Should I get my son to revise for the SATs?

[MillyR]

My son sat the 11 plus in December and he did not have a tutor; I taught him myself before school each morning for a many months in advance (maths and VR). We are both tired of doing extra work.

My son is in year six. I feel that maybe I should be doing some revision with him at home, starting at the beginning of March, to prepare for the SATs. He is predicted 5 maths, 5 science, 4 English.

Maybe if we revise he will go up to 5, 5, 5. Maybe if I don't he will go down to 5, 4, 4.

By revise, I mean stuff I find for him to do. Obviously we will do anything the school sends home, although I don't think they're going to send home a lot.

Does it matter at all? If he goes to the grammar he won't be set. If he goes to the comp he will get set for maths based on the SATs, but that is his best subject so I don't see the need for revision.

Does it matter for his future? Does it matter to the school ?

I thought 4's were sufficient for the school's league table position, but could be wrong.

MillyR - If you've been coaching for the 11+ I am absolutely sure you don't have to do extra for the SATS. He (and you) will have covered the syllabus, which would be the only point of coaching.

If you are a bit worried about setting for maths at the comp. then get him to do a few papers before the actual SAT test, maybe, but I can't believe you need to do any more.

The Ofsted website used to publish the percentage of children achieving level 5, as did the old-style Ofsted reports.

The will be doing TONS of practice at school - don't do any at home!

The SATs are for the school - used by the government to put them into league tables.

They serve no useful purpose for the children as most sec schools test them on entry anyway.

If you do extra practice at home/employ a tutor, you are making the school look better than it is. If they can't get the results through their teaching, then they shouldn't get that position in the league table.

Tutoring for the 11+, however, is important or your child is at a disadvantage for the exam.

Do not do any at home! They are 5 months away anyway. They are not of any use to the DC. The school will be working towards them (in fact putting all their energies into them)because they want to look good in the league tables. Secondary schools do their own tests-they don't rely on SATs results-they are merely a guide.

DS's school did use the sats and also cats for setting and use the raw scores for target setting but we never did any extra work with him at home.DD is yr 6 and she doesn't need any extra help.
DS found his sats an enormous confidence booster as he has specific learning difficulties, but got very good results.

Thanks for your replies. It will be a huge relief not to have to worry about it all.

I was going to post this same thread, so glad I checked and found it has already been sorted!!