Abolition of calculators in Maths SATs paper from 2014.

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Pumpkin Pie
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Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2012 7:27 pm

Abolition of calculators in Maths SATs paper from 2014.

Post by Pumpkin Pie »

The government are to abolish the use of calculators in the Maths SATs exam from 2014. Is this a move in the right direction?
mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Abolition of calculators in Maths SATs paper from 2014.

Post by mystery »

If there is time pressure, it will mean that children who are slower on recall of number facts but OK on mathematical concepts will be at a disadvantage.

There's nothing stopping teachers using them in lessons if they find them beneficial for certain topics.

It should up the ante on teaching efficient error- free arithmetic.

Thank you for drawing my attention to this.

Are the first calculator free SATS in May 2014, or in the school year 2014-15?

If the former, the pressure is on for the current Year 5!
Daogroupie
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Re: Abolition of calculators in Maths SATs paper from 2014.

Post by Daogroupie »

I think this is fantastic. I am horrified at the amount of students who use calculators for every single thing and cannot work out simple sums. A great move. DG
Pumpkin Pie
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Re: Abolition of calculators in Maths SATs paper from 2014.

Post by Pumpkin Pie »

Mystery, will start from SATs sat in the summer of 2014.
JRM
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Re: Abolition of calculators in Maths SATs paper from 2014.

Post by JRM »

This will affect my DD. She is one that will be at a disadvantage compared with now, because hs gets concepts but makes silly mistakes when trying to do multiplication etc fast. But then I'm not particularly fussed about the SATs, but woudl like her to improve her accuracy just for general life, so I wonder whether there will be a noticeable change in focus at school in practicing 'basic calculations' before they get to the problem solving bit? I doubt it really. Is there much that you actually need a calculator for on the SATs tests anyway, apart from using pi?
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leanmeamum
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Re: Abolition of calculators in Maths SATs paper from 2014.

Post by leanmeamum »

Daogroupie wrote:I think this is fantastic. I am horrified at the amount of students who use calculators for every single thing and cannot work out simple sums. A great move. DG

They need to be able to do basic calculations without a calculator - I've seen grown-ups needing calculators to add scrabble scores. Lots of kids struggle to add single digits together which is a real shame
yoyo123
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Location: East Kent

Re: Abolition of calculators in Maths SATs paper from 2014.

Post by yoyo123 »

The calculator paper ( paper B) still tests their understanding of maths, just expects them to use a calculator to do the number work. It contains quite a few problem solving questions. Paper A requires them to work out the answers manually or mentally. Strangely enough, rather than being overdependent on calculators lots of children forget to use them in paper B and spend too much time working it out on paper rather than getting on to the next question. They often end up running out of time and getting a lower score than expected.
daveg
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Re: Abolition of calculators in Maths SATs paper from 2014.

Post by daveg »

JRM wrote: Is there much that you actually need a calculator for on the SATs tests anyway, apart from using pi?
Even then, doing it by hand (with an approximation like 22/7) would be beneficial.
yoyo123
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Location: East Kent

Re: Abolition of calculators in Maths SATs paper from 2014.

Post by yoyo123 »

Paper A does not allow the use of a calculator and all calculations are done manually or mentally.

There is a separate calculator paper , paper B. The point of the questions is to test how you approach problems

The maths level is worked out from Paper A, Paper B and the mental maths test
Guest55
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Re: Abolition of calculators in Maths SATs paper from 2014.

Post by Guest55 »

Another absolutely MAD change to the KS2 tests (they are not SATS).

Only 40% of the current test uses a calculator and it is a KS2 MATHS test not a KS2 number test. There has been no consultation with the maths professionals again.
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