SATS Yr 6

[Copasetic]

Sorry, another SATS one. My son asked me today whether the secondary school receive a number (eg the scales score) from 80-120 or if they just get told below expectations/expected/greater depth. I didn’t know the answer. Does anyone?

The school will get a number. If I were you though I wouldn't tell your son what it is.

Why would you not tell him?

All secondary schools round here conduct CAT tests at the start of Y7 anyway, so they can assess their new intake for themselves.

It's just really unnecessary for him to know. The SATS aren't about them at all, they're about the school, and giving him the numbers makes him feel like the results are a reflection on his ability and worth, rather than a reflection on the school's teaching. It's just setting him up for angst and stress, and there's enough of that coming up with secondary on the horizon.

Fair point! I’ve never taken SATS very seriously - he is the third child - but I just wondered why you felt they shouldn’t know their numbers. Yes, he has also sat CAT tests at his secondary school induction days. On the whole I tend to feel that it is what it is and I want him in the right set, whatever that may be, rather than feeling that things are moving on too fast or getting bored.

Yes, secondaries get all of the information. They have to: your son's official targets and his "flight path" for progress is determined by them. It has been a long time since SATs were just a "measure of the school".

CAT testing is something many secondaries do but it's just an internal measure and has no influence over your son's official GCSE targets and expectations. Those are set by external agencies, from the SAT scores, and given to the school.

I would share the score with him, if I were you. It's his education and I'd question how he is supposed to take ownership of it if the measure of how he is doing is kept from him.