Level six SATS

[anxiousanna]

Hi Everyone, I was wondering if anyone can reccommend where to buy Level six SAT papers and was also wondering if any particular type is best. Thanks Anna.

[Guest55]

Why? There is plenty of time for level 6 in Secondary school.

[anxiousanna]

My DS has been asked to take level 6 this May (he is currently in year six) and was thinking of getting him some practise papers but wanted to make sure they were of a good standard. Thanks

[Araucana]

You can get past papers online for free here, however these are the KS3 tests for level 6-8, not sure how similar these papers will be to KS2 level 6 paper. Hopefully someone else can help.

http://www.emaths.co.uk/KS3SAT.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Guest55]

The KS3 papers won't be suitable as they are aimed at the KS3 curriculum.

The KS2 level 6 papers aren't a 'real ' level 6 and cover a very small amount of level 6 - many secondary maths teachers are shocked they have come back because they encourage acceleration rather than enrichment.

Someone posted a link to last year's papers so search above.

[Amber]

My Year 6 DS is also supposed to be sitting a level 6 paper but I am coming at this from a different angle from you. As Guest55 says, this is material for secondary school. If a primary school wants to make itself look good by putting children in for level 6 then I reckon they get to take the rap and do the teaching for it. Personally I am against it...why would you want to practice stuff he isn't really meant to be doing until next year? SATs are for schools: not children, not parents.

If you do want to practice after all that...the papers you will get with the link Araucana has provided are indeed secondary ones which will provide masses more than you need, and possibly scare the poor child too! From what I can tell, 'level 6' at primary school involves a couple of questions on limited topics which do not really equate to a solid level 6 at secondary...perhaps Guest55 could clarify? And I am afraid I can't help with your query, as I would not do SATs practice at home.

Sorry G55, our posts crossed

[Guest55]

OK - I'll give an example -

One level 6 topic is trial and improvement - when I teach it we use it to solve cubics to one decimal place.

In the 2011 level 6 paper they were 'talked through' the method for a quadratic and substituted a few values in - they weren't asked to follow the method through to a solution or test the solution to show it was accurate to the correct degree of accuracy. So, imho, the question was not equivalent to what I'd teach at level 6 in KS3 and quite misleading to pretend it was.

[Amber]

This is a wider issue too- the non -equivalence of primary level 5s to secondary ones has parents sucking their teeth and calling in the tutors in the first few terms of secondary school. While APP can be a fantastic assessment device it can also be a nightmare when there is little coherence between primary and secondary.

Thanks G55- can I get you to teach my son?

[FluffyD]

I have found that my primary are quite harsh on grading.
I have a friend who is a secondary English teacher and she was looking at my DS's work last year, she gave it a much higher grade than school did.
I am happier this way round They are made to work harder for their grades and will not find it so hard to keep up in high school.
I hope!

[anxiousanna]

Thanks for you comments. I am very aware of the difference between a primary level 6 and a Secondary level 6 as I already have 2 children in year 9 and year 11. I am also aware that SATS are indeed a way that the Primary school can look "good". However my ten year old - as you correctly pointed out, is a little worried and all I am trying to do is give him some help. I also know that what may be considered a secure 5 in primary is very different from what is considered a level 5 at secondary. I thought that this forum was here to help with questions/queries and worries regarding educational issues and now feel that I should not have asked a very innocent question which hopefully may have guided me in the right direction.