KS2 SATS level 5 & 6

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Glos_Mum
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Post by Glos_Mum »

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Last edited by Glos_Mum on Fri Aug 21, 2015 8:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Guest55
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Re: KS2 SATS level 5 & 6

Post by Guest55 »

There is absolutley no need for constant practising. My DC attended a very high perfomring Primary and only did a few papers during Year 6. They focused on using the papers to find gaps in understanding; just the way I use past papers for GCSE and A level prep. Any revision needs to be fun and engaging ...
capers123
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Location: Gloucestershire

Re: KS2 SATS level 5 & 6

Post by capers123 »

Last year DD2 had almost constant SAT work in Y6, with teachers on the verge of bullying. One teacher kept telling the children that they had to do well in the SATs because their next schools would use it to put them into ability-based classes. This conflicted with what we'd been told by teachers at all the local secondaries (grammar & comps) who said that they didn't trust the SATs results so ran their own baseline tests at the start of the new term.

Of course, we made sure our DD2 was aware of that, and she helpfully passed it on to her friends...

I have strong suspicion that the governors of the school were looking for an improvement in SAT scores following the appointment of an expensive new head-teacher a couple of years earlier. The average score had actually gone down at the school during that time, although I'd be reluctant to blame the head or staff - I think it was more that those cohorts at that particular school happened to be less able (2 years prior, about 14 or 15 / 45 got into grammar, last year 6). But there was certainly pressure from somewhere to 'improve'.
Capers
DC17C
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Re: KS2 SATS level 5 & 6

Post by DC17C »

We had a rather reassuring letter from DD's school explaining the SATs and a time table. DD seems to have had revision for past few weeks but does not seem stressed by it and not much homework.

They will get an extra breakfast in school on the days of the SATs and letter concludes with "The children do not need to worry about these tests and we want to make the procedure as calm and nerve free as possible so the children can do the best they possibly can."
Amber
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Re: KS2 SATS level 5 & 6

Post by Amber »

I have been on the verge of either going in and creating A Scene or taking DS2 on a nice long holiday during the forthcoming tests...he has done nothing but practice tests since January. How this can be supposed to indicate anything like true ability is beyond me. He is doing level 6 tests too which makes me seethe, but nothing I can really do. No wonder the secondary schools round here file the results in the back drawer... They must be next to useless in telling them anything at all about what a child really can do. :evil: :evil: grr.
rapunzel
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Re: KS2 SATS level 5 & 6

Post by rapunzel »

My secondary school takes very little notice of SATs results. With some kids it's quite obvious they've been coached to death in them.
As I tell my own kids, it's the school that's being tested and not you.
littlebaker
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Re: KS2 SATS level 5 & 6

Post by littlebaker »

I am so naive. I thought SATs came in year 6 and possibly year 2? But my two DC came home last week with homework that required a story to be written. Both said they had to only spend 40 mins (like they know how long that is!) on the story as they had to get used to writing stories in 40 mins for SATs! I baulked and asked why they were talking about SATs in yr 3&4 only to be told they had been doing 'SATs papers' in class for a few weeks now and that their results in the 'papers' were very important. I was amazed but from what I've seen on this thread this isn't unusual. What a waste of developing minds at such a young, impressionable age. :(
Amber
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Re: KS2 SATS level 5 & 6

Post by Amber »

These will be the 'optional SATs' (my son was outraged that he couldn't 'opt out' of them) which schools use for their own internal assessment. IMHO it is outrageous that your children are bringing home homework aimed at them...but nothing surprises me any more. :(

When my DD was in Year 6 (6 mind, not 3) she brought home some practice papers for her SATs with instructions to do them under timed exam conditions at home. I told her I was not prepared to time her, nor to turn our house into an exam room for her (with all the various siblings, pets and hangers-on, this would require quite a feat of logistics anyway). It was her home and I was not prepared to put her through that charade. She did the questions at her leisure (ha ha) and used text books if she needed to.

It might reassure you to know that this 'lack of support' from me has had no tangible effect on her work ethic or her attainment so far (year 11) but at least she knows home is a place where she is not going to be put under time pressure to do school work, unless she chooses to do it herself.
littlebaker
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Re: KS2 SATS level 5 & 6

Post by littlebaker »

Hi Amber, have to say I had a rant too. Not very supportive of the school I know but I was furious that my DD, who loves to write and get really carried away with stories/diaries/lists etc felt she was restricted by time. She ended up in tears because she likes to write a rough version and then copy it out neatly if she thinks it's important and she panicked that she wouldn't be able to do all of this in 40 mins! No amount of reassurance from me that the 40 mins didn't matter and didn't include thinking time or rewriting things out neatly would suffice. She eventually gave up and we haven't mentioned it since. So an opportunity for my DD to write her own myth, which she would usually enjoy, went completely down the pan. And all in the name of assessment :(
Amber
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Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: KS2 SATS level 5 & 6

Post by Amber »

:( :( :(
You should send that to Mr Gove.
It is one reason why I don't do class teaching any more in primary schools. Poor little sausage. Let her write what she wants to, when she wants to, messy writing, spelling mistakes, silly pictures, the lot. Stick it on the wall, praise it, have fun with it and make it clear that this is the stuff which really matters. Tell her that her favourite author, whoever that is, probably took longer than 40 minutes to write her favourite book.

A dear friend of mine as part of her PhD looked at the kind of stories and pictures children do when left to their own devices and compared them with what they do at school. Makes interesting reading. The best way to remove spark and creativity from a child's work is to hold it up for continual scrutiny, and measure it for things such as accuracy. But I doubt this lesson will ever really be learned by those who make the policies.
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