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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Yr2 SATS is anyone prepping their dcs?

31 replies

moffat · 06/05/2009 23:20

Friend (who works and hence does not do school run) called to ask today if they were doing SATS this week in ds' class. Friend's ds is in the same class. She asked me to check with the teacher and told me about various practice websites. I haven't done anything extra with ds, should I be?

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Tinker · 06/05/2009 23:22

No.

Tinker · 06/05/2009 23:23

Sorry, as in, no you needn't be prepping your child. a) teh school will have been doing that since about January and b) it's all for the school's benefit anyway. Really, there is no need to do it.

Northernlurker · 06/05/2009 23:24

No.

SATS do not benefit our children at all imo. If I had the option to withdraw dd1 I would do. She is ok but some of the parents in her class are making an insane amount of fuss. I will be treating next week like any other week and I will be very, very glad to see the back of it!

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 06/05/2009 23:24

Good lord no. I can barely get her to write the odd comment in her reading diary. I don't fancy my chances with SATs worksheets.

Northernlurker · 06/05/2009 23:25

Oh hang on - you are talking about Yr2?? I was referring to Yr6. The idea that somebody is actually making their 6 year old do practice papers....words fail me!

Original poster

moffat · 06/05/2009 23:26

thanks tinker, that's reassuring as I have no idea when they are and I think the reading and homework he gets is enough without having to prepare him for these tests.

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CheeryCherry · 06/05/2009 23:26

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
Madness.

SnortyBartFast · 06/05/2009 23:26

i thoughtit was next week?
anyway, year 2, low key, don't even mention it please for year 2
year 6, well the children all KNOW and have been majorly prepped by school

Original poster

moffat · 06/05/2009 23:27

and thanks everyone else who I x-posted with.

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Tinker · 06/05/2009 23:31

Sorry, I read it as Yr6 as well. But advice applies even more for Yr2

islandofsodor · 06/05/2009 23:45

My neice is in Year 2 and they had a meeting at school last week telling the parents all about the SATS. Absolutely ridiculous imo.

I'm so glad dd isn't doing them.

poopscoop · 06/05/2009 23:47

nope.

KingCanuteIAm · 06/05/2009 23:48

OUrs havn't even been told what they are, it is all done very informally and low key, in the run up they have done a couple of practise papers to get used to the format but they were not even marked. Best to kep it on the DL IMHO!

ouchitreallyhurts · 07/05/2009 09:30

My daughter doesnt' even know she's doing them - we had a meeting last week, neither dh or I went though - are they booklets/worksheets then? do they all have to do it in silence like our old exams or is it quite relaxed (I'm hoping the latter!!)
when the teacher said my dd was doing her 'sats' i had to google the term when i got home

Original poster

moffat · 07/05/2009 10:39

Well I spoke to the Deputy Head this morning and she said they are doing them over three or four weeks and in a very low key way so the kids don't know, sounds sensible to me.

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mankyscotslass · 07/05/2009 11:10

Ds has been doing his yr2 sats this week.

I wouldn't have know at all if he hadn't mentioned he went into the big hall to do a test.

So no, i haven't prepped him!

KingCanuteIAm · 07/05/2009 12:36

When dd did her year 2 sats they did not prepare or even mentioned it, then carted them all into the hall made them sit alone in silence and told them they were doing a test that would go to the government
Understandably dd ended up in tears and horribly stressed out. I found out about it when I collected her - no-one even told us they were doing them and dd was not alone!
Luckily we kicked up enough stink and they have changed their policy now

castlesintheair · 07/05/2009 12:39

DS's school have been testing them since the start of term (mocks I guess?) and that has nearly caused a nervous breakdown amongst many of them so I dread to think what the additonal stress of home-prepping would do.

DottedPyjamas · 07/05/2009 13:33

It's so confusing for parents like me who are not from here and don't understand the SATS system. A lot of parents I know told me that they do practice papers, websites and coach their kids etc. (they were talking about what level their dcs' were at currently, by their own assesment) that I thought I should be doing those things too. Especially since her school is pretty crap (she's awaiting a place at another school). I got her a pack of 6 practice books during the Christmas holidays, which she completed on her own with minimal help too. I have since read up more about this and realise that any kind of preparation is unnecessary.

ShellingPeas · 07/05/2009 13:42

My DD is year 2 and we haven't done any prep at home. I don't even know when her SATS are being held.

I thought SATS were a test of how well the teachers are performing rather than testing the children's ability so should be low key IMO, especially for Year 2.

KingCanuteIAm · 07/05/2009 13:44

Having said all this about home prep, dd who is now doing the year 6 sats has responded really well to it. Following her experience in year 2 she was really nervous about the sats this year in year 6. We have been going through her practice papers with her she spends 1 hour on 1 night going over bits she has had trouble with and attends a booster group at school. The effect of this has been that she can see results as she works, she has us there to encourage her when she feels she could have done better and, most importantly, to control her expectations. We have imposed a target of 1 point per paper improvemnt (subtley) because she was looking at going up X levels before the test and getting stressed. A different way of showing the target means that she can see she is achieving, it is achievable and if she does not make it there is not too much ground to make up IYSWIM.

My feeling about sats is that they are wrong, that home-prep and competative parents are bad for children in general. However, I have had to reassess after my dds experience, without home prep she would have been a gibbering wreck, she finds it very difficult to handle her own feelings and emotions and tends to internalise things. With home-prep she is happy, confident and looking forward to showing what she can do! I know it is different in year 2 but I think a certain amount of prep is useful so the children have some idea what is coming IYSWIM!

Original poster

moffat · 07/05/2009 13:55

That's interesting KingCanute. My ds is a real dreamer and finds it difficult to focus so I guess in that sense a bit of practice would be good just to get him used to the procedure. His teachers say he is able but sometimes drifts off. However he does seem oblivious to these tests and their significance so OTOH I think I am inclined to let him just take them without prep. But I can see how with some children, like your dd, preparation would be better for them.

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KingCanuteIAm · 07/05/2009 14:02

It is a difficult balance to strike, with dd it was aimed at helping her control her fears and expectations. However ds does not have those expectations so I thought it was best left alone... it is just another thing that you have to hope you have done the right thing with!

singersgirl · 07/05/2009 14:51

There is no fixed week for Y2 SATs any more. They can do the tests during a large window up to the end of June. At my children's school they do them in small groups with a TA, not in the hall. Never occurred to me to prep either of them for the tests - it was supposed to be a reflection of where they really were.

melissa75 · 08/05/2009 18:55

I have been knee deep in Y2 SATS this week, and my kids all did very well! They did not have any idea they were doing SATS or even what SATS were, if they did know, it would have been told to them by their parents, not the teaching staff. It is very low key, and the advantage of the KS1 SATS is that it all comes down to teacher assessment anyway. The tests are just used as another piece in the evidence puzzle to back up the judgement the teacher should already have about said child. For example, when I sit to moderate the papers next week with my colleagues, one of my boys who completely screwed up his paper as he was having a bad day, and thus got a 2C, when I think he is a 2A in writing, I plan to take his other writing assessments to the meeting to show that I am putting his mark through as 2A.
You really needn't prepare your DC for KS1 SATS, other than what you do already (eg daily reading practice, homework help etc..)
Also, in response to someone elses post, the KS1 SATS can be done in September if you want it to be! You have all year to do it up until June, but most schools do it in April/May. We started ours the first week back after easter hols, and are finishing ours on Wed next week.

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