Failed SATs KS2... What to do?

[Headunderthecovers]

Ds2 got 106 maths, but only 99 in English grammar and 98 in reading . He also failed science. I am worried about implications going forward and what I should do for secondary.

He has concentration and organisation problems. He will literally forget a bag I have just put in his hand or an instruction given a couple of minutes ago.

I struggle to get him to do his homework as anything he can't do straightaway he just gets angry and refuses to do. In fact I struggle to get him to do any work full stop. He is addicted to Minecraft/Roadblox and although I limit his time he swears and shouts when I take him off. He really 'loses' himself. I feel the games are his way of relaxing and he finds it easier to make friends on this forum than at school where he is often made fun of. He struggles to manage his emotions and when I am even mildly reprimanding him he says I am 'shouting' at him despite not raising my voice.

My older children weren't like this at all and Ireally don't know how I should handle him. The older children feel I am too 'soft' with him but I can't take the daily battles. We will have the morning tantrum about clothes sensitivity and the afternoon ones about time limits playing games. He will just shout at me until he gets his own way.

His report says he responds well to one to one adult attention and praise which I would definitely agree with. His dad left last year and he was witness to the fallout from this and I know he struggles with this and his anger increased and he had separation anxiety issues with me.
I have other children, a full time job and my life is a full time balancing act and I feel none of it is done perfectly but I do the best I can.

He is really quite good at maths (and science despite failing his SATs!) and I can see compared to his siblings he is just as 'clever' but doesn't concentrate and work. His report says verbally he is good at coming up with English ideas but not so good at putting these ideas onto paper. We are a very bookish household but whilst he likes being read to he doesn't pick up a book himself.

I desperately want him not to miss out on opportunity at school because of things I could do to help him. He will be going to the local comp and lessons in especially the middling to lower sets can be disruptive and certainly not what he needs.

I'd like some advice on how to help him at home as I feel I am failing badly and not just schoolwork but in managing his emotions and concentration and organisation as this is likely to get him in trouble at secondary school where there more expectation on the child to become independent.

Any ideas and hope for going forward?

My dd2 didn't do sats, as she was home educated in Y6.

She started high school in Y9 and they set her targets. It wasn't a problem at all.

The government had to come up with some reason for SATS to prevent schools and parents withdrawing from them. It's an unfair system as some primary schools are better than others and some over prepare for the tests, so they're not a consistent measure. Much better for schools to use CATS or similar assessments in Y7.

Thank you so much everyone, you've all really helped.

Onwards and upwards with the bumps in the road, which are certainly plentiful recently. This road needs a bit of resurfacing.

Will post at some point about strategies for organisation and concentration and keep a close eye on these and his other needs.

Anyone who has any other advice please post!

schools are constrained though, as, in the end, progress 8 is calculated using progress from KS2 to KS4 and that is what OFSTED will judge a secondary school by. CATS can be used along the way but KS2 is what a student is finally assessed against.

Shipwrecked, but what about the children who make a huge progress during secondary, but was behind/mediocre in primary?
I'm sure they won't be prohibited to go beyond what was expected of them from the test they took few years earlier?

Sorry, I don't really understand the question you are asking of me.

No child is prohibited in my experience. And many students are as you describe. They are encouraged to do the very best that they can.

But the target that is set for GCSE does come from the KS2 exams. It isn't set by the class teacher or department.

"No child is prohibited in my experience" not my experience I know children who were unable to take the higher level GCSE exams so couldn't achieve higher than C grade.

Irvine, I understand what you're saying and I think a child would have a subconscious expectation of themselves depending on SATS results.
I also think it's very unfair on secondary schools to use ks2 sats in Progress 8, as they had no control over their implementation.

We have different experiences of that mrz.

It's never happened in a school I have taught in, in the daprtments I have worked in. Our decision on tier entry has always been based on current progress. Maybe I am just lucky in the schools I have taught in over the years.

I agree with your post, rainbow. And It's certainly unfair. In some respects it's fairer than the straight 5 C grades with English and maths we used to have as it does try to take into account the ability profile of the school. But it's still a very blunt measure of how well a school does for a child.

I think any decent school sees KS2 Sats as guidance but does want to see greater progress than the sats results suggest. If children make more progress, the Progress 8 is better. Why on earth would a decent school limit the prospects of a child who exceeded expectations at secondary school? It makes no sense to do that.

It is perfectly ok to be 98 or 99! On another day it could have been 100 or above. Loads of schools get children just below 100 and are bitterly disappointed that on the day it didn't go better. However it is not a limit on future progress or achievement so it should be forgotten about! Certainly be upbeat about secondary and the need to do well. That's what will count!

What I was meaning was if a child comes from the private sector and no one has done SATS in the school, what then.

Ds failed abysmally all his SATS apart from Maths. He is taking 11 gcse's.

SATS generate expected progress targets for gcse. It might influence setting at the start, but there's usually movement and in my experience it's never fixed exclusively by number/level because you have more kids with those scores than places in a class.

Moving forward, any secondary teacher who has any sense will work with the child, not the target. I've got at least half a dozen students for gcse this year where I'm unofficially raising their target because they can achieve more.

Judging a child in secondary by their SATS score (whether able or less able) is a waste of time in my opinion. But I might be in the minority, I don't know.

I read your OP and immediately thought of DS1, who is currently awaiting his results (they out them in with school report here so next week).

He is very, very similar in his obsession with Minecraft, Roblox and Youtube videos about them too. He seemed to be unable to concentrate on anything else properly and would forget his own head if it screwed off, as my nan would say! He has a real organisational issue, not just practically but also with his own thought processes sometimes iyswim . His handwriting wasn't great either. He is, however, very bright. You can tell this when speaking to him and his teachers would get pretty frustrated with his inability to translate that onto paper. He cannot sit still and fidgets all the time.

Eventually the SENCO recommended he be assessed for ADHD. He received a diagnosis of dyspraxia instead, which fits perfectly as I also have it. He's quite clumsy too, though he didn't struggle with learning to walk etc. so it wasn't picked up sooner. I was extremely clumsy as a child but didn't struggle so much with handwriting and focus, so it hadn't occurred to me it would be that.

Since his diagnosis 18m ago, he has been given extra support at school and has really flourished. His writing is so much better, and his current teacher has helped him with strategies to aid focus and getting all those thoughts of his down on paper. He passed his 11+ which wasn't something I expected tbh before his diagnosis.

I would consider requesting a referral for an assessment, just in case it is something like this. As for the SATS results, I think each school differs in how they use them. DS's school have said they don't use them much really as they test them in Y7 to work out sets.

Thank you Shipwrecked and Super.
If the results of Sats determines children's future, it's such a flawed system. Glad to hear teachers are saying it's not the case, at least at their school.
I think sats are important, but it's just one set of test. Children's future shouldn't rely on just one set of test, after so many years of primary!

Thank you Roomba,

Would you speak to his new senior school about his difficulties?

Interestingly although primary have never said he has any issues apart from being completely disorganised and lack of concentration, he was in the smaller group of children with additional needs (be the medical or emotional taken on a special extra visit to secondary school).

He is visiting next week as part of the move up days as he finishes primary next week.

I just worry he is going to get into trouble and he hates this.

When schools generate their GCSE targets, are they using all 3 SATs results or is it just the reading and maths? Do the actual scores come into it at all?

This is my DS ! He is 9 and in year 5. He is amazing at science, maths, history. Awful at English & handwriting.
Homework is a battle and he has no concept of friendship.
He has just been diagnosed with Autism!
Go to your GP with a list of behaviours and ask for a referral. He needs to struggle in two places do home and school before they will consider diagnosing ... Also look up triad of impairment and see if he fits all 3 areas.
PM me if you like.

"When schools generate their GCSE targets" schools don't generate the targets, they are issued by the DfE.

I thought SATS were supposed to be a reflection on the teaching

What? The teachers don't sit the test! I am a TA and acted as a reader for some children in their Maths SAT this year. One of them got 98. I remember that he knew lots on his paper but made a few silly mistakes and got a few of the harder questions at the end of the paper wrong. He certainly wasn't poor at Maths. I'm glad you are told the actual numeric score as being told FAIL when so close would be soul destroying. As others have said it's not that important at secondary school. They will asses themselves. It is a measure of progress from the end of year 2.

*assess

But the SATS test results are used by schools in league tables and OFSTED use them.

I said they were a reflection on the teaching. Not on the teachers ability to take the exam.

Oliversmumsarmy SATS performance at Primary School will be affected by their basic intelligence, ability to learn, the input of teachers and parental input and support over the years and importantly, how they handle an exam situation on a given day. At my school, teachers and TAs have worked tirelessly with some children to intervene with extra 1:1 tuition and they still haven't passed. Schools can't work miracles!

Thanks mrz. Do you know how the DofE generate them? Are they based on all 3 SATs tests? Do they combine it with CATs tests or do schools do that bit? Does it vary from school to school?

I seem to remember that at DS1's school they initially used the Writing/Reading score but then changed to just the Reading score.

But league tables and Ofsted doesn't affect individual children.
I'd rather my ds had broad teaching than teach to the test.

Your son sounds very similar to mine in terms of his reaction to homework and organisation etc. My son has high functioning ASD, the diagnosis does not change much for him but does help us all to understand him and make allowances. Schools are not always the best at recognising special needs, they usually only pursue if it affects them i.e. your son is disruptive in class. The quiet ones are often overlooked