Can you refuse SATS

[Zizi444]

Can you refuse to allow your child to sit SATS? What would happen if they were off on that day?

In my opinion they are a pointless waste of time are purley for the schools benefit. They serve no purpose for the kids other than to stress them out. My eldest never did them due to covid and I'd prefer my youngest not to do them but I'm not sure if this is an option.
Thanks

See later comment!

If your dc are stressed out, then you/your school have done it very differently to me and their primary school. Mine didn’t even know they were doing anything differently. Parents were emailed when they were, dc weren’t told, and tbh I forgot anyway, so my girls didn’t know it was any kind of different school day.

DS got really fed up and upset with all the tedious SATs preparation and talk of tests, but in the actual exam week he loved it. The tests were short and they got extended play times!

You said that schools stop poorer performing children from doing SATS because they don’t want their results to impact their average. I’m just pointing out that that wouldn’t work and doesn’t happen. Otherwise all schools would only let the children who were going to pass sit the SATS!

I wish DC’s school did this. We’re constantly telling ours not to worry but the school is piling on the pressure and SATs have been the main focus every day since January. We’re really unhappy about it. DC is extremely conscientious and will likely fly through them but doesn’t need this level of stress and pressure (to the point where they’ve been crying over the piles of homework) at the age of 10.

@SpringhassprungxxThey really don’t. Secondaries don’t generally care about SATs at all (former secondary teacher here) - the primaries just tell you that they do.

Will you let your child do tests and exams in year 7? Many schools test them at the beginning of year 7. Keeping them off SATs might reinforce to your dc that there's something to be scared about, whereas if they take them they might see it's OK and be less scared in year 7.

Progress 8 scores matter for a Secondary school @InsolentAnnie

The week of SATS is a rite of passage. Most schools give additional treats to Y6 in that week. DS just talked about the snacks the teacher brought in during that week, didn’t mention the tests at all! I have seen children disapplied (as working at KS1 levels) want to be part of the process, so will sit in the room doing an old KS1 paper.

It is wrong if schools pile on the pressure, but if as a parent you looked at league tables when looking at which school to send your child to, you are part of the problem.

Yes.

Do parents ask their DC what they want before deciding they are taking them out of SATS?

It's not so much that they are for the benefit of the school, but that the school is judged on them so they obviously see them as important.

My DS didn't care about them, but he'd sat the 11+ beforehand, which is longer and more stressful, so the SATs were much easier in comparison.

Some schools test a lot, so maybe it's good for kids to get used to it? It requires a bit of resilience, which they're going to need as they move up to secondary. Plus results are used to help stream kids in their new school.

I really don't think it's as bad a thing as you're making out.

Our DS was tested in the first week of term, with end of term tests in all subjects and we've just had notice of a whole exam week for year 7 in May.

Best to get used to things like this while kids are still in the Primary bubble, I think. There won't be days out and sweets after tests at secondary!

In our area the results are sent to high school to help put them into streams / determine predicated grades

It’s a tough one this. It is mainly for the school, although it does determine progress 8 and your child’s GCSE targets.
I don’t agree with SATs particularly, but as a school they are how we are judged. There is a lot of pressure on schools for data to be at National or above.
If you remove your child, they will pull the results down for the school. If it’s for genuine reasons it’s understandable but if it’s because they’d rather not, then it’s not fair on the school.
We are seeing more parents picking a choosing. School trips where the child doesn’t fancy it so they stay in school and alternative provision has to be found for example. It’s making what is already a hard job, harder.

As a parent I look at SATS results as one of the factors to consider when deciding which schools to apply for.

I have been quite shocked at how little research most people carry out regarding prospective schools. There is a huge amount of data available on both government and LA websites yet almost nobody else I speak to is even aware of it.

The SATs will help prepare your child for the CAT testing that will take place at the start of year 7 and the many other assessments that will happen during secondary school. They also are part of the data used in set decisions. I think it is important to communicate positively about assessments with children, encouraging them to try their best and embrace any mistakes as learning opportunities.

Its worth knowing that the yr 6 SATs are also used to generate the GCSE target grades.
So if your child does really well it can cause much stress in secondary as they are often working towards grades that are unachievable.

@FrippEnos this concerns me, think I saw it on another thread. So if my dc gets exceeding her targets next yr will be very hard to achieve?

If your child does ‘really well’ in SATs why would the predicted gcse grades be unachievable? Those predictions are based on data sets from many years of actual children and their progress from y6 to 11.

Because they are based on two subjects and do not take in to account the many differences/requirements that are needed in many other subjects.

And in the end they are predictions that don't take into account what many children go through in their teen years.

Except they do, because the data that the predictions are based on is data from real children!

They can be very hard to achieve,
But the thing to remember is that the teachers will be pushing for your child to meet a high grade in a subject that they have no aptitude for because a English/maths test that they took says that they should get a high grade in every subject.

And yet they can still be very wrong.
A high grade in English does not equate to a high grade in Technology.
Yet this is what the SATs and FFT tell us what the child should get.

Because they are based on two subjects and do not take in to account the many differences/requirements that are needed in many other subjects.

And in the end they are predictions that don't take into account what many children go through in their teen years.

I actually agree - so much changes in secondary. Lots of my friends had exceeding dc who didn't get really high GCSEs.

FFT says themselves that they produce estimates rather than predictions, and that the data is a correlation of past achievements with GCSEs achieved in particular cohorts. For some subjects the correlation is stronger than others, and the personal circumstances of each child must be taken into account. On a population level and in general, if you achieve well in SATs then you should be capable of achieving well at gcse.

@FrippEnos just worried it will demotivate dc.