Year 6 what was it like for your dc?

[BunnysCup]

DD is in year 5 at a small state school. I have heard from friends with older dc that year 6 is a very different experience to the rest of primary, good and bad.

What was it like for your dc in terms of friendships, growing up at different rates, SATS, getting ready for secondary, varying levels of independence such as walking to school alone etc.

I like to feel prepared but really don't know what to expect from year 6. What should we look out for?

DD had a blast. She had a brilliant teacher and her school took a very light touch on SATs.
The girl she didn't get on with changed schools and as a result it was a really happy and harmonious year.

DD's experience was coloured by going into Yr6 in Sept '20 so she was largely thrilled to be back at school. Her year group was remarkably fortunate and didn't have to have any bubble isolations so, other than the spring term, they were in school.
Covid timetable meant there was no choice but for her to walk to & from school by herself. It set her up well for secondary school.
Those with autumn term birthdays tended to get phones for their birthdays. Everyone else had them for Christmas. There were a few teething problems with a couple of instances of nasty online bullying as they got used to their phones. The headteacher was strict but sensible and there haven't been any problems since they moved to secondary.
Social groups did begin to change a bit once they knew which secondary schools they were off to. Otherwise, there seemed to be a couple of big bust ups in long-standing friendship pairs but they didn't affect DD so I'm not really sure what happened and why.
I know SATS were cancelled but I think it was late in the day so DD and her cohort had done a lot of very dull & repetitive preparation. Then they went into rehearsing the Yr6 production and didn't do much else until the end of term. DD hates drama so found this extraordinarily dull.

My DD is getting stressed thinking about sats, I've told her not to worry but I think her teachers are trying to push them and is getting stressed herself which has rubbed off.

She's passed 11+ last sept so I've told her not to worry it won't be as difficult as that was. And they don't really matter in the grand scheme of things...just trying to get her to relax a little.

It feels like all yr 6 teachers have been talking about is the sats....wonder what they will do after they're done.

Friendship wise....there is a lot of bickering and "falling out" over silly things. A lot more than in any other years.

From elder DC leaving it can be very emotional at the end of year when they realise they're leaving friends/teachers they have known for 8 years (or longer because they knew some before they started nursery because older siblings were in the same classes)

My DC never got to walk alone to school we live too far away with some main busy roads.

They did get more responsibility at school to do jobs, and got to sit on chairs/benches in assembly rather than on the floor so they feel more grown up.

We haven't given SATS much thought before now but it clearly is a source of much stress and they seem to miss out on other kinds of learning in year 6. I hope my dd won't be too stressed out about it all, she's doing ok academically, I think, but is a bit of a perfectionist and prone to self doubt.

What kind of special jobs do schools tend to engage year 6 children in?

DS has a two class year group and in Y6 the classes have been mixed up, the previous 3 years stayed the same. As a result friendships have changed but its been positive - friendships now are across the whole year group and based on having things in common rather than just being in the same class. Out of this has come some strong bonds made doing activities and socialising out of school.
SATS has been fine, school are fairly low pressure and prep has been instead of other homework so kids haven't felt like its been too much.
DS has enjoyed a bit more freedom and being able to chat to his friends outside of school. We've largely avoided any drama by not allowing him to be on the whole year group WhatsApp and just having one for his friendship group who's parents have all spoken and agreed our expectations!

In terms of special jobs DS is the school monitor which means he oversees that the class monitors, lunch monitors, hall monitors etc are all doing their tasks. He is of course loving this as he thinks he knows everything 😁

My daughter is now year 7. She absolutely loved year 6. Felt cool and grown up being the eldest in the school! Yes there were SATS which are a big deal but I don't remember her being particularly stressed by them. Friendships change and evolve throughout school. I don't remember year 6 being any different . A lot of thought is given to starting secondary - there's a kind of nervous excitement around this. By the end of year they are definitely more than ready for big school.
Both my daughter and I found the last few weeks in primary school really emotional. It's the end of an era and such a big change. We were emotional wrecks on the last day!