he loves English now and it is such a shame that he has hated it for so long. As you say though they put the support in to boost the schools results rather than for the child

Original poster
Lumpytits · 08/05/2017 19:36

Nope no reader for mocks

OP posts:
mrz · 08/05/2017 19:41

Technically there aren't any mocks but the fact they haven't used a reader in class practice is worrying

user789653241 · 08/05/2017 19:42

If he is a good reader and can read without any problem, what is school trying to do?
Give him the answer?

sazzleevans · 08/05/2017 22:05

They are obviously seeing a need so he has the confidence to answer the questions in the time. They can't give them the answer the reading just helps them as it is not the reading being assessed but the ability to answer the question.

roundaboutthetown · 08/05/2017 22:43

Sounds suspiciously like being so free and easy with your interpretation of the rules that a majority of observers would think you were cheating... unfair on other schools and other children who do not take the piss.

Notcontent · 08/05/2017 23:17

Sounds a bit odd to me if he does not gave problems with reading... For the maths reasoning papers, reading the question carefully and not missing out vital bits of information is part of what is being rested, so this would seem to potentially give him an unfair advantage... My dd is very good at maths but prone to rushing and misreading the question at times - this would probably help her!!!

Fififi17 · 09/05/2017 02:05

My son has a reader but has an EHC plan and is not at the expected level. In our school there are v few that have readers and the vast majority of those children that do have an EHC plan . I agree it is a bit odd for the school to do this without explaining what the reasoning is behind it i.e. He had an assessment and a particular need was identified.

SkeletonSkins · 09/05/2017 07:01

notcontent encourage her to put her hand up and have questions read to her. She can have any question read to her that she asks for if she puts her hand up.

Feenie · 09/05/2017 07:02

They are obviously seeing a need so he has the confidence to answer the questions in the time

But they can't make that decision without adhering a strict set of procedures.

Wh0Kn0wsWhereTheTimeGoes · 09/05/2017 07:18

All children can ask to have questions read apart from in the reading test (if I understand correctly), is it possible that this is what he's been told but he is interpreting this as him having a reader?

MrsKCastle · 09/05/2017 07:26

Yes, in the maths paper they cannot have any question read to them. When I taught Y6 we were told to strongly encourage them to put their hands up and ask for a question to be read if they weren't sure about it. It really helped all the children to hear it aloud, even the best readers. However, the school should not be assigning individual readers without a solid reason.

MrsKCastle · 09/05/2017 07:27

They can have any question read.

Potato155 · 09/05/2017 22:23

All a reader can do is read the questions. They cannot change the wording or assist the children in any other way. From my personal experience of being a Year 6 teacher for the past 5 years, some children can focus better if the question is read to them rather than staring blankly at a page for ages. And yes, we can read every single question to every single child if they wish however this is not usually the case and children are left to work at their own pace unless they require extra time. The extra time has to be registered a while back and in my school it is not to help us get better results, merely help the child(ren) in question.

user789653241 · 10/05/2017 06:56

There's a thread on secondary ed about a pupil with boosted sats results having a difficulty in secondary school.
School seems to do their best to boost pupil's attainment, but what about afterwards?

LoveGrammarHateBrexit · 10/05/2017 07:04

A lot of the time when the questions are read to them in tests, children understand the question better.

DS was told that if he was asked if he wanted the question read to him, he should always say "yes".

LoveGrammarHateBrexit · 10/05/2017 07:05

Notcontent

Children are allowed to put their hands up during maths SATs and have the questions read to them.