SATs yr 6 | Mumsnet

louise80 · 2010-02-05T15:12:19+00:00

can someone tell me if the sats are a legal requirement please also i dont want my daughter to do them how can i avoid her from sitting them xx

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arcticwind · 05/02/2010 22:45

As far as I know you can formally withdraw her, but even if not, just take her out for the relevant time.
I do not approve of SATS and would do that too but thankfully my dcs school does not do them

BITCAT · 05/02/2010 22:48

i didnt know you could withdraw them..my son is going on about them and i said to him all you can do is do your best..thats all they can do. I do not agree with them either..i think its too much pressure on young children and they can do without it.

Original poster

louise80 · 08/02/2010 10:56

well wat it is , is i booked a holiday last yr and its all payed for wen she was at her old skool then we moved house so she moved skools, her oldd skool gave her permission to not be there as they where not doing the sat's but her new skool are sayin she not aloud to miss them as there report will be down by 8 per cent as there is only 16 students in her class, i personally dont want her to do the sat's but if i withdraw her will the skool fine me for this or make my daughters life harder for the next few months till she leaves for high school...

OP posts:

titchy · 08/02/2010 11:06

Yes the school can fine you for taking your dd out of SCHOOL (please don't spell it skool ). They shouldn't make her life a misery though - it's not her fault.

titchy · 08/02/2010 11:07

Oh and it's 'allowed' not 'aloud' and 'their' not 'there'. Sorry - pedant here.

seeker · 08/02/2010 11:09

SE13Mummy · 08/02/2010 12:40

They are statutory for every Y6 child in a state school unless the child is operating below the level of the tests. This would have been the same for your daughter's previous school unless it was a private school or not in England.

You could, in theory, withdraw your child from the school on 1st May/thereabouts, go on holiday and reapply for a place for her on your return - if there are only 16 children in the class anyway it's unlikely that there would be a sudden influx whilst you're on holiday.

If your daughter goes on holiday during the week of tests you may well be fined by the school but so long as the teachers know beforehand I can't imagine they would blame her for not being there as it's clearly not her fault!

arcticwind · 08/02/2010 17:07

r alternatively just call in sick at the time. SATS are mad anyway ...

ElbowFan · 09/02/2010 16:25

Take a step back.Why do you nor want her to take part? Who are SATs for? When it comes to GCSEs and A levels and the like, then the purpose of the test is for the individual and for their gain and benefit.
SATs on the other hand are for the school and the school alone; their place in the league tables, their proof to Ofsted that they've made a difference . Let your child sit the papers but do not fall into the trap of feeding the hype and making her tense and worried that these are 'exams'. Explain that it is showing what she can do as well as showing what the teachers have taught her. If she knows the answers, fine, if she doesn't, well never mind. The sky will not fall in because of what she does on the day.

releasethehounds · 10/02/2010 22:26

It's a nightmare isn't it? My DD1 is in Y6 and has recently become very stressed about the whole thing. Luckily she is bright and shouldn't struggle anyway, but I think the teacher has been giving the class a pep-talk about the SATS and it has become a bigger thing than it really needs to be in DD1's head.

I'm trying to reassure her that the results are not the be all and end all, but I wish the damn things had all been scrapped last year. As I sit here now she's still lying in bed awake, probably fretting! Parents' evening is tomorrow so I'll be mentioning it to her teacher.

OP - I wouldn't like to say what the consequences of withdrawing your DD from the SATS will be, but in a way, will she feel different from her classmates? Are the school currently doing 'booster' classes for the SATS, because my children's school is.

Is there any way you can change your holiday dates?

seeker · 10/02/2010 22:33

I do sometimes wonder what happens all these children who need to be protected from the stress of SATS when, a year later, they have to deal with secondary school and the testing ans emans that go on there!

The op isn't bothered by the stress, by the way, she's bothered about her holiday!

releasethehounds · 10/02/2010 22:37

No seeker - I do appreciate the OP and I are coming from different angles here. I think it depends on the child in question - my DD2 would sail into the exam room and not even think about worrying about it, but my DD1 is a born worrier and finds this sort of pressure so difficult to cope with that it affects her daily life. Not easy to live with and hard to watch her.

Anyway, I'm hijacking the OP's thread, so I'll leave it at that.

Goober · 10/02/2010 22:40

There will be no fine.
My DS2 will be taking his this year. We almost took him out of school during SAT week for a holiday. Headteacher said she wouldn't permit it, so I asked what the conciquences would be if I took him without permission, she said nothing would happen. There would be no fine, no court, only his transition to high school would be harder for him, but it would be my choice.

harpsichordcarrier · 10/02/2010 22:44

just from a secondary school perspective:
the transition to secondary school is NO MORE DIFFICULT if you haven't taken SATS. Teachers can make their own assessment of levels when they arrive. Children arrive from private prep schools without a SATS level; does anyone REALLY think they are disadvantaged?

also, to answer seeker's question: after Y6 the children won't have to take any public exams until y10 (possibly y9 if they take GCSEs early) - which is quite a time afterwards. plenty of time for them to mature,

bruffin · 10/02/2010 22:55

But they get tested in someway every week in secondary school, if they can't cope with sats they certainly won't be able to cope with weekly tests and marked homework!

primarymum · 11/02/2010 07:26

and it's not just public exams. My son spent his first week at secondary school taking tests, CATs, Yellis and heavens knows what else, and has taken exams and tests practically every term since! (he did KS3 SATS and school exams and everything else going.) Exams are a part of school life. It is how the school approaches them that is important. I teach yr 5/6 and this week we have had a go at some SATS papers so the children know what they are like and get used to the timings and the style. My yr 6's have been doing them and my yr 5's are FURIOUS that they are not! This is because we approach tests in a "right, lets see how much we know now that we didn't think we did and what do we still need to find out" manner, rather than with a "your whole life depends on this, so you must do your very best" approach. I think parent s are more stressed than most children!

seeker · 11/02/2010 07:54

"Children arrive from private prep schools without a SATS level; does anyone REALLY think they are disadvantaged?"

It's not the presence or absence of a level that I'm concerned about - it's the suggestion that children are delicate little flowers and the stress of sitting an exam might cause them untold harm. In m my experience children from private schools, even if they haven't done SATS, have done loads of other exams. And it is true that in Secondary school they do tons of tests - they are part of life there.

teamcullen · 11/02/2010 08:08

OP I'd be more worried about the signals that your sending out to your DD. You are giving out the attitude that having a good time on holiday is more important than her education.

I understand that holidays are cheaper in term time, we take our children camping or go to Ireland and stay with family as we cant afford holidays in school holidays. Thats what is called compromise.

Even if children are not doing national tests, they are at school to be educated.

My DS1 is in y6 and doing SATs this May. He finds it all very hard, but as primarymum says its the adults around them that make them stressed. He knows that as long as his level has improved from last year, he is oving in the right direction, and he doesnt have to compare his level to any of his friends.

releasethehounds · 11/02/2010 13:48

teamculluen - believe me, I'm doing everything I can to stop my DD from being stressed about the SATS. I'm really playing them down and have just said to her that they are something everyone has to do, just have a go, and don't worry about the results - it's not that important (which I believe). DD is quite used to the normal tests they have in school. Even at primary level they seem to have at least one test a week and are continually assessed; this doesn't seem to bother her - it's the SATS which are the problem.

Obviously SATS won't do children any long-term harm but the general opinion (including teachers) seems to be 'what's the point of them?'

teamcullen · 11/02/2010 16:43

Releasethehounds- I wasnt having a go at you. I said its the adults around them that makes them stressed, adults not particully parents. It does sound like your DDs teacher is putting extra pressure on her class.

But I do agree that some children will worry regardless no matter how much you play it down. I was hoping that SATs would have been scrapped myself this year, because DS tends to place key stage levels in the same bracket as how many goals you can score or how many keepy uppys you can do, and this is just another thing that his friends can do better.

But I stand by my point that telling your child that its not important to be in school when you could be lying on a beach instead is the wrong attitude to have whether you agree with testing or not. Which is what the OP is basically saying.

releasethehounds · 11/02/2010 21:10

teamcullen - I couldn't agree more and I didn't mean to take offence at your previous post. I had a word with DD1's teacher at parents' evening tonight and she said that she has been pushing the able pupils as high as possible. She also said that several of the Y6s are getting anxious and she will remind herself to give them a few pats on the back and a little reassurance re: their progress.

I know what your DS means about key stage levels being similar to goal scoring; kids can become fixated on that level 4 or 5 and it becomes all-important. Hope your DS is ok - I think many children feel the same.

teamcullen · 12/02/2010 19:09

Thanks realeasethehounds. It wouldnt be so bad if all his friends where not expected to get level 5s when he will be lucky to get a 4c. Infact it will be a lot to celebrate if he does get a 4c.

But that is something else that is often more to do with the adults than the children. When DD was in primary school I had one parent who seemed as interested in my DDs levels as she was with her own DD. I think she has only stopped because they are in different bands in high school and dont share classes anymore.