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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Year 2 parents evening ....

30 replies

throckenholt · 23/04/2008 07:21

DH went to parents evening yesterday (his turn I got to stay at home ). Anyway when he came back he told me all about what was said (well as much as he remembered - it will probably come out in dribs and drabs over the next few days together with "I told you that - NO you didn't !).

What struck me was when I asked him about SATS - he looked puzzled and said it wasn't mentioned at all.

I am right in thinking year 2 is major sats year aren't I - and many schools are totally stressing all concerned (teachers, kids and parents) about it ?

It is quite refreshing that DS's teachers didn't even mention it .

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NotABanana · 23/04/2008 07:23

Our parents evenings are next week and my son doesn't have a clue about SATS. Just as it should be in my opinion.

Furball · 23/04/2008 07:35

I was under the impression that yr 2 sats are to test about the schools way of teaching rather than your childs ability. My ds is also in year 2 - I haven't mentioned it to him (and nor the school to me!) about the test as apparently some children get stressed about it.

tortoiseSHELL · 23/04/2008 07:38

Ds1's Y2 teacher is very much of the opinion that 'SATS are VERY important for the school, but of no importance whatsoever for the child.' At his school, the children don't even know what SATS are - they're pretty much all done on assessment by the teacher through the normal school day, with one or two 'assessed' pieces - done in a kind of 'just sit here for a few minutes and have a go at this'.

Certainly not worth stressing over! Ds1's teacher is quite 'old school' and clearly thinks they are a bit of a waste of time, which is nice to hear!

Original poster

throckenholt · 23/04/2008 07:44

so - four of us with similar experiences re year 2 SATs - but my impression from MN is that many many more have kids being bombarded with homework, being taught the right things for the SATs and generally being stressed out by the whole thing.

In our school the head and the teachers don't make a big issue out of - and actually have a no home work except reading policy. However, after a "satisfactory" ofsted report last year they are being more and more pressured to toe the ofsted line - lots of time out on training courses (teaching them to suck eggs) while the kids get a series of teachers covering the class.

Thankfully they are still resisting the "SATs is the most important thing" idea that many schools seem to have succumbed to.

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tortoiseSHELL · 23/04/2008 07:48

Our head is so fantastic - he really does take the line that 'they wouldn't do SATS if they didn't have to' and 'they'd rather come lower down the league tables than compromise they way they think they should teach'. It's also a school with a VAST amount of extra-curricular stuff, and they really believe in 'enriching' the child rather than getting a 'level 2a' in Y2 SATS...

TwoToTango · 23/04/2008 08:13

Sounds like a fab school tortoise

singersgirl · 23/04/2008 09:49

DS2's Y2 teacher is also a very experienced teacher who seems also to think SATs are a waste of time. However, she started off our parents' evening meeting with "I'm obliged to tell you our predictions for the end of Key Stage 1 assessments which the children will be taking next term" and then showed us the levels and explained each briefly. She seemed to want to get it out of the way quickly before moving on to talk about more useful and interesting stuff.

I asked DS2 if he knew what SATs were and he didn't. They certainly don't send home practice tests or worry them about it. In fact, now it's moved on to being teacher assessment, the tests are only a guide and the teacher can completely ignore the results if they feel that they don't reflect the child's true ability.

Mercy · 23/04/2008 09:53

We've got parents evening coming up soon. No mention of SATS from the teacher or dd so far - and no evidence of any extra homework etc.

sandyballs · 23/04/2008 11:56

Our school have made the parents aware of what grade they think our children are likely to achieve in the year 2 SATs, but it is all very low key as far as the children are concerned. They get given practice papers every now and then and told to do what they can, the words SATs isn't mentioned, and when they get the real thing, they don't even realise that it is different from the practice. Certainly no stress involved.

lazybum · 23/04/2008 12:48

We are snowed under with XTRA homework all they talk about in class is SATs
They did mock SATS in January and are doing them again this week

My son got in areal state about them so we had to sit him down and say it really doesnt matter as long as he tries. A friends ds is refusing to go to school and is having a tantrum every morning The kids were told by teacher if they dont do well they won`t go up a year

It is FAR to much stress for a 7 year and the parents
Want to keep ds off school for the week of SATS

Original poster

throckenholt · 23/04/2008 12:49

lazybum =- that is awful - have you thought of complaining to the head ?

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Buda · 23/04/2008 12:53

God lazybum that is terrible.

DS is in Yr 2 and his school doesn't stress about them at all for their level. The teacher has been sending homework home and doing stuff in class in the way that the SATs papers are set out so that they are used to the format but that is about it.

lazybum · 23/04/2008 12:55

The head is very into the SATS,
All the parents are talking about it
being too much
Ds came home on Friday with a SAT exam (8sheets)plus english(1 sheet)plus reading

Yesterday he came home with 7 sheets of maths plus 2 english sheets and a new reading book.This was after having a english test as well at school

This is for the whole class
When is he meant to be a child and play????

Original poster

throckenholt · 23/04/2008 13:04

When is he meant to be a child and play????

at home - I would not do all the tests and things at homework unless he wants to.

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lazybum · 23/04/2008 13:07

But if he does`nt hand it in done he will get into trouble and lose team points.

Feel such a cow

singersgirl · 23/04/2008 13:07

That is awful, lazybum. Your poor DS and his friends. DS2 has done some practice tests in school, but nothing at home, and he isn't aware they are important. (Well, they're not, are they? At least not to the child, and they shouldn't be to the parents.)

Original poster

throckenholt · 23/04/2008 13:11

have a word with other parents - if enough the same as you the school won't be able to penalise the kids because they didn't do it.

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hennipenni · 23/04/2008 14:39

DD3 is in yr 2, her teacher has just told them they are doing "special" work and to just do their very best and that she'll be happy with this. She has set them the odd past sats paper for homework to familiarise the children with the paper layout, but says that's about as exciting as is gets.

iloatheironing · 23/04/2008 15:00

My ds1 didn't even know he'd done sats at ks1. I got a letter with his end of year report telling me what level he'd got. When I asked ds what he'd had to do for them he didn't know. Ds1 went to special school though so I suppose this is the difference. If he was starting school now I guess he would be in mainstream...things have changed in the last 16 years.
Ds2 was at a local RC primary were they didn't get too uptight about ks1 but were much more pressurising when it came to ks2. He got in a right state about them .I literally had to drag him to school on the morning of his english test. He had a much better teacher for ks1 though.
Dd is about to do her ks2 sats and has been bringing home revision guides and test papers for months now. She is starting to get a bit uptight about them, the teacher has been talking about them daily too. I'm just trying to play it down with her and lessen the pressure she is feeling.

constancereader · 23/04/2008 15:04

lazybum - that is appalling. I would complain and complain again about giving out that level of stress. If a child is stressed out they can't think properly anyway. Your poor ds.

Fennel · 23/04/2008 15:07

I would be angry if my dd was getting that much pressure. dd1 didn't seem to know she was doing SATs last year in yr 2, dd2 this year does know vaguely, but the school hardly mentions it to them.

Mercy · 23/04/2008 15:09

When do they take these tests btw?

Fennel · 23/04/2008 15:13

Our school won't even tell us when. Sometime in the summer term of yr 2, that's about all we know.

lazybum · 23/04/2008 15:28

13th of May they start at our school and are meant to be over a 2 week period.

One of the parents is so pissed off about the pressure she is taking her child out of the school for those weeks.
She doesnt know what the head will say but doesnt care as She is going to move schools.

Fennel · 23/04/2008 15:42

You can just say you don't want them to take SATS. One of the parents is going to do that at our school, even though it's low key here, because she worries that her daughter is a worrier.

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