SATS results
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I've been trying to find a helpful overview of the FFT's work. This one from cornwall seems to make sense http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.aspx?page=8641. Or at least as much sense as any of them do!
Using FFT is all very well if the child performs as expected in KS1 - my dd2 didn't and was only expected to get a low level 3 by the end of yr6.
Well what a load of rubbish that is as she's a 4a/5 in maths and English at the end of yr 5. School are already saying she has exceeded expectations and have their feet off the gas. Needless to say this vast improvement has been down to one very good tutor and not the school.
Well what a load of rubbish that is as she's a 4a/5 in maths and English at the end of yr 5. School are already saying she has exceeded expectations and have their feet off the gas. Needless to say this vast improvement has been down to one very good tutor and not the school.
An extremely low set of KS1 tests - the teachers do assessments now.
These results are used by the FFT to predict where the child should be at the end of yr 6.
All very good when the system works but when it doesn't you end up banging your head against a brick wall for the rest of the primary school years!
These results are used by the FFT to predict where the child should be at the end of yr 6.
All very good when the system works but when it doesn't you end up banging your head against a brick wall for the rest of the primary school years!
That's exactly the point.
These sats tests only indicate what the child was willing to put down on paper on that particular day. And any immature kids - well mine wasn't 7 until the following Aug - aren't interested.
Unfortunately some of our teachers have tunnel vision and will not see that some scores, be it better or worse than expected, are not representative of the child's overall ability.
Last term, in yr5, we had the saga of the upsidedown-backtofront copied paper. How can this test be given out to children to assess them when it was hard to follow. Yet the scores for the kids have been put on their records.
My dd scored a whole level lower than what she is working to at school.
Then there's that cramming in yr 6 to get that magic level 5 which again might not be the true ability of the child. Parents should be asking what level they are working to in class rather than just a set of results which might not be entirely accurate.
These sats tests only indicate what the child was willing to put down on paper on that particular day. And any immature kids - well mine wasn't 7 until the following Aug - aren't interested.
Unfortunately some of our teachers have tunnel vision and will not see that some scores, be it better or worse than expected, are not representative of the child's overall ability.
Last term, in yr5, we had the saga of the upsidedown-backtofront copied paper. How can this test be given out to children to assess them when it was hard to follow. Yet the scores for the kids have been put on their records.
My dd scored a whole level lower than what she is working to at school.
Then there's that cramming in yr 6 to get that magic level 5 which again might not be the true ability of the child. Parents should be asking what level they are working to in class rather than just a set of results which might not be entirely accurate.
Is your child's school using the 'Assessing Pupils Progress' materials? These build up a picture of what a child can do - it sounds as if some of the teacher rely on tests FAR too much.
http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_13581.aspx
http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_13581.aspx
Yes, that has just started to be implemented into or school. I think things are changing but my dd won't be there much longer to see the benefits. I'm still trying to mop up after the previous 6 years!
My point is that parents are really hooked up on this whole sats bandwagon.
When it works it's good but when it fails.....
I'm not anti- sats at all but every piece of info/test has to be looked at as only one piece of the jigsaw and when you put it all together then it helps the child in that progression from primary to junior to secondary.
To a large degree, as Katel says, it should be left to the teacher. But then as, someone else pointed out, if you don't stand up for your child when it goes wrong, who else will?
I have had to get involved with my dd2's education in a very big way, even to the point of being her primary source of education, I have completely lost faith in the system. I'm not suggesting in any way that our case is typical. I would have preferred to have stayed out of it but I can't trust the school to teach my dd what she should know. I too have been sucked into the 3 x 5s mantra. But having worked in secondaries I know that little faith is placed in the KS2 results and kids are not set according to their results. Parents really should not worry about not getting the 3 5s etc in the sats.
Another eg that I would like to share with others is my eldest.
Did brilliantly in literacy at KS1 but maths was a little low getting a 2c. I didn't think that was quite right.
FFT indicated a 4b in yr6.
Not 100% positive but I think that a whole level is supposed to be achieved every 2 years.
DD1 scored a very high 5 in yr6. Has just taken sats (yr 8 grammar still doing them) and got a high 8. Came top of top set (set by internal testing not ks2 sats)
Was this what FFT predicted? - no - miles out.
My point is that parents are really hooked up on this whole sats bandwagon.
When it works it's good but when it fails.....
I'm not anti- sats at all but every piece of info/test has to be looked at as only one piece of the jigsaw and when you put it all together then it helps the child in that progression from primary to junior to secondary.
To a large degree, as Katel says, it should be left to the teacher. But then as, someone else pointed out, if you don't stand up for your child when it goes wrong, who else will?
I have had to get involved with my dd2's education in a very big way, even to the point of being her primary source of education, I have completely lost faith in the system. I'm not suggesting in any way that our case is typical. I would have preferred to have stayed out of it but I can't trust the school to teach my dd what she should know. I too have been sucked into the 3 x 5s mantra. But having worked in secondaries I know that little faith is placed in the KS2 results and kids are not set according to their results. Parents really should not worry about not getting the 3 5s etc in the sats.
Another eg that I would like to share with others is my eldest.
Did brilliantly in literacy at KS1 but maths was a little low getting a 2c. I didn't think that was quite right.
FFT indicated a 4b in yr6.
Not 100% positive but I think that a whole level is supposed to be achieved every 2 years.
DD1 scored a very high 5 in yr6. Has just taken sats (yr 8 grammar still doing them) and got a high 8. Came top of top set (set by internal testing not ks2 sats)
Was this what FFT predicted? - no - miles out.
