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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Y2 SATS: why oh why oh why?

21 replies

BarefootDancer · 21/05/2007 21:57

Why oh why oh why do they do this to our children (and our teachers)?
Why do they have to subject them to exams at the age of 6/7. To keep the stress levels high and stamp on the process of enjoyment in teaching and learning?
Effing bean counting effing bureaucrats.

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RosaLuxembourg · 21/05/2007 22:12

Well my DD2 is doing her Year 2 writing SATs tomorrow and I spent today being a parent helper on a fun outing to the seashore with her class. Everyone was having a great time and nobody was stressing about SATs. I understand that it happens in some schools but many schools do NOT put pressure on children and they do not find the tests - they are not exams - onerous or stressful.

babygrand · 21/05/2007 22:12

The statistics are about the school, not about the individual children.

Original poster

BarefootDancer · 21/05/2007 22:16

Yes I know all that, and our school also 'plays down' Y2 Sats, but the children all know they are doing them and some are getting anxious. My ds has picked up on this and has gone to bed worrying that he won't be able to answer the 100 science questions that get harder and harder tomorrow.

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mynaughtylittlesister · 21/05/2007 22:16

My DD also went on a sch trip near the sea today!!!! she is also in the middle of her SATs. The children do not know they are being tested. Last week they were told that if they wrote a story about a pebble for the Head to read and if it was good enough then on Friday they could dress up as pirates for a reward! (they have been doing pirates in topic!)

Ellbell · 21/05/2007 22:17

They have science? I thought it was just literacy and numeracy?

JodieG1 · 21/05/2007 22:18

We haven't decided yet if ours will even take them. If it starts to upset them then I'll pull them from the exams. Dd starts yr 1 in Sept so we'll see how things go.

mynaughtylittlesister · 21/05/2007 22:19

Im really surprised that children are aware, my DD is normally on the ball and not much gets past her, she also has 2 older siblings and still she knows nothing. I think its sad if they find out, poor things

Original poster

BarefootDancer · 21/05/2007 22:22

How can the children not knw they are being tested? They have to be sat separately so they dont copy. The teacher has to read them out the rules of the test. They are given a special booklet to fill in.
How are teachers supposed to make this all into a game when they are under pressure to get the results recorded?
Yes, apparently they do have science in Y2.

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Original poster

BarefootDancer · 21/05/2007 22:23

And Jodie, I hope they have abolished Y2 sats by the time your child reaches that age. Why should you have to make decisions like that based on whether it will stress out your child. They are only 7!

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JodieG1 · 21/05/2007 22:27

I hope so too as I'm quite against children this young being tested.

mynaughtylittlesister · 21/05/2007 22:28

The children are told its secret squirrel work, they do this quite regulary and its not made to be anything out of the ordinary.

Original poster

BarefootDancer · 21/05/2007 22:33

So do the teachers take the parents aside and tell them not to mention sats/tests but to expect secret squirrel work to be going on?

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RosaLuxembourg · 21/05/2007 22:33

They are not being tested. The school is being tested to see if it is teaching them the basic English, Maths and Science that they need to know. Nobody is judging the children, if anyone is being judged it is the teacher. I don't see any reason for children to be stressed about SATs. I have always told mine that they are just to check if the school is teaching them properly and they have always been quite happy with that esplanation.

mynaughtylittlesister · 21/05/2007 22:37

No. The parents are not told anything, but if you ask any of the children they all come out with the story of doing good work for the pirate day or they are doing secret squirrel, so far as much as Im aware it hasnt gone any further!

JodieG1 · 21/05/2007 22:37

The children are being tested though. If it's just the teacher that is being tested then take them and test their teacher skills rather than test the whole year group. I don't believe that testing children gives an accurate account of how good a teacher is.

Original poster

BarefootDancer · 21/05/2007 22:38

Yes, but Rosa, they test the schools by testing the children. Call it secret squirrel work or whatever it is still the children who are forced to sit down and do the tests.
It is completely crazy IMO.

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Original poster

BarefootDancer · 21/05/2007 22:39

so, mnls, how do you know that secret squirrel work is sats?
I wonder what is pirate work!

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mynaughtylittlesister · 21/05/2007 22:42

Pirate work is the topic that they have been working on since Easter. I also work in the sch so Im aware what is going on, just not when!

RosaLuxembourg · 21/05/2007 22:45

I think people get very precious about the SAT business. A lot of children like doing them - mine do. Personally, I grew up in a country where we had regular testing and it didn't traumatise anyone particularly. If you don't assesss what a child has learned how can you tell what they need to be taught? Do you want whole cohorts of children going through the system with no effort being made to ensure that they can read, write and count. That's what used to happen in many schools - SATs have forced them to be more accountable and to quantify and justify their expectations for their pupils. I think it is a hugely positive thing.

Original poster

BarefootDancer · 21/05/2007 22:48

Surely a good teacher will know what the children have learned and what they need to be taught?

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RosaLuxembourg · 21/05/2007 22:55

Yes, of course a good teacher will know this. But children have a new teacher every year. The SAT results constitute a measurable record of progress so that a child's attainment can be tracked throughout their school career. From the parent's point of view, being able to track a child's progress in this way means that you can be sure you know how your child is doing - personally I feel it is much more helpful to know - well X got a level 2a in Maths last year and this year she got 3b rather than the vague 'X is doing fine'. It means if your child starts to fall behind you know about it in time to do something to help.

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