Level 6 in SATs

[VickySS]

Does anyone know what percentage of children have achieved (historically) level 6 at key stage 2 in Maths?

[lljkk]

ps: writing mark in KS2 SATs is entirely teacher assessed I was told, so based on a series of marked work.

[QuintessentialOHara]

"To be honest I would still be happy if DS gets a 5 as that's really good compared to the average." VickySS that is what I told my son this morning. And that he should be very pleased with a 5 as it is still a very good mark. He has high expectations of himself however, and likes to do well at what he does. To be honest, I rather he was not put forward for L6 if it is causing him stress. If L6 had not been mentioned as a possibility, he would have just focused on L5 and been really pleased whatever.
I know it is good to stretch children, however,I dont like the idea of pitting them above because whether he now sits them and dont pass or he does not sit them, he will still feel "not good enough". It means a 5 will not be something to celebrate.

[Myliferocks]

VickySS sometimes my MN name is said with truth and other times it is said with sarcasm!
It all depends on what day of the week it is and how the DC are being!

[Myliferocks]

DD3's school have been telling them how many children take the level 6 papers and how many are expected to pass which seems to have helped with her attitude of she'll try but it's not the end of the world if she doesn't get a level 6
I really thought she would go into meltdown about taking them and I was ready to withdraw her if it became too much.
I've been pleasantly surprised!
She's enjoying the extra groups the school have put on. She has been doing one extra lesson a week for both maths and english and she has been loving it.
She likes the fact that the groups have been very informal and that there has only been 8/9 children in them.
Her head teacher has been doing the maths group and she was raving yesterday about how well he explains things and she wishes he teaches her all the time for maths!

[ohforfoxsake]

Oh how I wish I hadn't taken my head out of the sand and read these threads! Can anyone explain to me the point of doing L6 on primary? Is it really all about personal achievement? (I am genuinely questioning the sense behind it, not being facetious).

DS1 is doing Level 6 and is miserable (I have actively ignored the SATS at home as school is making a massive deal about them.) At home he only has to do the bare minimum, has his regular homework to do and apparently his teacher is setting homework next week (she'll be getting a note from me excusing him).

I had heard rumours that the school was SATS obsessed but didn't really know to what extent. He is complaining about back-ache because from carrying his heavily bag, but says he needs it all.

I was on the verge of pulling him out but he had worked so hard already it didn't seem right either. I wouldn't say he's happy to do it, but he will go along with it because he's come this far.

DS2 may be able to do L6 next year. I probably won't say yes. I think I cocked up this year.

[QuintessentialOHara]

We are also not doing any revision at home, and he is doing the bare minimum, ie the homework set.

I want him to just enjoy life right now, chill, be on the trampoline, be a young boy, focus on cricket, and music and whatever makes him "tick"!

[FoundAChopinLizt]

Quintessential we're the same here. He's my third so I'm getting progressively laid back as we are heading for GCSEs with the older ones

[noblegiraffe]

I'm a secondary maths teacher and in completely two minds about the level 6 SATs. On the one hand, we have had many children coming to us achieving at or near 100% on the 3-5 SATs who have probably been bored at primary school and need catering for, but on the other hand, research shows that accelerating pupils through the maths curriculum leads to shallow understanding and shaky foundations which cause problems later on. If these level 6 children were achieving in the course of normal lessons that would be one thing, but giving them extra schooling to boost their levels mainly for the benefit of the league tables doesn't seem right with such young children.
And because it's a league table measure, schools will be under pressure to shove as many kids through as possible, regardless of what it does to their confidence or whether it's any good for them.

If they get level 6 in Y6, then what to do for the KS3 curriculum? They'll be done by Y8, early entry for GCSE causes all sorts of problems too.

Bright kids need enrichment not acceleration. And average kids need time to absorb what they're learning, not be shuttled through it as quickly as possible, with extra lessons on the side, to try to get as many as possible to a new high level.

[lljkk]

Off top of my head:

L6 is part of monitoring of school performance, that's mainly what they're for. To document that the most able children have been stretched. They also are used to set KS3 & GCSE targets, BUT the school can and will figure out targets without a KS2 SAT result (this happened to DS). Often KS2 SAT results are consulted in borderline cases for streaming & setting, too (some stories about them being a bigger factor in setting groups in y7, seems to vary by school). DD happens to be ambitious and wants L6 for her own satisfaction (she is strange ). I suppose there will be satisfaction among school staff if she gets them, but she leaves soon & soon forgotten I'm sure.

If DD gets L6 it will be a pain because she'll have very high targets for GCSEs, I don't know if I will regret encouraging that.

Not all schools are SATs obsessed; what a waste when they are. :( 2 months ago I had to explain to DD's teacher what dates the L6 tests were held on. DD had loads of sport yesterday and recently, so glad her school is doing lots of other things.

[Myliferocks]

DD3 goes to a middle school so doesn't leave this school until the end of year 8.
The school have cancelled the normal year 6 timetables next week and have other activities like sports and cooking for when they aren't sitting SAT's and the year 6's get extra playtimes as well.
DD3 hasn't been bringing any extra homework home if any thing they haven't had any homework really since before the Easter holidays.

[Tingalingle]

If DD gets a level 6 it won't reflect on how the school has stretched her at all!

They did murmur at the start of the year about 'doing some extension sessions for English', but according to DD it only happened once.

Two of their more obsessive readers are sitting the L6 paper anyway, in the spirit of 'having a bash', and on the grounds that they tend to be the two who correct their teacher's spellings rather than vice versa...

Maths has been a bit more organised, with lots of extra sessions (not involving DD who looks like a rabbit in headlights over anything above 5 x table).

[QuintessentialOHara]

My dc school just got an ofsted outstanding in all areas. Having said that, it is not just the teaching that will ensure some children achieve L6, it is all the tutoring for getting the kids into independent secondaries from Y7!

[slug]

Of the two classes in DD's year I think about 8 have been put through for Level 6 in each of the papers. DD is sitting the Level 6 in all. We confidently expect her to score well in the Maths as she's been hovering over the pass mark in all the tests so far. Her teacher has also put her in for Level 6 in the other papers, despite a few reservations on his part about her tendency to panic when asked to write at length.

Personally, I couldn't give a fig. I have refused to do any extra homework apart from encouraging her (not that she needs any) to keep up with her reading. She knows damn well that, as far as I am concerned, SATS are a measure of the school, not the child and it does not matter to me if she has a bad day during the test and does not do as well as expected. I hate the pressure put on children to perform well in something that, ultimately, does not matter for the children. The teaching to the test that SATS involves sucks the joy out of learning. I'm also incensed at how other topics, notably science, has been almost completely ignored this year in the pursuit of good SATS scores. I'm also annoyed that the pressure unduly falls on DD as on of the more advanced students to pull in the big grades to make the school look good.

[lljkk]

actually, I noticed a bit of mollycoddling of the y6s right now (I work in the school, too).

they are getting fussed over & not being scolded half as much as usual, not asked to do as much around the school for others. It's like everyone wants to keep them sweet. In dinner hall they riotously sang Happy Birthday to one of their group, adding an even louder reprieve encouraged by staff.

Not objecting, just have a feeling no one would have invited the yr5s, 4s or 3s to do that.

[QuintessentialOHara]

Ds is very happy at the moment. Even headmistress commented on his cool new hairdo, and called him TinTin! There is a hairgel ban in school, but she just smiled and said "oh, but it is part of your style, so thats ok!" He has a little bit of his fringe (2cm long) sticking straight up, like TinTin - it is amazing, he actually looks just like him!) So, Lljkk, you have a point!

[Yellowtip]

slug agree about the school approach. Last weekend was the first time in the whole year that she came home with any homework at all. I'm completely relaxed about the SATS, DD4 is too.

[legallady]

DS came home yesterday and said they had been told that they are not doing the writing assessment test but that the mark will be based on teacher assessment over the last few weeks.

He's happy as that's one less exam. Not quite sure how they'll grade him though as he has been given 2 level 6s and 2 level 5As for the last 4 bits.

Anyone else heard about teacher assessment rather than exam for writing?

[Pozzled]

There is no exam for writing, it is all based on teacher assessment. The assessment will be looking at the general quality of their independent writing, over a range of genres. It doesn't need to be completed for a few more weeks, so it won't necessarily be based on writing that has been completed up to this point. Schools will use the ir own assessment and moderation methods, and some schools will be chosen for external moderation to check that their assessment is accurate.

[legallady]

Thanks Pozzled - it's nice to know someone knows what it's all about

Although parents aren't really supposed to get involved with all of this (or are they???) it would be nice if we received some information about what's going on. I get garbled messages through my DS about booster groups and mock tests but it's only the bits and pieces he can be bothered to tell me. The only official thing we've had through is asking whether our children will be coming into school early for the SATs breakfasts that are being laid on next week

[sinclair]

it's next week, the timetable is online, all L6 papers are pm.

We have been told he writing element of English is teacher assessed and based on a portfolio of work - the deadline our children have been given is 28 June, not sure if that is a national date. Some schools will be moderated but many not - ours will be as 'needs to improve' or whatever the current Ofsted label is.

DS most excited about the breakfast club!

School is putting ours under more pressure than has been the case in past years - I can't wait for it all to be over. Good luck to everyone next week

[kilmuir]

Yes, breakfast club is causing much excitement

[circular]

Nobilegiraffe That's really interesting what you saying about the maths.

My DD2 in yr5 was taken aside with 3 others last term and told that they should all be hitting level 5 (literacy) this year, with hints that level 6 would be on the agenda next year.
Same teacher has since told them that it is highly unlikely that the school will be doing any level 6 literacy, as it causes problems in secondary school, being too far ahead and getting bored.

Not a problem they seemed to think existed with maths though, as its expected to be competitive.

I would have thought English is far easier to stretch sideways and keep them interested?

[ohforfoxsake]

Slug - I agree 100%.

Quint - I have your DS's twin here then!

Really helpful thread, thank you. I am wishing I hadn't encouraged him to do it.

[ohforfoxsake]

We were given a letter about SATS and a form so we could buy practice pass papers. DS1's teacher said to the class as they were about to break up for Easter 'if your parents have any sense, they will have you doing practice papers every other day at least'.

Needless to say papers were not bought, and practice was not done. We did, however, have a lovely time.

[FoundAChopinLizt]

I'd rather ds was spontaneously reading for pleasure than doing practice papers. Roll on the end of next week...