Y6 & SATs - what did you do / plan on doing

[MissEDashwood]

Hi there,

We've not really heard anything about SATs, but I know they can be a big deal at this age, as they're often used to help put children in the right groups at Secondary School.

I was wondering had any parents given them much thought? Do you anticipate doing extra work at home to give them the best possible chance?

Are there any websites that jazz it all up, so the child is learning and it's an enjoyable experience? I think the BBC has a good selection of resources. Are there any books that stand out fro the rest?

Is your attitude in line with school that they are important, or are you indifferent, your DC will achieve what they achieve with minimal stress?

I just wondered what other parents view points are, as I've got the idea of incentivising grades with money, plus doing extra work, mock papers etc to support DD in the best possible way.

Part of me thinks it's extra stress not needed, the other part wants her to put all her effort in, incentivising and end extra support, if made fun won't be a big deal.

With school starting I'm on the fence and need to decide what to do. So opinions of every perspective are welcome.

Thank you 

I will make sure he is well rested and completes reasonable homework. I will not mention SATs unless he brings it up. Even if Secondary School use them for setting that will only be initially until they have completed in house assessments and movement betweens sets is always possible. I literally couldn't care less about SATs

The old 'levels' don't exist anymore. The school will provide info about how children are assessed though, I sure.

I did nothing with dd1. Her teachers approach was also very laid back, much more so than most other schools I've heard of. Most of her friends in others schools seemed to have endless revision papers sent home as home work, I think dd had one or two.

She had a lovely year 6 and didn't feel pressured at all.
She did very well in her SATs and ended up in top sets for secondary. In October they all had to sit CAT tests anyway and children were moved up and down accordingly.

So really just let them enjoy their last year of primary. They will have enough real stress and hard work in years to come.

People go craxy around SATs here. Mixed w/c m/c area but so much pressure at school to do well and emphasis on sats at every meeting it seems. revision guides now being given out in year 2 :(

I'd like to completely buck the trend and homeschool for year 6. My child doesn't want me to though!!

They spend year 6ncramming for days it seems such a wasted year.

I like flowerys approach better. Our school seems to think this is the way it is for everyone.

The mum of one of my dd's classmates is going to spend his Y6 home schooling him as they travel around the world.

I saw a flier for 11+ tutoring aimed at children in Y3 in the library today btw.

Oh wow. if we had more money I'd love to do a world trip!!

We won't be doing anything SATS related at home - unless school set anything as homework, in which case we'll encourage completion but not force it. DD has been told that the results of the SATS won't mean anything for her personally, and that they're really to test whether her teachers have covered everything they should have done over the last 4 years.

We have an 11+ to get through in 3 weeks time, and after she's done that, as long as she does her best then we've said we don't mind what she does for the rest of year 6. She's been working through the holidays, a little bit most days, as well as doing her holiday homework, and I'd quite like her last year of primary to be as stress free as possible.

were in an 11+ area and to be honest that worries me more. How to prepare a child without makingnthemnfeel a failure of they don't pass/put too much emphasis on it!!

I mentioned the incentive today, DD said well if I get L4's that's still a lot of money.

I think just try and get the cognitive stuff on track, apart from that no pressure only support.

There isn't a level 4 to get as others have said in the new curriculum it's simply a case of having achieved the expected standard (a scale score of 100) exceeding (this year a scale score of 110 but this can change) or not (a scale score of 99 or lower).

I'm surprised your daughter thinks there are levels as they were scrapped a few years ago.

I just wondered are you or school using old SATs paper or something if still talking about levels? Very weird. And old level4 at end of yr6 isn't good anymore, it's more like lv5 in terms of old levels, is expected these days at end of yr6 I believe. Yet it's irrelevant since level don't exist anymore and new SATs are totally different.

I planned not to give a toss and told DD the same!!
They were for the school not her and I didn't want her under pressure. She did well but that was down to ability rather than any preparation

DD said well if I get L4's that's still a lot of money.

Then she's going to be confused and disappointed, as levels in SATs (and elsewhere) haven't existed since 2015. Since Summer 2016, Year 6 SATs have been scored using a scaled scoring system, with a maximum of 120 and "expected" score of 100. Why are you talking about levels with her?

Ds1 did SATs last year - and until the exams dud nothing but SATs at school. On that basis the last thing he needed was to be doing more at home. But then he's always been a hard worker.

I think incentivising your dd with money is a terrible idea tbh. The idea that her education is for her benefit is one that's worth stressing early on. A little unecpected treat here and there along the way, for effort made, is about as far as I'd go.

My DC did them in May. I did nothing over and above what school did. Schools varied widely, I heard all sorts of things from mums with kids at other schools. DD's school didn't seem to mention it until after Feb half term then did papers in class. I recall a few tests/part tests for weekend homework too but not reams. They went in at Easter for two half days too (optional). Mine had done 11+ the September prior (not superselective) and the SATS were very mild in comparison.

Stress-wise, 11+ was a piece of piss compared to SATS. The main difference was that my DD worked alone for the 11+ and had no contemporaries to discuss it with, but for SATs the whole year group had been whipped up to the edge of hysteria and the continual discussion about who had found what easy, what answers they had put etc. fuelled the stress no end.

DS1 is moving to sec school now and did sats last year. I was so pleased that the school took a very relaxed attitude towards the test. Other schools in my local area put a lot of pressure on children, send home practice papers from Christmas, and lots of the school work is to teach to the test. Our school didn't do any of this, allowed children extra playtime leading up to the test/extra art, music etc. We worked on a few things at home such as the grammar, and a few maths things that he wasn't sure about but that's it. He scored 108/112/118 on his tests so pressure is not needed to help children do well.

Our experience was the exact reverse Tick shows how much schools differ. Dd did get fed up of going over Sats paper answers in class as they went through every incorrect answer as a whole class so if you had gone none/1 wrong it dragged. But they were only doing that towards end.