SAT's a step too far

[wenzitmyturn]

Hi,

Not posted here before, but needed to vent!!!
DD1 (11 yrs next week) is supposed to be sitting her SAT's this week. Has been studying really hard all school year for them, to the detriment of all other education!! Only, Friday DD3 (3 yrs) brought sickness bug home with her from nursery. By Tues night, DD2 (9) had caught it, then by bedtime, DD1. She was distraught. I said, Oh well, you'll get to stay home and skive with Mammy tomorrow then won't you? She screamed and shouted... "I can't, I have to do it, or i'll be put in Dunces class at JLV (our name for secondary school she starts in Sep. Eventually, got her to cslm down and try and get some sleep.

This morning, she'd had a complete turnaround. She's a very slim girl, been seen by GP for being underweight (not eating disorder, just a skinny minny) and hadn't eaten for ALMOST 24 hours due to bug. just setting scene - it doesn't take much to make her REALLY weak. Said she didn't want to go and felt dizzy even just sitting up, never mind standing.

Phoned into school (both DD1 and 2)school have policy (like most schools) of 48 hour absence. within 10 mins got call back asking if she wouold just be able to "pop" in to sit test and then coud go back home. Said not possible as she can't sit upright etc and I had a seizure out of blue last week (never before) and have been told not to drive until been seen by specialist and told i'm safe and it was a 1 off. So would have to Walk her home (normally not a problem, but when your puking?)not to mention having to bring other 2 children out to get her. Said she could have use of deputy head's office and wouldn't even need to put her uniform on!! I said No.
10 minutes later, Deputy head himsef called - who happens to also be DD2's form teacher. He tried alsorts to persuade me to get her to "rally". Said first test is only 20 mins then they get 40 min break time, so she could go outside??????!!!!! I asked what he might expect her to do out there He said well I suppose she could have a chair and just sit in fresh air - Oh mums, if only we had known of this as being a cure. All of kids could have been "put out" into back gardens. no more school absence. offered to bring her home himself. All of his conversation deigned to make me feel crap so I would make an effort to get her there. Still told him no.
Then, Maths teacher called. Now have to be fair to her. She was only one to be concerned for DD1, rather than herself or school. told me not to worry and to tell DD not to either. The threat of Dunces class is just something we use to get them to focus, she said. on previous call with deputy, told him how disappointed DD2 was as she has to stay off 48 hours. half of her year gone on residential. Those who don't go get to do "Art week" and she is gutted she's missing it. didn't offer to relax rules for her.
I asked if she couldn't just take the tests another time and the school told me no, she won't get scored unless she does them in the right order. Then in a later call, told me they can infact apply for an extension and if I can assure them she'll be fit in the morning, she can do todays and tomorrows together. so they lied to make the story suit them AGAIN.

I am truly disgusted with them. I'm dead against the KS2 Sats and the pressure they create, BUT feel for DD who has worked so hard and just wants to get a level 5. so for her, she's doing it all tomorrow so that Year 6 won't have been a TOTAL waste. Thoughts anyone? should I put in official complaint to Education dept?
thanks
karen

Of course she won;t be put into the dunces class, poor child the school have really got it wron.

Have you got any private schools in your area, tell her that they don't even do SST so any children tranferring from there won't have any results and loads of schools are boycotting them too.

I wouldn;t let her sit tham at all to be honest and def complain to the school i fthey are scaring the children with a non existent dunces class imagine what that does to the less academic children or those that get nmervous in tests.

Now I'm a nasty suspicious character and I suspect the school hasn't just "got it wrong"; they are deliberately lying about the SATS' effects on your dd's future, because poor SATS results will effect their future. Dd's headteacher did the same and he certainly must have known it wasn't true as the local secondaries do their own tests and their ability groups are very fluid anyway. Dd was ill in SATS week and performed less well than expected, she is still in top sets for everything at secondary.

If your dd has worked hard all through Yr 6, then she will have learnt masses. So how could anyone possibly think this has been wasted just because she doesn't sit this one exam? She will still have all that learning and be able to use it in secondary.

affect; can't believe I just wrote that!

I'm not sure why you think that Year 6 would be a total waste if your dd doesn't sit the SATs. Anything your dd has learned throughout the year she has learned. Sitting or not sitting a test won't change that.

:

learning is just as good if it is not done at school and the teachers never find out about it

To be fair to the school, they would have had to contact the LEA to be given this special advice, and it wouldn't apply in all cases. So I don't think they lied.

I wouldn't attempt to defend them as far as trying to make ill and suffering children come in to take tests though - but I can understand why they tried to.

We are boycotting SATs this week - two of our level 5 children are poorly today, so wouldn't have sat the real test. That would be very disappointing under normal circumstances because our Level 5 scores would be immediately down 8%, which would trigger LEA and Ofsted concern immediately and the long and laborious procedures for improvement would begin, regardless of the reasons why.

I hasten to add that we would usually wear this, and would under no circumstances try to make ill children come in.

Now that we are using past papers and teacher assessment, however, instead of SAT results, we can easily prove that these children work at a solid level 5, and only those results will be reported.

Feenie,
I love the comment that you are now doing past papers and teacher assessment so everything is OK but haven't you forgotten something - the statutory requirement for the SAT KS2 tests to be carried out.

Or do the statutory requirements now no longer apply to teachers simply because you don't agree with them?

There is no statutory requirement for Feenie ( a teacher who has no say in the matter) if her headteacher is taking part in the legal industrial action boycott

"Or do the statutory requirements now no longer apply to teachers simply because you don't agree with them?"

No, actually, they don't.

And as islandofsodor has pointed out, the action is entirely lawful.

I agree with cory. This is awful, OP, and I would complain if I were you. Poor DD!

I've just noticed you posted last night and not today- how's it going?

Well everyone.

DD went to school today - still 24 hours ahead of schools rule about infectious illnesses. She was "escorted" to s private room, to prevent any lying cheating 10/11n year olds from giving her the answers to the Questions and thus giving her an unfair advantage (because thats what 10/11 year olds are about). She sat both yesterdays and todays tests all in one day, so school are now delighted with her and she has been promised a "really fun day" tomorrow as a reward.

She told me that she took yesterday's test in isolation but was allowed to join the rest of the year to do the rest at the same time a them. What I don't see, is why she wasn't still contagious? - Oh yes, that's right, because it suits them.

Also sent in DD2 who by the rules should ALSO have remained at home. For this I do feel a bit guilty and apologise for any other Mums who will have sick children because of me. But I wanted to make a point to school. We were waiting for them to work it out and call us to come and collect her again. At which point I would have insisted that I collect both of them, which would have hurt them (the school)more than me!

Thanks for everyone's comments

By Feenie Thu 13-May-10 09:27:24
"To be fair to the school, they would have had to contact the LEA to be given this special advice, and it wouldn't apply in all cases. So I don't think they lied."

Surely you wouldn't need to contact the LEA to be given special advice that secondaries don't have a "dunce's class" for children who did not sit the SATS? Where on earth does that happen? Surely in any sensible secondary, if there were no SATS results to go on, the teachers would look at the individual child to see what set was the appropriate one? Or have I misunderstood your post?

No, sorry Cory - I meant the advice where a test could be taken out of sequence/on a different day. It's a special circumstance, and wouldn't apply in all cases. They would have had to get special permission from the LEA.

Sats are taken to assess schools; they are not done for the children. Therefore, they all have to be taken together on the same day Secondary schools use their own cat tests to 'set' children.

Your daughter needn't worry anyway; many children aren't doing sats this year.

I think that your daughter's response demonstrates that sats are a bad idea. But, we as parents are to blame because we follow the league tables and therefore make schools put pressure on the children.

just to add...what an appalling school! Telling children they will end up in the dunce's class.

Also, a year is not wasted because an exam is not taken! Very strange attitudes towards learning.

"Secondary schools use their own cat tests to 'set' children."

Not all secondary schools do this - some use SAT results, some use teacher assessments, some use CAT tests, some have their own form of assessment; it depends on the individual school.

I don't think we parents are to blame, where are these masses of parents who like their DC taking SATs? Why do the doubters outshout them so easily?

I can manage to perceive some positives in SATs (silver lining), but if it was a manifesto pledge to either keep them as is or eliminate or dramatically alter how they are undertaken, I can't see that many people would step forward to say that they prefer the status quo.

I'd blame politicians, they dress up current SAT system as "accountability" and "transparency".

I don't think that parents like their own children taking sats, but they do look at the league tables that are created from sats and make school choices from them.

And the most a league table reflects is the value of the houses of the school's parents!

But people do look at them. I am always hearing comments that they like M school but will choose W because it 'gets the results".)
Although their child would probably get the same results at M or W.)

And - if parents don't look at the league tables - why is my dds school utterly rejected by the middle classes when it gets good Value Added and great Ofsteds? Probably because the stats are poor due to a high proportion of damaged children and an on-site autistic centre (which ironically the same middle-class parents clamour to get a place at if their children turn out to be autistic.)

I assume most schools are doing a good job with the kids they've got.
Having said that dd1's yr 2 class went through much of the autumn term doing no maths or writing. She really didn't do any writing for a whole month - the head had to apologise when I finally got up the courage to make a formal complaint. Its a 'learning through play' school so she did do alot of optional learning activities - in her case playmobil and role-play for hours every day.

Well at the meeting about Yr2 SATs the head gave a huge diatribe against SATs. My point is, do you blame me for thanking God for SATs? Its the only reason the school really got around to any formal learning this term and makes the school just a bit answerable for its teaching methods. Ominously her teacher talks of 'lots of fun' once the SATs are over...

But the tests are only there to support continuous teacher assessment throughout Y2 - they should be just one small piece of evidence to support the teacher's judgement.

beezmum I don't blame you I just think you are terribly naive to put so much faith in a test and perhaps not familiar with the nature of KS1 SATs.

Hello Mrz - you're being very friendly tonight!!!!!
Its not the quality of the test but the fact that the school realise thay have to do some teaching now they are looming.For example the welcome appearance of regular written work tasks.
I have looked at the SATs and think they could do with a total overhaul. However, even in their faulty state they make schools accountable for what they do.

Not really - when the LEA come to moderate, they will want to see the rest of the evidence of assessed work Some LEAs don't even allow the tests as admissable evidence.

By beezmum Fri 14-May-10 20:14:37
Hello Mrz - you're being very friendly tonight!!!!!
Its not the quality of the test but the fact that the school realise thay have to do some teaching now they are looming.

KS1 SATs don't loom I'm afraid. Children in KS1 are assessed continually over the full year and this is what is reported to parents and the LA. Tests can be carried out at any point in the year not necessarily near the end of the summer term so if the school wished they could use these test on entry to Y2.

Mine is one of the authorities that does not allow any reference to SATs tests, either actual or practice, when assessing a child at the end of year 2. We can and do use running records, ongoing assessments, reading levels, assessed writing, levelled targets, homework, home school books, reading records, in fact anything BUT Sats results. It is these assessments that are moderated and agreed, nothing else.