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

That’s not how the data/statistics work in this circumstance. Those children who were exceeding but didn’t achieve at gcse are still part of the data set and so those ‘changes at secondary’ are included in the statistics, the changes are accounted for.

I don't understand what you mean @FacingTheWall?

I know all the data is collected, I'm talking about the predicted grades bs achieved.

vs

My children didn't / wont sit stats as they are privately educated however they are tested consistently.

Do you not think it will benefit your child to experience anxiety and then come out the other side realising all was fine and life didn't change?

In 4 years they will potentially be sitting their first GCSE mocks. That isn't far into the futureTtey will need to find a coping mechanism by then so why not try to help with that now?

How are you going to manage that then? The TT tests can be taken any time over a 2 week period - are you going to keep him off for 2 weeks?

I remember my DDs former PS not giving these stupid tests too much attention. They just here, do these, then do reading after. My DD didn't even need the results at SS. There wasn't any streaming in Y7 at her SS, that didn't happen until Y8.

Schools already continuously assess children. What's the point of stressing kids out for these?

You’re not wrong there. Some parents just like to use their child to make a point - “I don’t agree my child should be tested at 11 so I won’t let them sit the SATs’ - isn’t the clever move they think it is.
It will result in their child becoming more anxious about how their friends will react knowing they didn’t sit their SATs! The very best move is for schools AND parents to remove any stress about them by keeping them low key. And even more importantly, by not using terms such as pass/fail when talking about results. There IS no pass/fail mark for SATs. You’re either Working at, Exceeding or working below standard.
Some parents need to help their child become more resilient in the face of challenge!

I was wondering the same, also it's a 5 minute test on an iPad, better just to think of it as a mini game and get it over and done with.

The point the poster was making is that things that are for the benefit of schools and teachers are ultimately for the benefit of children.

I think it depends what you mean by anxious.

My youngest had a fair few tears in yr6 worrying about them. But lots of reassurance and she was ok. I'm sure she didn't enjoy them! But she felt relief and a sense of achievement getting through them.
She passed but only just. Massively underachieved (as did her whole class 🙄). They were used to set in high school, but already after half a school year, she has been spotted and moved up sets.

Her elder sister was a lot more than a few tears. She was a COVID year so didn't sit them anyway. But she had undiagnosed (at the time) ASD and found school really really tough. The ed psych report in yr7 made me and her teacher cry. Apparently her anxiety around school was some of the worst seen 😔.

But she's a bright cookie and doing very very well in high school. Predicted 7+ across all subject. I kind of wished she had had the experience of doing SATs now. She will take her GCSEs next year and it will be the first external exams. I think if she'd had the sats experience, it would have helped her. Not looking forward to that extreme anxiety again.

Let her take them. Support her and offer lots of rewards for getting through them. It's a part of growing up and unfortunately a very large part of secondary school.

4 years is a lifetime at this age. It may not seem that long as adults but for a child between 11 and 15 it's a huge amount of time. My child really struggled with sats, by the time he took GCSE mocks he had naturally matured and had developed the coping mechanisms during his time in secondary school, he didn't need the anxiety of mocks at age 10 to achieve this

Whilst I think SATs are a load of bollocks, I do think exposing DC to statutory exams is not a bad thing.

I am not sure how you taking your DC out of these exams will be setting her up for success for future, more important exams.

These are incredibly low stakes exams. If you let your DC drop out of these, how will that help her build her resilience for her next formal exams - GCSEs?

Have you told her that you don't care about her results? Have you said that they really don't matter but exams practice should be treated as a valuable experience?

I'm not sure making a big fuss about it and making your child be the only one to miss them is going to be any less stressful for them.

I pulled my child out of year 6 SATs. Too much pressure and he was absolutely miserable.

Deregistered him from primary and we went travelling for a few months.

He started high school in the Sept and thrived.

Fast forward a few years and he is excelling at school and predicted high GCSE grades.

No regrets.

My DD (has sen) is an anxious child and was also anxious about SATs. Like many I reassured her that she just needed to try her best and that they are a measure of the school not the child.. We talked about what’s the worst that could happen and that even is she did ‘fail them all’ the world wouldn’t end. I do see it as building resilience for gcse and beyond. I’m sure we’ll have lots or reassurance conversations that I’ve rarely been asked what gcse I have and that she can resist…

Just remember that if you try and help your child avoid some of life's lows, you also sometimes ensure they miss the highs
Sure you can try and skip the sats, and your child might miss the nerves beforehand and during.

But they'll also miss the elation of finishing, the celebrating and joy with their friends when it's all done.

They also miss the bit where they find out their hard work stood them in good stead, and get the satisfaction of results achieved.

Testing and exams aren't all bad you know.

I would first off reduce any pressure or expectations from home. Secondly approach school - teacher and head, highlight how stressed your dc is and open a dialogue. Think about what will help her approach them more positively, she may well be doing exams just a few months later in secondary. If your older dc didn't do SATs due to covid then none of their peer group will have so they will presumably be setting, calculating flight paths, progress8 etc differently for that whole year group. Don't assume that it will be the same for your current child. As the secondary school and other parents what impact SATs have.

All secondary schools are different. One secondary school my dc were at didn't set at all, the other one used internal tests and SATs to stream off a top set for some subjects. Those without SATs results or low SATs results were less likely to be in the top stream. The SATs also influenced interventions for GCSEs. No additional support, invites for revision sessions were given to those who were on track or exceeding, however low their flight path. These were strongly pushed for those who had dropped below their expectations based on SATs. Essentially you could have a child in yr 11 on track for a 4 in physics, but because their predictions were a 3 they got no additional sessions whereas someone on track for a 6 would get sessions because they should have been getting an 8, they were also placed under a lot of scrutiny for why they weren't doing well, but not necessarily in a good way.

I can understand from a school perspective, it was a large, aspirational school with limited resources and a close eye on league tables, the reason it was popular. It didn't necessarily mean they achieved the best they could have done for their current pupils in terms or results or in terms of mental health support.

You may though not be too concerned about how well your child does at GCSEs. I don't mean that in a negative way. I think the current emphasis on predominantly academic subjects until 16 is off putting to many children. They would be much better on a more practical curriculum and planning towards a trade, which might be more immune in the short term to AI anyway. They can do a degree later in life if they want to. If your child is like that then perhaps the whole of secondary to GCSE will be about containing their anxiety until they can branch off into a subject that they feel passionate about.

Well, you can either tell your child that you are very proud of them because you know they work hard, that the results help the school with planning and that it is a good chance to practise doing tests when the results won’t affect them. This will help them build resilience,

Or you can send them the message that they don’t have to do things they don’t like, that you don’t think they are clever/ strong enough to do tests, that they are unable to cope with a very normal part of life. However you frame it that’s the message you will send if you withdraw them from SATs

No SATs in scotland.

However testing in school is a normal part of a child’s school experience so it would be beneficial to get used to it (and used to coping with the perceived pressure)

Good on you.

The obsession with ‘preparing kids for the future’ at a young age in the uk has become insane. See also the obsession with ‘building resilience’. It’s bordering on obsessional and is very misguided. Let them be kids!

That sounds like a plan!

Is it possible to deregister from primary without it impacting her place (already accepted) at secondary?

Thanks

@Zizi444 is your child looking forward to any of the other things they do in Y6 eg residential, play, assembly, prom/party. They also do transition work for going into Secondary school, so going into the school, meet their tutor etc

This seems very drastic for what is essentially 4 mornings of tests. Tests which they will have been practicing for over their time at Primary. Like it or not they will be used to being assessed over the years at Primary. The build up to SATs is usually worse than the actual week of them. So your DC has already done the hard part.

I totally agree.

Honestly some of the responses I've had on this thread are unbelievable. I don't know how I've managed to parent for the last 16 years without this guidance 😂

Exactly what I did

I agree that they are for the benefit of educators at both schools as oppose to the kids and parents but, make sure
you think it fully through.

There will be a consequence of the high school not having the data. Its hard to say what that is without knowing the school. One consequence is that she is pulled out of lessons on her own to sit their tests in the first few weeks so that they have the benchmark they need to measure progress. This might be more stressful then doing it with all of your peers at primary.

my sons high school does a lot of testing. End of terms and end of year exams across the subjects. It might be better to help your DD overcome any anxiety around tests with the support of the primary school as tests are not going away and their is much less support in high school.