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Original poster

SATS key1- how worried should I be?

50 replies

PrpleRain · 05/04/2022 05:35

My daughter is in year 2 and will be taking sats in may. She finished year 1 with a great feedback and was above expectations in maths.
We had parents evening yesterday and were told that she is now behind in every subject including maths. I am petrified. The school didn’t alarm us at all there there is any issue.
We plan on doing extra work with her every day but what happens if his results are bad?

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EmmaGrundyForPM · 05/04/2022 05:38

Nothing will happen, KS1 SATS. are just an indicator of how a child is doing.

I would be asking the school why she has apparently dropped in her achievement. And what they plan to do to address this.

LondonGirl83 · 05/04/2022 07:02

Nothing will happen. It’s a benchmark against which the schools progress will be assessed.

Most likely the issue is disrupted learning during COVID so work with school to help her catch up and fill in any gaps.

Baconking · 05/04/2022 07:10

Why are you petrified?

When you say behind do you mean below expected or just not exceeding? KS1 SATS are really not a huge deal and are a marker for the school for when KS2 SATS are taken

HalfShrunkMoreToGo · 05/04/2022 07:21

Nothing happens at all. Yr 2 SATs have no bearing on your child's education, they are just a way to benchmark how well the school is doing not the children.

CaptainMyCaptain · 05/04/2022 07:27

The teacher is concerned because she might not reach her targets and her data won't look good. Your child is probably a bit behind due to covid etc and won't be the only one. If they did have a problem it would be flagged up so they could get some extra help.

SATs are there for testing the teachers and the school. Nothing bad will happen to your child if they are below the target level so you don't need to worry at all.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 05/04/2022 07:32

DD1 didn't do them aa she was to far below standard.
Now in Yr6 and predicted to pass Reading, either pass or nearly pass Writing, and maybe get greater depth in maths.
Its only been this past year where she's really took off. Its a marathon, not a sprint.

These Yr6 ones will effect her Secondary school sets.

CaptainMyCaptain · 05/04/2022 08:03

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

DD1 didn't do them aa she was to far below standard. Now in Yr6 and predicted to pass Reading, either pass or nearly pass Writing, and maybe get greater depth in maths. Its only been this past year where she's really took off. Its a marathon, not a sprint.

These Yr6 ones will effect her Secondary school sets.

Most secondary schools seem to test them again anyway to organise sets - if they even do sets any more. It is often mixed ability at the stage.
Snowdropsarelovely · 05/04/2022 09:24

Honestly, not at all worried – and I'm a teacher! SAT's are for schools more than children. Please don't let your daughter know you are worried about this, I would just ask the school what additional support they are going to provide for her

Gloschick · 05/04/2022 09:38

I wouldn't worry about sats results. That said, if she has gone from doing well at the end of year 1, to struggling in year 2, I would maybe look into it a bit more. Is she being bullied at school? Does she need glasses? Is she having problems hearing the teacher? etc.

CityOfGunthers · 05/04/2022 09:39

You shouldn't give a flying fuck about them. They're a pointless data collecting exercise. I say this as a Year 2 teacher.

RichSherl · 07/04/2022 17:29

Stop pushing your worries onto your child and definitely don't work with them every day - you'll be doing more damage than good!

Pinkflipflop85 · 07/04/2022 18:07

@CityOfGunthers

You shouldn't give a flying fuck about them. They're a pointless data collecting exercise. I say this as a Year 2 teacher.
100% this.

I loved teaching Year 2 but shitty Sats sucks the joy out of it all.

Feenie · 07/04/2022 18:09

Why does it? Same as teacher assessment in any other year, imo. I love teaching Y2, they are my favourite.

Pinkflipflop85 · 07/04/2022 20:37

@Feenie

Why does it? Same as teacher assessment in any other year, imo. I love teaching Y2, they are my favourite.
Depends on the school/leadership.

I taught in a school where assessment/results were everything.

Year 2 basically involved near constant Sats practise/prep.

Feenie · 08/04/2022 10:03

Misunderstanding on the schools’ part of what Y2 assessment consists of, then.

For other posters’ information, the vast majority of the evidence gathered for Y2 teacher assessment is from classwork. A tiny part of the evidence may come from the odd test question, but you’d need more than that to evidence an objective. The tests aren’t even reported anywhere - the teacher assessment is. It’s an indication of where a child is working at during the year, not what they got on a test.

Feenie · 08/04/2022 10:07

Link to the teacher assessment framework here, in case anyone is interested:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-assessment-frameworks-at-the-end-of-key-stage-1

It’s worth noting that no leeway or adjustments have been made to reflect the time at school missed by children being assessed this year, either at Y2 or Y6. It’s highly likely that the percentage achieving the so-called standard will dip significantly therefore - how could it not?

Shiteshow100 · 08/04/2022 10:16

Don't.. my son is so worried about his SATS that it's actually really sad. I hate they think it's ok to pile this pressure on such young children. All it does is decide what group/set they will be in for secondary school.

WombatChocolate · 08/04/2022 10:23

They are a formal recorded attainment level.

Especially for children who start a new school for KS2, they are the starting measure at which they’re judged and expectations set for junior years.

Those with higher KS1 SATS will have more expected of them in KS2. And not surprisingly there is a correlation between KS1 scores and KS2 scores…..and all the way through to GCSE and A Level. Yes, this is on a macro level and there will be individuals who don’t fit the trend, but across whole cohorts, the early results do indicate likely outcomes.

It never hurts to show an interest in this stuff. KS1 children probably will barely know it’s happening and rightly it’s very low key. However, those who say they have zero interest in it and it doesn’t matter at all, miss the point that it reflects where your child is at that point. And that is of interest and will determine things like which table they get placed on in Yr3, what kind of targets they have. You can always say none of those things matter, through to KS2 SATs which determine GCSE targets not mattering, through to GCSE grades not mattering etc etc.

There’s no need to get worried or overly involved, but being aware and also of the fact there ARE implications of them, is just being aware rather than pretending nothing matters.

Feenie · 08/04/2022 10:26

Depends on the high school, re setting. The school will, however, be set targets for individual children that they are obliged to meet. That’s how they are judged.

It’s not something we discuss with our Y6’s though. Again, any pressure is very much dependent on the school.

Feenie · 08/04/2022 10:26

*Y6s

Feenie · 08/04/2022 10:28

Which table they sit at in Y3?!

That’s going back a bit. We don’t teach like that.

Mischance · 08/04/2022 10:28

I am petrified - petrified of what?

This is a small new person who is finding her way around the world and what it all feels like - why would you worry about whether she meets some arbitrary test set by people who do not know her? - or indeed give a toss about her?

The person who suggested that not giving a flying fuck is the way to go has it bang on.

If you are worried about this now, what are you going to be like when year 6 SATS come round? How much pressure will this poor child feel?

Education is an individual thing - some like some subjects, and others not; some race on from the beginning, some do not; some are destined for academic greatness, some are not; some enjoy school, some do not - but she definitely will not like it if she feels your anxiety.

The only reason teachers emphasise this is because they and the school are judged on these results - NOT your child.

Your child's needs will be assessed by a good teacher as they go along - they will be looking at her NEEDS, not some arbitrary bit of government generated nonsense where her needs are irrelevant.

Chill man; go have some fun - that is what childhood is about.

Feenie · 08/04/2022 10:37

The teacher assessment reported won’t tell you the results of any tests.

The school is not judged on the results of the tests, but the teacher assessment.

As WombatChocolate says, they are an indication of where your child is working, day to day, according to age related expectations, which is important to know. But not anything more than that for an individual child.

Cotswoldmama · 08/04/2022 10:37

As others have said SATS are for the school not the pupil. I love the fact that my son's school don't tell us when any assessments are happening and the children also have no idea. I asked my son what he had done one day and he said we did worksheets today, it turned out that was the SATS, he had no idea. I also have no idea as to how he did. It really doesn't matter. I feel it's sad that child are put under pressure so young.

Feenie · 08/04/2022 10:57

Every single piece of work your dc does in Y2 is ‘for the SATs’. It’s a teacher assessment judgement, just like any other year, except it’s a reported one.