End of Y1

[tikkapots]

Hi all

Does anyone know if there are assessments at end of year 1 and if so what form will they take?

I am hoping it is all ongoing teacher assessments. I am dreading SATS next year. Some mums already have old papers for these and are getting kids tutored (aged 6). Is this the norm? It all seems too much to soon.

TP

In the year 1 class I am in we did MIST screaning tests and will be doing the Stamford reading test which will take place at the end of May.

I am in Wales where we at least in my authoroty do not do SATS at all, likewise we have no league table, we do teacher lead assessments.

I really wouldn't get a tutor and to me that sounds nuts.

Thanks Salimali

I have no intention of getting a tutor. I am just taken a back at how many kids already have one in our year. If my kids have to do SATs in Y2 then I will not be prepping them at home and will want to play it all down.

Hopefully it's all teacher assessment in Y1 as I think there is too much pressure on kids at a young age now.

TP

It is all teacher assessment as far as I know in Year 1, as is a fair bit of the year 2 SATS. If the school is any good they won't realise they are even doing SATS in Year 2. I have no intention of mentioning it to DS next year and think parents getting tutors is utter madness.

Year 6 is a different matter, lots of pressure going on for my DD in year 6 but hopefully by the time DS gets to Year 6 they will have been scrapped.

I'm pretty sure there are no "tests" here in Year 1. School has very low key attitude to the Year 2 SATs and so I would be surprised if they were suddenly doing lots of tests for other years. I think there is a general assessment week but for younger children it will be teacher assessed.

The school is a lower school so up to year 4 and I know that they used to do the optional SATs in year 4 but this year have said they won't be doing them.

Do not tutor your child KS1 SATS were never that important/bad even in the bad old days. The teacher will be making the assessment of your child over the whole year. They do no have to sit a test at all, most schools choose to (without the kids knowing) as part of their proof that their assessments are valid. (NOTHING to do with you or your child.)

What you should be doing with your child is: reading lots, read to them, them reading to you, practise maths as you wander around, eat cakes, whenever near a box of smarties etc., practise reading the time if poss., talking about everything, giving them new experiences such as museums etc.etc..
If they have a learning difficulty then a tutor might help. But at this age you can do a lot yourself.
Get them to try lots of other activities, oh and a musical instrument is supposed to be good.

What tikkapots says about parents tutoring their kids for SATS just goes to prove you should totally ignore league tables, unless you are looking for the schools with the pushiest parents, rather than the schools with the best teaching standards. SATS are supposed to test the quality of teaching in a school, not the individual children. Children are better assessed at this age by other means than silly little tests which are set out in such dull, standardised ways that they give no scope for true imagination or intelligence to shine through.

Frankly, it all goes to prove that SATS are a colossal waste of time and drain all the enjoyment out of learning. And so ends the first lesson...

The SAT tests results form a very small part of the teacher assessment in Y2 - and it is that result which is reported to you at the end of the year, not the test result.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

If the exams are played down and there is also on going teacher assessment then I am happy with that.

I have a bright kid who enjoys school and always does his homework, there is no way I am tutoring him myself or paying anyone else to do it.