i found out today ds1 had SATS last week and i didnt know

[cheesesarnie]

he never mentioned it!neither did school!now im worried im a bad unsupporting parent!

[cheesesarnie]

gagarin -your post has made me feel great!i often think that with ds having problems reading,writting and general concentration at school that i should be doing something but teachers arent bothered.dd is on toe by toe but no one bothers explaining it and i think she reads well although i do suspect shes not on same level as many of her friends(shes yr 3 and turquose).i think parents should have more idea of how to help at home and when not to(as in as its been pointed out on this thread with SATS).anyway babbling on.....

[kidsrus]

yes annh it was 121 in another room reading.
i think it can only be a good thing that they are keeping an eye on their strengths & weaknesses.
also to find out what works for each child as they are all different in their own ways.

[bundle]

I think that's perfect

[gagarin]

sushi - if the school play it right (as they have in this case) the children don't even notice it. In fact doing special work is rather an excitement!

So no need to panic quite yet

[sushistar]

i would want to be told so i could keep ds off school that day, poor little mite.

Maybe i should home ed. (he's too young for schhool yet)

[Romy7]

We've got a couple of those - not sure quite what's going to happen when child x gets her SATs results, as mum has done everything else since nursery... we're quite looking forward to it

[Creole]

Well, in my school a parent complained because she wasn't told about them, because she wanted to "prep" her child for it

[annh]

I think when kidsrus' son said he chose the easiest book to read he was referring to the one-one-one reading which they do with the teacher to assess their reading level. They do it in a different room usually and the teacher leaves out a selection of books, inlcuding some non-fiction, from which they get to choose one and the teacher asks some questions about it.

[Mercy]

What are these books? And how are they tested, is it just like normal school work?

(my dd was unaware of the SATS, so was I until she mentioned a special test. Apparently they have been doing the test over a 3 week period!)

[Romy7]

Two different books - all sit level 2, and if they do well in that, then the most able sit the level 3... that's what happens in our neck of the woods anyway. nb they are only supposed to be able to achieve the level 2, level 3 suggests working above the average... weird that he got to choose - not sure if there are a selection of different level 2 papers?!!! Our school doesn't make a big deal of it either and the kids don't know they are 'tests'...

[snorris]

My dc's First school don't tell the parents so they can't make a big thing of it.

[kidsrus]

my ds has just done his too in yr 2.
i asked why he didn't have homework and he said he wouldn't for 2 weeks as he was doing special work at school in special books(big clue).
when i asked if the books were difficult he replied no they are easy and he said he choose the easiest book to read too!

is there an easier book? or are they just different formats according to the childs choice?

[gagarin]

Cheese - you have unwittingly done exactly the right thing! Made life normal; not added to stress by endless questioning; not fussed in the mornings; not gone in to check with the teacher that your DS is coping....etc etc

[InTheseShoes]

Much better to be like that IMHO., Even though my class (not Y2 or Y6) know exactly what they are doing, I still call the optional SATS "Quizzes" and play it low key with them. Better than the Y2 child in my school who when presented with the Y2 SAT paper said "Oh! I've done this one at home!" How sad for that child!

[Lulumama]

DS had SATS the week i was away after a bereavement, i called him and asked what have you been doing, how was school etc. to be told, not done anything , same old etc..

turns out, not only had he had SATS, he had had them with a scribe in a private room due to his dyselxia

so how bad did I feel !!!!

[AbbeyA]

I think it is much the best way-stress free.

[MarsLady]

I wouldn't fret it. I never bothered once about the DCs SATs and they were fine.

[TheFallenMadonna]

My ds has no idea that he's done them. Which is just as well really.

[ingonitoIRbod]

I knew my DD was doing them but she had no idea, they just thought they were doing 'special quizzes' and were very excited about it all lol

[MrsGuyOfGisbourne]

Cheesie - I didn't know my Dc were doing the tests last week till I read about it on mumsnet - better not to know probably, and better for the school to keep it low key and unpressured.

[smartiejake]

Oh he's only little! Yes teachers don't usually tell the year 2s they are doing sats. (They don't have a set day and time to do them in year 2 like whe they do the year 6 SATs).

When my dds did theirs the teacher called them special secret squirrel work and they were both quite laid back about it! Still think it's bloody stoopid though testing kids this young! (Well at 11 too... and 14..)

[cheesesarnie]

thankyou

[SlightlyMadSweet]

Yr 2 SATs are to test teh school not hte child.

I refused to give my DCs extra tuition for Yr2 SATs as it goes against the whole principle of measuring the school.

Yr6 SATs are a little different as I think that it can have an impact on a childs future education to some extent. Some secondary schools use it to put the children into ability sets etc.

[TurkeyLurkey]

I thought it was a way of testing the school rather than the children..but there again I may be wrong..need a teacher to clarify..where are they when you want one???!!

[cheesesarnie]

ooh this is good news-im not a bad unsupportive mum who pays no interest in my childs education afterall!thankyou mn!honestly i am pleased,i thought it was me being crap and bad communication.