Key stage 1 please explain

[Nellia]

Could someone please explain how the key stage papers work in year 2. Teacher keeps sending DS home with papers shea done at school and the marks but I have no idea if her marks are good average etc. Asked the teacher and all she says is no one knows ....

For the most recent papers, if you google KS1 scaled score conversion you can convert the marks into scaled scores which will tell you how your child is doing ( 100 is expected in Summer, 110 is higher standard)

........although why any year 2 teacher is sending papers home they have done in school is beyond me.

Thanks still confused as there are only 25 questions on the maths paper they sent home where as the raw score goes beyond this. Am I missing something.
Also why would they not send the practice papers home. I thought it was just so parents would know how children are doing??

There are two maths papers per set, an arithmetic and a reasoning paper, the score would be the total. Are the papers set official test papers or just question papers from elsewhere?

I'm just questioning why they are doing practice papers in February when
a) they have only taught half the curriculum
b) they don't need to be testing children yet, they need to be teaching them!

And 3) the teacher assessments are the only results that ultimately have to be reported to you and relies set of objectives for which most of the evidence will be given from classwork anyway and sometimes doesn't match the tests at all.

Are they sending them home so you can see where any strengths or weaknesses are? If that was my DS I wouldn't pay any attention to the overall score but I would look at any areas I could help with. For example, if I could see he was always getting the subtraction questions wrong I would work on those.

Relies on

We get these sent home too. I'm not bothered about the score, and I know it's to show how well schools are doing etc. However it's been really interesting to see how the questions are written. It's been able to help me help my son with reading & understanding the question at a greater depth & what it's asking for etc. Especially with the reading papers. So he isn't racing through things which he loves to do!

It's been able to help me help my son with reading & understanding the question at a greater depth & what it's asking for etc.

Working on exam technique with a 6yo. What has it all come to?

It's just helped with his comprehension. Trust me I'm not one to force these things but if he gets homework we do it. He rushes through books & reads well but doesn't take notice of what he's read. So answering questions on something he read doesn't come easy. Yet a little paragraph & a question written down & I'm able to point out the bits it's asking so they jump out at him easier. Seems to be helping him get the info out of the text instead of just racing through reading it.

It's been able to help me help my son with reading & understanding the question at a greater depth

Depends what you mean by greater depth - if you mean the official teacher assessment award at the end of KS1, the tests don't test greater depth.

Teacher assessment at KS1 is based on mostly classwork - if a child has met all of the objectives in their work (and any Y2 teacher will be making absolutely sure that hapoens) then the test is largely redundant. Which is why they shall shortly be disappearing.

spanieleyes thanks thats clarified how it works. Found the other paper.

Mine also rushes through things so I guess looking at types of questions they struggle with is a way of supporting learning at home where needed.

There are only two papers 2016 and 2017. The raw score is converted to a scale score.
As Feenie says the test results aren't reported they are simply one piece of evidence carrying no more weight that any other work carried out over the whole year.

Yeah, I'd agree with MN teachers, just trying to work to improve SATS score is pointless. If you want to improve reading comprehension, you should aim to work on them more longer term with daily reading, not just for sats.

Why don't you just read amazing books with him? Make sure you pick out the very best quality children's literature and read to him and discuss it every single day. Take him to museums and get him to read the signs and then explain the display in his own words. Get him to read recipes and then explain to you what you need to do.

Reading paragraphs and dissecting how to answer particular question types on them is not a quality education for a 6 year old.

How do you know we dont do that allready. I dont see anything wrong with trying to understand how children are taught and assesed in school or the schools expectations around what they should know.

The reading assessment requires stamina (quite a lot of reading in a short time) good vocabulary knowledge and ability to skim and scan for answers. But as has already been said the test results aren't reported

Because it's only one test, and actual attainment of end yr2 is not result of sats, but teacher assessment. So working on exam technique to answer question correctly only for sats is pointless. Unless you are doing it for entrance exam for certain school.
If you are generally good at reading, you don't need to be taught how to answer question. Answer is normally there in the text.

Simply because the tests don't give you an indication of how children are taught and assessed in schools or anything about the expectations around what they should know, just a small snapshot of what can be "measured" through a brief written test. They don't tell you anything about the other areas taught and assessed by teachers. The reading expectations for year 2 are to:

develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by:
listening to, discussing and expressing views about a wide range of contemporary and classic poetry, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently
discussing the sequence of events in books and how items of information are related
becoming increasingly familiar with and retelling a wider range of stories, fairy stories and traditional tales
being introduced to non-fiction books that are structured in different ways
recognising simple recurring literary language in stories and poetry
discussing and clarifying the meanings of words, linking new meanings to known vocabulary
discussing their favourite words and phrases
continuing to build up a repertoire of poems learnt by heart, appreciating these and reciting some, with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear
understand both the books that they can already read accurately and fluently and those that they listen to by:
drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher
checking that the text makes sense to them as they read, and correcting inaccurate reading
making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done
answering and asking questions
predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far
participate in discussion about books, poems and other works that are read to them and those that they can read for themselves, taking turns and listening to what others say
explain and discuss their understanding of books, poems and other material, both those that they listen to and those that they read for themselves

the ability to do most of which is impossible to assess through a written test!

Especially when the results of that same test aren't reported.