URGENT - dd1 on my kneee crying, please help her to stop worrying about SAT's

[Orinoco]

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What makes me really sad is that DS1 went through the same thing 2 years ago.

Dp and I were much less self-assured about the whole school thing (he's our pfb) and so we though he probably ought to do the wretched practice paper. He's an anxious boy and a perfectionist and I don't think it did him any good at all. I just wish we'd known that it would have been ok to put the bloody thing in the bin.

Dd loves schoolwork and enjoys the weekly spellings tests and stuff. She might do the practice paper, if she wants to.

Dds teacher has said she'll be doing a higher level reading test (apologies, don't know the correct terms for all this bollocks) and so when she's reading to me could I ask her questions like;

"Why do you think the author used that particular word?"

Now there's a fine example of how to put a child off reading. I shall just let her go on reading what she wants to, with encouragement, as we always have.

I'm working myself up here!

Time to leave............

My ds will be doing the higher level tests too. As far as I'm concerned, it's the school's problem if they choose to put him in for a level 3 test and he gets a level 2. I have told him that level 2 is what people his age are supposed to get, but sometimes it's fun to try and see if you can do things which are really meant for much older people. He's cool with that - he said that it was a bit like a penalty shoot out!

DON"T DO THE EXTRA WORK - IT JUST MEANS THE TEACHER'S HAVING A PANIC AND IT'S NOT UP TO US AS PARENTS TO SORT THAT OUT!

What a load of unnecessary stress! It is all teacher assessment now in Y2, so they don't even need to accept the results of the tests if they disagree about what that child's work is usually like.

DS2 is in Y2 and after reading this thread I asked him if they talked about SATS at his schools. He didn't know what I was talking about. He knows that they have done some papers but there is no pressure at all.

At parents' evening last week, his teacher started the meeting by saying in a rather disparaging way: "I'm obliged to give you our predictions for the KS1 SATs for next term."

Having seen DS1 go through it all, I realise it's bollocks and a lot of box ticking. And from your point of view, it has absolutely no impact on your child's future.