If parents don't agree with SATs for 7 year olds, and teachers don't, and heads don't ...

[Twiglett]

then why do we still have them?

(Or else KS1 is same week as KS2...???)

Surely the whole concept of SATS and the NC came about when it was discovered that in fact it was perfectly possible for a child to reach the age of 16 and be discovered to be functionally illiterate having never been formally tested? Personally, I think the ability to read, write and perform everyday arithmetic is absolutely essential to be able to cope in the world whether you're destined to be a brickie or a neurologist. I'd hope that any reasonable primary school would be actively working towards addressing learning difficulties in its children and not to needs SATS to highlight a problem but let's face it, the existence of SATS has caused several school sto buck their ideas up once it became apparent that their ability to teach could be quantified!

And whoever said something about which right-minded parent takes any notice of SATS and league tables, I'd reply just about every man-jack amongst us! It's practically all we have to assess an unknown school, within the context of its OFSTED report, of course.

And incidentally, my DS1 had no idea he was doing SATS at 7 which is as it should be but I do want a certain amount of pressure to be applied once the KS2 SATS happen. I want him to know he's being tested and that he has to try to do his best. Like in real life, really.

we just had a meeting at my dd's school re yr 2 SATs.. they said they call them quizzes & that the children love them, this is true in dds case certainly. they also said that if for some reason a child did unexpectedly badly they could take into account their normal standard of work & use that to mark them.
all in all they were pleasantly laid-back about it, which seemed right for their age, assuming they have to do them.

I have found them very beneficial, older DC's were told by teachers at parents evenings that they were doing fine nothing to worry about until reaching secondary school when DS1 was put into lower sets - why wasn't I told this at primary school.

With my younger DC's there were levels on a written report at the end of each year so I could see exactly where the school thought the weaker areas were and could work on it in plenty of time.