When does hot housing for Sats usually start in state primary (year 6)

[hothousingforsats]

Anyone know when hot housing for Sats starts in state primary schools?

I don't agree with them and think it is such a shame part of year 6 is wasted cramming for these. His school got their best ever Sats scores last year and it seems to have set them on a path of wanting to maintain their top position amongst local schools at any cost.

I've decided to remove my DS from school for these (this would be next year) and I will home educate once the hot housing starts until he starts secondary school. He's likely to get his first choice secondary school, but even his second and third choices do their own banding tests so Sats are irrelevant.

I would hope he would be learning new stuff for the Autumn term and they don't start this early. Do they? Would they start in the Spring term or is it not until after Easter?

I thought I'd use the time between now and then to plan some really cool educational trips away (ones we can't afford during the school holidays). Booking in advance will be far cheaper, so I'd be grateful to anyone who can tell me roughly when they stop learning and start cramming!

Some schools don’t do it at all
some schools start in September.

why not find out what your school does before going off on one?

going off on one? Is that what asking a question on mumsnet is? Clearly his school does do them, otherwise they wouldn't have any results to shout about.
Why don't you not bother answering if you haven't got anything to add other than bile?

Having part of y6 as a kind of revision / re-enforcement year and learning how to do tests can be very helpful. If done in moderation and appropriately

I also couldn’t have given a shit about SATs but I wouldn’t have let my children miss out on the experience of feeling a little pressure of low stake tests at that age (and the breakfast club) and then the euphoria of getting through them and all the extra curricula and fun rewards after that primaries tend to do in year 6 like bbqs, trips and end of year play.

Why would you deny your child that formative peer group experience?

Seems abit extreme op. Chill out! How does he feel about missing year 6? Ours enjoyed the end of year 6 you are top dog at primary and the leavers events are memorable (plays discos residential etc) and fun. We as class of 2020 year 6 parents were really sad our kids missed all that - as were they.

Ours did a lot of work over the autumn and spring terms. There were after school clubs for those who needed help to pass and those who needed a push to get to greater depth. Over Easter there were 3 mornings where children could go in and learn.

On the flip side, every Friday they got an icecream van come, there was a lot of talk about residential and a couple of other fun trips happen as well. They did a year 6 leavers play and lots of other things.

Would he want to miss out on the fun stuff?

For our school, it was post the February half term of year 6 for the middle and higher achievers. Lower achievers I would say were in SATS intervention all the way through pretty much in early morning and lunch time groups, when allowed by the parents.
For the highest achievers in more recent years, there was just extra homework posted for the parents to deal with, aka delegation. One cannot blame the school as SEND rates have increased dramatically.

Why would you deny your child that formative peer group experience?
Because I think it's a waste of time and I can think of better things to do with my DS.

I am not sure most schools do
Your reaction is bit extreme

Thank you. That is what I hoped it would be.

Our school support and offer regular reviews of learning/tests etc however not at the level that it's caused worry, upset, distress or boredom in anyway.

My child is in year 7 now so not long left year 6
I thought they were constantly working TOWARDS the SATs and consolidating all the skills they'd need for SATs throughout year 6. Did 3 different practice papers throughout the year (past papers I think).
However I don't believe they were ever really cramming or hot housing
I don't believe doing SATs had a detrimental effect on my child. (And no she's not one of the top students). She didn't like doing them but that's just because she'd say that about any test she did or does. She never felt anxious or stressed about it really. And I never made it into a big deal.

I think learning how to deal with exams is a crucial skill for the rest of a child's schooling career. A lot of passing exams isn't always base knowledge, it's how to read the question, how to use the time effectively, how to revise and retain knowledge. All crucial skills - taking your DC out of that environment means they start at a deficit with those skills in comparison to their peers - I'd really think about it before you take your DC away from that.

What is extreme about wanting to spend time with my DS before he goes to secondary school? To remove him from school so we can have visit the Eden Project, Pompei and the Acropolis when it isn't too hot, busy or expensive, rather than have him hot housed for exams that serve him no purpose?

My DC said that year 6 was his best year at primary school! They really do so much cool stuff, activities & the trip away with PGL

Think they did SATs in May time then all the fun ramped up until leavers day/ assembly with everyone very tearful but looking forward to the big move to secondary!

Why do you think having communal peer group experiences is a waste of time, out of interest?

Ex teacher

good results doesn’t necessarily mean hot housing.

schools I have worked at in the past have done a whole variety of different things - one school split up the class for maths into three groups of ten kids each and we focused on developing each group - so higher group got extension material beyond year six (this was in the days when you could do the level 6 paper), middle group got the year six syllabus and lower group got gap filling of all the stuff they couldn’t do from previous years.

other schools have done optional breakfast/after school sessions for either gifted and talented students OR those likely to struggle to pass.

some schools do extra sessions during assembly.

for a few years there was funding for pupil premium students to get ten weeks of an hours 1:1 tutoring.

i repeat, find out what your school actually does before taking your kid out because they might offer him or her some extra sessions. These are usually voluntary as well - so school will offer but you don’t have to accept.

My DD is year 6 now and they are doing lots of sats prep, it started after Christmas I think. I wouldn’t call it hot housing though - it’s just prep for the tests, giving extra support to those who need it. None of them seem stressed by it and by the time of the test they’ll be so ready! My DD is quite an anxious child but she’s not worried about them at all, she’s enjoying the work. And post SATs it’s all fun - leavers disco, school production, leavers hoodies!!

I’m glad DC had the SATs experience- there will be MANY exams to sit along the educational path in the years to come.

My son’s school (state primary) did so any what I would call ‘hot housing’ but they were made to prepare for the SATs which I think is completely normal, to experience revising & sitting a formal test…then to enjoy all the fun that came afterwards

My son did it a couple of years ago and I think it prepared him for the constant assessments in secondary!

Year 6 is such a formative year. Even when there’s sata pressure they’re still doing all the other y6 experiences, residentials, transition to secondary school prep, end of year plays etc etc - I think your child would really miss out on these experiences with his peers.

Would he rather be with his mates in year 6 or at the Acropolis with mum?

Wow

You are way over thinking this OP

Don’t get too caught up in the hothousing for SATs idea.

A lot more things happen in Y6 than SATs.

Being in the oldest cohort in the school often leads to little privileges and responsibilities which help with confidence building, self esteem etc

Some schools do a Y6 school journey which can be great for encouraging independence, give opportunities to try out new activities,

Leavers events, parties, saying goodbye to staff classmates and friends can be a rite of passage.

Friendships often develop as children get more independent, eg walking to school together without no adult.

It is a year when children do mature, some are coming into puberty, some have more independence, they are very aware that in Y7 they will be starting at the bottom of the ladder and many enjoy their year as top dogs!

Don't underestimate the soft curriculum that children get in school, eg learning about working alongside others, listening to others, understanding that other people have different opinions, skills, opportunities.

If you really think your child won’t cope with Y6 because of SATS ( and to be honest it sounds as though it is your idea , not his) then by all means remove him and home school, but I would discuss it with him first and consider together what emotionally positive and fun aspects of school he would be missing out on. You won’t be able to remove him from all tests, exams, stressful situations in his school career so maybe giving him the idea that these are optional is not necessarily a good move.