SATs - unethical practice

[Mumzilla1]

I’ve just found out that my child’s school are offering extra tutoring after school to the Students who are destined to achieve Greater Depth in their SATs.

My child is on the other end of the scale. He struggles so much that he has anxiety. So yes, I’m upset about this.

Is this normal practice for schools ? that the struggling students are left behind? Are they not worth the extra time because they get more points for GD students ?

Do I complain or is this just how it is? I may be naive in saying this but I believe the gap needs bridging so that all children have the opportunity and support to succeed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

SATs are inherently unethical.

@Mumzilla1 You say tutoring isn't an option for everyone, which is true, but I have realised as a parent, that if you want your child to achieve academically you have to put the time in.

There are so many free resources nowadays, 20 minutes a day makes such a difference at primary school age. Happy to recommend some sites or books.

My children are on FSM and now at grammar school and im so glad i put in that extra time because it has made a good routine for them to study / self learn.
One wasn't naturally bright, infact they were underachieving but short regular bursts made a difference. I started the extra work with him because he was anxious and his confidence blossomed especially in the classroom - he's still a quiet kid but not afraid to answer questions.

I think my point being is a lot of kids can never really learn in depth at school because there are so many disruptions, classes are big, there just isn't enough time or help but parents should take more responsibility in helping their kids rather then blame school.

Blame ofsted

My son did his last year and struggled, he was offered extra help in the core subjects

Bit early for SATs but they should be ensuring high achievers are also reaching their potential.
Progress should be monitored for all levels but appropriate to their level.
High KS1 levels should indicate high KS2 results. If they need a push they need a push same as any other child. This is normal practice and depends on the school priorities and how many are in that group and what the most effective interventions are and when they should take place.

@Mumzilla1 welcome to Ofsted, education and ridiculous demands placed on schools. It's a joke, isn't it! Drives me nuts.

As a primary teacher, I completely agree that your child should be offered tutoring. Our GD pupils get it, but so do pupils who are finding the work challenging. Could this be something you gently bring up at parents' evening? The class teacher can't do anything, but can pass your feedback on. I hear you OP, the system is crap. Children have been reduced to data and box ticking.

Completely agree with this. I saw all sorts of different booster programmes going on in my time in Year 6 - it's always about what's on the school's improvement plan.

And I stress again, that this is likely to be entirely voluntary by the teachers.

Why do you stress this? I find it very unlikely it's voluntary.

I have never worked in a school where teachers are expected or have desired to give extra tuition for free. I've not known any of my teacher friends to do this either. Everyone I've known who's done primary tuition before/after school has been paid to do so.

If these are afterschool then it's free tutoring.

You cannot ethically suggest those with sen stay afterschool for tutoring because they are behind because that's a sen need and should be met within school.

So yes, I do think it's unfair as such as I'm sure lots of students would like free tutoring regardless of ability.

But I'm not sure it's unethical because it's not compulsory support required to meet expected standards.

Have you asked school if they have plans to give extra tuition to other groups of year 6 at any point? It’s only September. It would be highly likely that they plan to change the groups of children as the year progresses. I’m also fairly surprised that they’ve made it so obvious to the parents that these kids are the high achieving set. That’s not usually the sort of info that gets shared.
Talk to his teacher. You don’t have to make demands, just find out what their plans are and then ask what they suggest can be done to help your child.

Would you rather the GD stuff be taught in class, where maybe half the class can't access the work, because they are still trying to get to grips with the topic that this work is based on?

Would a child that is struggling in class be fit to do more work, and have a longer school day? Or are they tired, as they have been concentrating hard all day?

It's a really difficult balance, but as a parent of a child who exceeded in maths, maths classes were almost like an extra break because of the waiting for others to do what he had flown through.

FWIW, I totally disagree with mixed ability maths (and science). It's not fair on the ones who get it to be waiting around. It's not fair on those struggling to feel presured to rush because others finished ages ago.

You make decisions on additional support based on a range of information including their starting levels and how far off the are from hitting the mark and the cost. Across the year who gets provision will change.
If some children sit within several groups you might target them. As boys nationally are lower in reading you might select them if your cohort data shows a need. No way to know what the need is and why a subgroup has been targeted first. Also depends where any additional funding has come from and the requirements and time frames to use any funding. Sometimes additional funding pops up for a specific group.

Are you sure you have this correct? At our school they do this for the dc that are struggling. The GD kids do not need help to attain GD for SATs. Perhaps its the dc who are almost GD but not quite...or the struggling ones.

It is almost always voluntary. I do many hours voluntarily myself.

Even when paid it is likely to be well below minimum wage - that "covid catch up" tuition the government supposedly "funded" was well below the national minimum wage too

No, it's not almost always voluntary. You're wrong.

Current school pay £32ph for after school SATs lessons. Previous school gave a TLR3 if you committed to a year of SATs tuition 2 X 1hr a week.

Other colleagues in other schools I know also get paid.

You need to go back to your head or learn to say no. Or change job to work in a school where you, your time and your skills are valued and respected.

Repeated post

Say no to who? No one is asking me to do this.

£32 for how many hours work?
Typical scenario, for that £32 you do an hour of planning, and 30 mins of paperwork and submission to whoever is controlling the funds, an hour of marking, 30 mins of reporting to parents/ fund holders etc, and there can be more than this too!

Well below minimum wage!

Added to that, for the govt covid catch up funding was the stipulation that NONE of the related work could be done at a time you are already paid for, even the photocopying, etc, meaning having to arrive at school by about 7 or stay until after 6, so the work did not fall within the "normal school day".....

And then of course, you are taxed!

I don’t get paid bugger all for any after school maths boosters I run.
It is NOT wrong to say that it is often being done for free.

That’s how it is with ours. Extra resources for the less able children, nothing for the brightest, which I’m not happy with.

How do you know about this? Not being a dick, but I don't want to get involved in a thread only to discover it's based on hearsay.

I suppose if the class has to move at the level of the average majority - which probably includes your son, despite his anxiety - then they could be criticised for not extending the more able children. I have seen that criticism aimed at schools near me in Ofsted reports many times, and this way the school can address that need without taking up class time?

I wouldn't love it either in your situation though.

If you are not being paid for additional time after school I would query this Catch up funding if they have any left can only be used for outside school hours.

All out TAs are paid for any work beyond their contracted hours

The school cannot fund extra help after school. The teacher does it for free or it doesn't happen.

The catch up funding, as I have explained, is for a commitment of many hours, outside of school hours, and for well below minimum wage.

You'd have to be a mug. Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole - nor would most sensible people, so a few people who are stupid enough to agree, do/ did it all, when it isn't their subject, and they had no subject knowledge or experience at all.

So the government funded catch up. let me summarise.

Paid well below minimum wage
Paid anybody who could breathe, whether they had any subject knowledge or not
Demanded 4x more paperwork than teaching
Insisted it was done when the school buildings were closed.

Sums up tory party education policy, doesn't it

i would presume those that are already near the eg A* line will be more ready for the extra sessions and can advance more in the short time frame vs the months it could take for the ones that are eg c+ etc ?

i could be wrong but thats my guess

that said if its also upto the teacher and its the ones that are best suited for the extra help to eg get them ahead more, then sometimes we need the best of the best, to achieve oxbridge etc