Withdraw from SATS

Key Stages 1-2 and SATs advice

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Rugbylady13
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2015 3:25 pm

Withdraw from SATS

Post by Rugbylady13 »

Can I withdraw my DD from sitting the SATS in May ?
kenyancowgirl
Posts: 6738
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: Withdraw from SATS

Post by kenyancowgirl »

My understanding is that if your child is working within the levels, they are expected to sit the tests - found this:

https://schoolleaders.thekeysupport.com ... -the-tests" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Suspect Guest55 may have more info?
Yamin151
Posts: 2405
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:30 am

Re: Withdraw from SATS

Post by Yamin151 »

You can withdraw them if you want to. Bear in mind that it may be down as 'unauthorised absence' if you kept them off school, so you need to navigate that one, but in theory there is no obligation to sit them. We explored homeschooling for the last term of Year 6 and not being in SATS was not an issue. Neither of our boys' new schools used them for streaming and any school that does should still be performing their own assessment. SATS are largely for the schools benefit, so I am sure they will be disappointed if your dc likely to do well, but other than that its entirely up to you.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Withdraw from SATS

Post by Guest55 »

You would have to keep them off for some time to escape the tests [tests can be sat late now] - it would be unauthorised absence and there could be a fine imposed.

The alternative is to withdraw from school for the last term of Year 6 and elect to 'home educate'.

KS2 tests are not just for the school - they are used to benchmark progress at secondary and set GCSE pass statistics.
mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Withdraw from SATS

Post by mystery »

They are also about letters from Nick Gibb to primary schools telling them how well they have done which they can then put on the wall and get more people wanting places at the school.

Our school was one of fewer than 200 schools that got 100% level 4b and above and they have a letter to prove it. The remaining child who couldn't read or write well enough in my child's year group left to be home educated a few weeks before the KS2 sats as he/she was so depressed about primary school and the parents were repeatedly told throughout upper KS2 that he/she could not be given more help than he was. At one point he/she had a specialist volunteer teach him/her daily to read but this was stopped by the school although he/she improved by a very large ratio gain during that period. The parent asked for this again and it was refused because it meant missing classroom activities.


As it's a very small year group, he would have had quite a significant impact on the KS2 test results. A surprising number of those 4b children also had questions read to them - particularly in maths. It puzzles me that this should be allowed as if I had a 4b all-round child in my class in secondary school I would think they should be capable enough in both maths and English not to need the questions to be read out loud to them - even if it just is a confidence or concentration booster. No special needs.

Having said all of that, if you've got your own very good reasons not to send your child to the tests but you still want them to attend this school, I'd just go ahead and do that. They are only ten or eleven and you know them best.
Amber
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Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Withdraw from SATS

Post by Amber »

I attempted to do this when my youngest was in Y6, because he and I were getting very fed up of the pressure and the relentless SATs practice every day at school. I went into the school to ask them to withdraw him from the Level 6 papers and also asked about him not doing them at all. In the end I felt very sorry for the teachers as of course the all-important data trail which had followed him from the womb to that point suggested he should be getting high levels, and if he wasn't then there was no other explanation for that than that the school and its teachers had failed him miserably and deserved punishment via OFSTED.
mystery wrote:They are also about letters from Nick Gibb to primary schools telling them how well they have done which they can then put on the wall and get more people wanting places at the school.
Well there you have it. Nick Gibb, expert on education, especially in the Far East; all-round nice guy (remember his compassionate line on children missing school to attend family funerals?); and poet (' our reforms will let a thousand flowers bloom'/ 'the fruits of autonomy in all their vivid abundance'), will send a letter to your school -unless you keep your child out - in which case that honour will be withheld.. How will you ever live with your conscience, Rugbylady? :wink:
Rugbylady13
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2015 3:25 pm

Re: Withdraw from SATS

Post by Rugbylady13 »

Thanks for all your replies.
Yamin151
Posts: 2405
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:30 am

Re: Withdraw from SATS

Post by Yamin151 »

Guest55 wrote:You would have to keep them off for some time to escape the tests [tests can be sat late now] - it would be unauthorised absence and there could be a fine imposed.

The alternative is to withdraw from school for the last term of Year 6 and elect to 'home educate'.

KS2 tests are not just for the school - they are used to benchmark progress at secondary and set GCSE pass statistics.
You could be right in many cases G55, but neither of my son's schools use them for the individual, so it becomes a 'mass' statistical usefulness. Whether or not you feel your child needs to be part of that is up to the parents themselves. I guess you could say that its unfair on the school in the same way taking your child out of school for a holiday is.......
Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Withdraw from SATS

Post by Guest55 »

Yamin151 both your children will sit GCSEs won't they? The pass rate when they sit them is linked to their cohort performance at KS2 - so it will affect them and possibly their grade.

Any child in a state school [including an Academy] is tracked from KS2 test levels and the school judged on progression from that baseline. All levels [including TA] are input in FFT and that data is used to benchmark schools as well.
Yamin151
Posts: 2405
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:30 am

Re: Withdraw from SATS

Post by Yamin151 »

But when we approached the schools about home schooling in Year 6 they said it made no difference if they didn't get the SATs. One boy in indie as well so they did their own assesment.
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