Has the SATs caused this reaction in my 11 year old?

[SunsetOnTheHorizon]

I have a reserved shy 11 year old. She's not into any new trend or doesn't have any social media or a phone. She's loves shopping, stationery and enjoys singing. So nothing worrying there.

She's returned to school this term and the teachers have gone gung ho about the SATs. Like full on constant reminders about how many weeks are left. They have tests to complete at home (at one point she spent 2 hours stuck to the laptop and even took it to her bedroom as it was getting past her bedtime)

The teachers are more stern generally, they want the best results. And this school has a reputation for obsessing about the SATs (even a rumour about the Head leaking the papers - way before my time)

Now - this week. She's became a shell of herself. She is constantly exhausted. Either in bed or on the sofa. Nothing interets her anymore. She hardly talks to anyone. I've sent her to school a few days this week only for her to return crying. And now I've decided not to send her until I meet with the SLT (which is happening next week)

Now - can I attribute this reaction in her to the SATs? Bearing in mind she had a sickness in the holidays but she fully recovered. These symptoms presented once she started the new term.

She refuses to go back. Doesn't like her school. But never in my life did I expect her to end up like this...

I heard SATs can be stressful - but this? I'm really concerned about her - hoping she bounces out of this phase. She hardly laughs or plays with her sister anymore.

Any input would be appreciated.

It does sound like they’re putting a huge pressure on the children here, and using SATs as a bit of a threat seems really unfair to 10/11 year olds - at that age kids genuinely believe that these tests will change the outcome of their lives.

These are little kids and while I think there’s no point hiding the fact that there’s tests coming up it can be framed in a much more positive way by the teachers.

That said, it also sounds like your daughter is particularly impacted by this (and it might even be that she’s placing excessive importance on a few words by the teacher and she’s building this up to something it isn’t). This sounds like me as a child and I ended up struggling with a desire to please/perfectionist traits my entire life - I’ve had therapy now and it really helped, and I think having some therapy at that age would have really helped me, even just to feel totally comfortable talking to someone I didn’t know in the “real world”.

I’m so sorry your daughter is feeling this way, it must be terrible trying to help her through this.

SATS shouldn’t be stressful they are a test of the school more than the pupils and have no impact on the student’s future. I refused to let mine get caught up in the stress for something that wasn’t to their benefit. Secondary schools will not just take SAT scores they will do their own testing.

Just as a point of comparison can I mention that my year 6 DD has made no mention of SATs. No practicing or test papers making their way home - it’s all very low key. It sounds entirely counterproductive to place so much pressure on children this age ( if this is what’s happening) - our school is assessed as “outstanding” school if that counts for anything

It could be pressure from school.

But could also be she hasn't fully recovered from being ill - perhaps get her checked over.
Could be friendship issues.
Could be hormones/puberty kicking in.
Could be school just getting a bit stricter in preparation for transition to secondary school.
She could just be tired. Personally I wouldn't be letting her take work to bed.

My 11 year old son was in tears last week because of the ridiculous pressure his school is placing on the kids. His teacher told the class that if they did 'rubbish' on the mock tests they did last week then all other lessons/topics are cancelled. I thought that might have been his imagination but no, when I rang, it transpires that is what she said!

I will not do revision with him, he's doing perfectly well and I refuse to heap even more unnecessary pressure onto him by revising at home. He knows that if there is something he struggles with then to ask me and I have all the time in the world to help him but I'm sure as shit not going to force it.

That sounds awful. You need to make sure you're giving a different message at home. Tell her that actually it's just that the teachers are stressed and they're taking out their worry on the children. The results won't affect her at all, they'll have no impact on her life in the future. I think you should also have a word with the school too.

But are you sure it's just stress? I'd take her to the doctors and get some blood tests done, as it may be something medical.

This is so sad to hear. My DS will be doing SATS this year and like @Divebar2021 above, the school are incredibly low key. No pressure at all, no real mention of it, just seen as a normal test, do your best. For the year 2 Test they didn't ever call it SATS, the kids were oblivious.

However, if my son's school had been like yours OP, I fear he'd have reacted the same way as your DD. He puts enormous pressure on himself and it would be all consuming. It is an appalling approach by the school and I'd be complaining.

My dds friend was encouraged by her parents to just doodle on the SATs paper as a political protest maybe they were trying to protect her from stress. As long as your secondary uses CATs for groups not SATs you can literally tell her you want her to learn and grow positively but not in line with a rigid stressful test and teach her self care and rebellion against unhealthy pressure.

Either she's the only one who can tell you, or perhaps more likely she doesn't even know herself. It sounds like a sort of burnout thing but also consider if she could be being bullied (or worse), is she overstretched evenings/weekends, could she have witnessed something distressing she might not want to tell you about, medical causes such as anaemia or maybe diabetes(?)

When my child "broke" we ended up with an autism diagnosis but you don't have to be autistic to get overwhelmed.

Meant to add if it is a SATS thing, there is a lot you can do between you and the school to release the pressure a bit. Some kids need to be told over and over again that it doesn't set their life course. She will listen to how you frame it, not just to what her teacher says. You can encourage her not to buy into the pressure and explain it's actually about school data. Challenge any catastrophising/thoughts spiralling into the future. Tell her over and over again that she is doing more than enough already. If you can get the school's buy in, an individual teacher can help a lot by specifying that an instruction to work harder doesn't apply to everyone in the class because some are already doing so, or she can be taken out for any pep talks, and she could sit the test in a separate room if that would help.

Give her down time, do "alongside" activities with her like puzzles, walks, drives, craft.

If you can, step in after 40 mins' homework or so and put a note in her work that she did X mins and you made her stop.

My son's very detail focussed and he used to come home saying he'd had to do the same practice paper multiple times. What on earth is the point of that? And they miss so much of Humanities, art and MFL over the year to pointlessly drill the same practice papers. Awful system.

I told mine that sats have no impact on their future at all, only the teachers, so they can write whatever they like as answers and I wouldn't give a shit. Apparently the teachers have been making them do practice tests and my kid was berating themselves for being unable to answer questions under pressure.

But I also told them exams coming down the line at secondary will impact future opportunities so this is also a good time to practice managing the "brain freeze" element of exams when it doesn't matter, which seems to have helped somewhat.

To say SATs have no impact on their future is not strictly true, though obviously they don't determine it. Many secondary schools set for Maths in year 7 and they take SATs into consideration alongside other things. Some secondaries make children who didn't reach expected standard in English do extra lessons, which can mean missing out on something else, e.g. a MFL.
Ideally SATs results should be a fair reflection of a child's attainment generally, so they don't 'underperform', or be so trained to the test that they will struggle to meet expectations later.

Wow! The fact so many of you are echoing similar stories is heart wrenching. Just to clarify - I am getting blood tests arranged for her, I've had a chat with the doc and I'm in the process of finding some local talk therapy. The school Counsellor (wouldn't call her that - she's so cold) is apparently able to work with her - but tbf, she isn't the best at helping her open up about her issues.

The school is totally results driven. I'm currently looking at moving her to another school - that has bit more of a nurturing feel to it.

I have emphasised with her multiple times - it isn't the be all and end all. But it's the way she gets treated at school - the constant stern instructions. She didn't complete her work and she was sent to another class to get shouted at even more. Wtf?!!! I kept her home since that day.

I just wanted to check the general feelings around this and wanted to make sure I wasn't imagining it. But the fact that many of you are resonating the same...it is scary!!!

I have a meeting with school - but what can they do/implement to entice her to school. She won't go back. It haunts her now. See what happens at the meeting.

You can opt out of SATS completely. They are for the school's benefit not the child's and this amount of pressure is awful.

My DD didn't sit them due to Covid, so her secondary has had to rely on banding tests, CATs and knowing the child through lessons in order to decide targets and sets.

I had already decided to pull her from sitting them if Covid hadn't stepped in. She has SpLd and was failing everything at that stage despite being clever. Four years on we've made some major changes to how she works and she's in top sets and predicted high grades which might not have been the case if everyone was constantly referring back to SAT scores).

Children moving to secondaries from independents or from overseas won't have done SATs and I would prefer that my child's future wasn't mapped out based on one set of tests in Y6.

SATs are not for the school's benefit, they are for the government's benefit.

It's a shame! Because this is known all across the country. So why on earth are our kids being hung drawn and quartered like this.

She's referring to herself in the 3rd person! Apparently 'my child' has gone to another country as there's no one there to tortue her with SATs.

I'm thinking of raising a complaint to ofsted. She's drawn some disturbing pictures.

Sounds horrendous.
There is no point in complaining to Ofsted - they’re part of the problem and they don’t act as a parental complaint body. However you could raise a formal complaint with the school under their complaints policy. I would find the policies related to curriculum and welfare and write a letter stating this is a formal complaint - quote their policies and describe where they are not meeting them, duty of care etc. If you are not happy with the head’s response you can escalate as per the policy - usually to chair of governors and then onward - usually governor panel and then after that it will say where to go next.

@SunsetOnTheHorizon
Ive never seen schools pile on this pressure. You have chosen a results driven school. Why? Many parents have Dc who do well without this fuss and upset! It’s very late to leave the school now but you must have had an inkling it was like this.

You are right. It’s ott. Also I disagree with parents who tell DC to spoil their papers. That puts pressure on too and brings the child into conflict with the school and the teachers. They are not the political arm of parents to be used as a protest.

It doesn’t matter who benefits from the tests. As the government pays for education, they want to see if Dc are learning. It is of course a blunt instrument. Those of us in 11 plus counties have other tests to worry about.

Therefore decide if you want to say something to the school. Teachers should be assessing children and trying yo fill gaps in knowledge but they should still be teaching the Y6 curriculum. I would ask what is being taught that is new. Is there still teaching time allocated to other subjects? What does her timetable look like? Your DD can be absent for the tests. You can find another school (and take her away from her friends). There is not an easy solution but seeing the teacher/head is where I would start.

I appreciate your input.

It is a results driven school - which is a good thing, but never did I expect this outcome for my child.

My dd can be absent for the tests? Is something that is allowed? As I have a meeting arranged with the Deputy (the head is like a solar eclipse, appears on only very rare occasions) and I do want her to take part in the SATs if that is an option.

I will ask to see her timetable and if she is taking part in any enrichment activities.

She has friends. Simply put. If she was to move school, she wouldn't have any friends to miss. Like I said, she isn't into new trends and social media, a lot of girls in her year are. For example tick tick etc... she doesn't get all that crap. Therefore leaving her out of any friendship circles.

Currently, moving her seems like the best option. Somewhere she'll be accepted and welcomed. A chance to meet new people. The school I have in mind is much smaller, more flexible in terms of being inside the school during lunchtimes. Learning happens inside the school and outside on field trips. Her current school haven't taken the kids on a trip since I've been there. Apart from residentials for the Y6

All that social media didn’t exist when my Dc were at school but they had friends. Does she never see any other dc outside school? Anyway, you don’t need to worry about friends: that’s good. So find a school with a space.

It’s not necessarily good to look for high sats results without thinking how they are achieved. I guess you thought your DD was robust but some Dc really do worry about sats. They like to do well and feel overwhelmed if they fall short. I do think you have been a bit naive.

If you dint want DD to take sats, go on holiday. School will fine you, and they won’t like it, but that’s the way to avoid them.

i would think that this point in year 6 is a really difficult time to move schools. From March when kids get their secondary place allocated they’re starting to move on mentally, buddying up with others going to the same secondary etc. Unless they’ll all be going to the same secondary of course? I know it varies by area.

You could take her out completely and her school for the rest of year 6. We home edded our ds for years 5 and 6 and he did lots of fun stuff. It was great to have some freedom before secondary. We kept the academics at a minimum really (you can do the necessary Maths and English in about an hour a day) and he still got on fine in year 7 at his grammar school.

*home school not her school

Apart from maths and English, y7 curriculum doesn’t build on much from primary. As far as I can see. However fun things like leavers shows, trip away, school fete were a rite of passage and some Dc love these things about school. However the pain of getting there might not be worth it. If a local school has a place you could look. Not everyone can home school. People work.

Yes I know it may not be practically possible but maybe for a term and a half they could make it work? Who knows, just thought I’d mention it.

A miserable year 6 is definitely not worth it.

There's a lot of misinformation on this thread, based on commonly-spread myths. In brief:

• The end of Key Stage 2 assessments are not a measure of the school and, in fact, affect things for your child long after the last time they appear on the school's official data.
• Whether the secondary do their own tests for internal data or not ultimately makes little difference as that is not the main purpose of the assessments and nor is setting.
• Your child can only miss the exams if either the headteacher agrees with specific permission for that pupil, or the child has been assessed as below the level of Key Stage 2 (so Y2 or below), or your child is absent on the day of the test and every following day for the rest of that week and the next week. Even then, the head could elect to come round to your house to deliver the tests. The only exceptions to this are deregistered pupils or pupils who missed the exams because of COVID.

The issue here isn't the exams: it's the way the school are handling it. I am the Y6 teacher at one of the highest performing primary schools in the country. We do not bring anything like this level of pressure on our children, nor do we change or narrow our curriculum in any way. Y6 isn't constant revision or exams: there's actually huge amounts to teach if you're doing it properly.