SATs reading comprehension

[Avala2019]

Doing some prep at home with DS for the upcoming SATs. He is consistently getting only 35/50 for the reading comp as he runs out of time. No idea why as he is a good/fast reader and practising doesn't seem to be helping. He seems phased by the 3 different texts and the sheer number of questions. Trying to help with and wondering the best advice to give. I thought he should spend 5 minutes reading each text then answer the question but maybe I should tell him NOT to read the texts but just skim/extract information. Or should he read the questions first so he knows what to look for? Does anyone have any advice how to help him. He's getting more and more stressed and I'm worried he'll end up in a low set at secondary unless he scores more highly.

A score of 35 puts him firmly into the expected range and is therefore a ‘pass’. I wouldn’t worry about it.

Only? If he 'only' scores 35 the week after next, he most definitely won't be in a 'lower' set.

Thanks all. Any tips though on how he could speed up? Frustrating as he gets all the answers right but really struggles to finish the paper.

Does it matter? Sats count for nothing. Stop practicing at home. Forget about it.

Ok! Practising does not seem to be helping anyway!

I would leave it to be honest. we haven't done any SATs prep at home and certainly won't be doing any this weekend. If he "only" gets 35 then IF the secondary school use SATs scores to set then he will end up in the set that will move at the right pace for him. If you push him and manage to get the mark up a bit he may still end up in the same set anyway or he might end up feeling out of his depth in a higher set. Far better to be comfortable in a set, especially at the start of secondary school than feel you are struggling. The school might do their own tests anyway as many realise SATs are utter rubbish. Lots at our school seem to be suddenly entitled to extra time. These are children I have known since they were 3/4 and I honestly have never been remotely aware of any of them being particularly slow or struggling or having any issues, they just do better if given extra time in the tests, obviously. most people would. but it will skew their scores and in the long run wouldn't help them in the future because they might struggle to keep up.

Thanks nonickname. I was actually wondering the same myself. We had DS tested for ASD when he was 8 and is flagged up that he has v slow processing speed. We consulted an education specialist who said he should be given extra time for test but we never acted on it. Is this sufficient basis to ask the school that he be given extra time?

The closing date for applications for extra time was two weeks ago.

as Feenie said applications for extra time had to be submitted in advance a couple of weeks ago. It is however something that the staff could raise if there is a handover to Year 7.

If he is eligible for extra time because of SEN you've missed the deadline unfortunately. I would get on top of this for secondary school assessments as he will not be showing his full potential without the leveller of extra time. If you haven't already I would make contact with he Senco at his next school either via the current class teacher or calling up the school direct. Useful to get this info passed on now and have any discussions about support or accommodations. He sounds like the kind of kid who could go unnoticed if he is getting decent scores despite the slower processing speed.

I am at a school that sets by SATsin year 7. Let him work at his own pace, it is very obvious which children were helped too much in year 6 as they cant keep up with the pace of the class. They then feel like they are failing, when the would do just fine in a lower group.

By year 11 they need to have made a certain amount of progress from ks2 and again if they fall off their flight path then it impacts their self esteem.

Let him attain whatever he can naturally otherwise you aren’t doing him any favours long-term

In the nicest possible way, is his stress coming from you?

Most children struggle to finish it in time- it is a lot to get through in the time. Last year that mark would have got him a scaled score of 106.

A pass is 100
110 is 'higher standard'
Last year the average score was 105.

So what on earth are you worrying about and making him sit practice papers for? For him to be 'constantly' getting 35, how many have you made him do?

Spend the weekend out in the sunshine chilling after all the crappy rain we've had.

Ok, thanks all. I will go and chill out! DS is also chilling out with a bumper session of fortnite :) He is managing the timing of the other papers just fine and I thought I was helping him by practising as much as possible as he has had no help at school. Other kids have had help and I thought he should but teacher didn't seem to think he needed it. Comforting to know other kids find it hard to get through.

If he gets 35 in all his tests for English, he’ll be absolutely fine. They add the scores up and it’s out of 100 I think. He’ll be well within expected standards. I think for maths it’s out of 110.

If a child in my class was getting scores of 35, I wouldn't be giving them extra help either. He's obviously progressing well from the general class teaching and is no where near needing extra support.

Please chill out. Play a bit of fortnite yourself maybe?! If you encourage him to speed up now you risk him rushing and making silly mistakes. My daughter isn't revising, they've done enough practice this last week at school.