KS2 SATS & handling the pressure

Hezzawithkids

Just need to vent...

SATS season is nearly upon us and I'm worried about my 11yo DS. He's normally a bright, happy boy and he has big ambitions for his future - he knows exactly what he wants to be "when he grows up" and also knows that he needs to work hard at school and pass his exams. In September he will be going to the best secondary school in the town for what he wants to do, i.e. a high performing school that specialises in the subjects that he will need to excel in, so he's getting the best possible start.

The problem is that he can't handle disappointments and set backs - and I mean but at all. He's always been a poor loser when we play games together and for the last couple of weekends we have been doing some SATS practice papers with him, focusing on Maths because that's the one subject he struggles in a little. When it comes to marking his work as soon as he's realised that he's got something wrong he starts crying and will go off in a sulk if I let him. He actually scores quite highly - between 70-80% (a mark I would have been delighted with at his age!) but that's not good enough for him, he wants to get 100% like his best friend does on a regular basis.

I don't want to squash his spirit, competitiveness and passion for perfection but at the same time I can't seem to get through to him that so long as he does his best the results will be perfect as far as we (his family and teachers) are concerned. Also, that the SATS aren't about him personally but about how well the school has taught him. I'm sure he doesn't get this weepy or sensitive at school because I've mentioned it to his teacher on a couple of occasions and he says my DS handles set backs really well - so its just at home that he lets rip.

My main worry is that - with SATS now just a week away - he's going to work himself up into a state and not be able to perform at his best. It seems no matter what I, my OH or my elder DD says to him, he still takes failure too personally and won't realise that the point of practice papers is (a) to increase his confidence come exam day (b) learn from his mistakes.

Time for some tough love? God I hope not, not my style.

suki1001

My dd is doing her sats too, although she doesn't seem bothered, she's happy doing them.

Is it possible to leave doing anything sats related at home, i.e. give up the practice papers. If he handles the results at school even if he doesn't get 100%, and he's doing alright anyway, are you not making a rod for your own back by doing them at home?

I personally would take the pressure off and not do extra work at home. If you're happy with how he's performing then it's not really going to benefit him, as long as he gets the concept he should do alright. The alternative is maybe to go on the bitesized website as these are game based and do them with him, that's what I did with my dd, if he hasn't already.

balletshoes

yep, SATS time for my DD too.
Does his teacher expect him to do the practice papers, or is it something that your son expressly wants to do?
We have old SATS example books for Maths and English home from school, DD hasn't even looked at them, and she may not by next week.
It sounds like you're doing everything you can to reassure him that SATS tests are not the be-all and end-all, they don't really matter, and all he has to do is try his best on the day, just like every other day at school. Not sure what else you can do to be honest, except possibly treat the work like every other school subject ie only do a similar amount of SATS extra work as he would normally have class homework for?

patchwork_cat

You need to tell your children that SATs are not to test the child, but the teachers. the teachers will try and put the pressure on because they want to look good, but you make it clear to teh kids that it doesn't matter. Which it really doesn't. If he is a perfectionist then he is inevitably setting himself up for disappointment, as no one is perfect! he needs to learn that he can't win everything and be the best in everything. He needs to get used to pressure and learn to cope as soon it will be the norm at high school.

Yes time for some tough love, you win some you lose some!

Desperado99

patchwork_cat wrote: »

You need to tell your children that SATs are not to test the child, but the teachers. the teachers will try and put the pressure on because they want to look good, but you make it clear to teh kids that it doesn't matter. Which it really doesn't. If he is a perfectionist then he is inevitably setting himself up for disappointment, as no one is perfect! he needs to learn that he can't win everything and be the best in everything. He needs to get used to pressure and learn to cope as soon it will be the norm at high school.

Yes time for some tough love, you win some you lose some!

Absolutely! Ultimately the SAT's are not about him, they are about the league tables. Also, a family member of mine teaches and is involved with the year 7 intake at his school and he says they take very little notice of KS2 SATs levels.

All you can do is keep repeating that they don't matter that much, and as long as he tries his best the mark doesn't really matter.

Having said all this, DD had a literacy SAT last week and was completely hysterical over it! purely down to the school bigging up how important they are (she got through the 11+ last year without such a big meltdown)...

Hang in there, not long before they're over

fluffnutter

SATS are about assessing the school, not the child. They're for league tables and such like. In fact, when I did my SATS (in the 18th century) it wasn't even policy to tell the child/parents how the child had performed. You never found out. I don't even remember being told in advance they were happening either (although I expect a letter will have been sent to my parents). All I recall is being told to 'go and sit in the school hall and do some tests' one morning.

Tell your son this. He's not being tested and it doesn't matter to you how he does. Stop the practice papers and make sure he gets out and about, sees his friends and enjoys his life. There's way too much pressure on young kids these days.

peachyprice

There shouldn't be any pressure for SAT's, from either the school or parents.

My DD has hers next week too. I told her right at the beginning of the year that they weren't for her benefit at all, only the school's.

She hasn't and won't be doing any papers at home, if they choose to do them in class there's not a lot I can do about that, but it's ridiculous to put pressure on children for something that serves no purpose for them.

It's so sad to hear of children being put under pressure by parents making them do exam papers and practice books, and putting themselves under pressure at a time they should be cherishing the remainder of their childhood. Goodness knows they'll have to grow up soon enough when they get to secondary school.

Bloody things should be banned and the schools should be assessed on the quality of teaching throughout the year, not on test papers the children have been hot-housed to pass. All it proves is the school's ability to teach one year group how to pass test robot fashion, not how well they've been taught how to learn.

fluffnutter

peachyprice wrote: »

Bloody things should be banned and the schools should be assessed on the quality of teaching throughout the year, not on test papers the children have been hot-housed to pass. All it proves is the school's ability to teach one year group how to pass test robot fashion, not how well they've been taught how to learn.

Plus SATS can't tell you that Mrs X is actually a bitch who makes the kids cry, nor that Mr Y is a bit of a pervert.

Good teaching is about good heads, governors, management, morale etc., not some poxy league table.

Mado

Argh Sats... good intentions in principle but awful in practise.

Unfortunately, as far as schools are concerned it matters to them, even more so if the school is small. We had this discussion last week with the DH; we "inherited" a yr 5 pupil ast yr. He simply couldn't read; had been given a level 1 in yr 2 but she sadi he wasn't even there. Through amazing work from the teacher (she's brilliant) he is a level 3. She is extremely proud of him. How will it look on the schools result? Well, quite poorly and hence could get us into hot water or trigger another ofsted (we are a small school, each child represents 8%).

So yes the sats are for testing how schools ensure pupils progress. But it's tough for boths kids and their teachers.

mrcow

Stop testing him a home - it's pointless and adds pressure. Problem solved.

SATS scores don't mean much at all. is K3 teachers will take them with a pinch of salt anyway. He'll probably be tested in secondary next year for streaming purposes.

mumps

I can't add much about SATs but in relation to the upset if he gets things wrong I would get some educational computer stuff. If he gets it wrong he can cry, stamp his feet, throw a mega strop but the computer won't bat an eyelid. Don't even ask how he has done, he will let you know when it has gone well. You can probably tell I had one like this and the computer was the best thing we found.