Booster homework:SATS

peachyprice

The school are behaving absolutley outrageously, the head should be ashamed of herself.

I'm sorry, but there's no way I would put my child through that much pressure just to give the school the pleasure of having an extra level 6 on their results, I'd be taking him out of school sick and would make it know to the governers and LEA exactly why he was ill.

peachyprice

Lagoon wrote: »

My one concern is that if he's being stressed out so much by the SATS, how will he be when the exams DO matter? I think as well as potentially telling him 'relax, stop doing the homework, I'll deal with the school' you need to find a way to address this issue long-term. He can't just not bother with homework/coursework throughout secondary school and his GCSEs, so whilst the school are going the completely wrong way about this I'd imagine that they're (badly) trying to prepare him for his future. Things are only going to get much, much worse for your son if he doesn't learn to take control of his stress levels now. They might have simply been very bad at wording that.

Sorry I disagree completely, he's getting stressed by the pressure the school are putting on him to perform at a level higher than necessary entirely for their own gain. If he's good at maths they can just put him in for the lower level paper and let him do his best. There is no benefit to him whatsoever by putting him in for level 6.

I doubt he would be under the same pressure to perform if he was allowed to take the lower paper with the majority of the rest of the class, which is how it will be when he takes his GCSE's.

sooty&sweep

Reading this I want to cry how dare they put an 11 year old under such pressure !!

It's not just the damage they are doing now but the long term effects of this. What effect will this have on him through secondary school and on him when he does GCSEs and beyond.

Stop this booster homework immediately.
I would formally complain to the board of governors, Education Authority and OFS TED. I would also threaten to take this to your local newspaper. I wonder what negative press would do to their level of applications ! Is this school an academy ? Is that why they are pushing so hard ?

Jen

balletshoes

Lagoon wrote: »

I agree that what the school is doing is disgraceful. Let them put him down to a lower class if they want to - what difference will that really make, except to ease the pressure on your son?

My one concern is that if he's being stressed out so much by the SATS, how will he be when the exams DO matter? I think as well as potentially telling him 'relax, stop doing the homework, I'll deal with the school' you need to find a way to address this issue long-term. He can't just not bother with homework/coursework throughout secondary school and his GCSEs, so whilst the school are going the completely wrong way about this I'd imagine that they're (badly) trying to prepare him for his future. Things are only going to get much, much worse for your son if he doesn't learn to take control of his stress levels now. They might have simply been very bad at wording that.

theres time for that in secondary school.

Compared to my DD's school in year 6, and possibly the OPs son's own classmates, he is being bombarded with much more homework solely for SATs. Whichever way you put it, thats way more pressure than is necessary for his future, never mind his stress levels.

Theres simply no need for this - my DD took a level 6 paper straight after her SATs paper was finished, I didn't know the teacher was putting her in for it, and neither did she, until she was asked to do it that afternoon. It was put forward as "just try it, see how you get on" - and as most students are supposed to be middle-level 4 in year 6, thats the way it should be, in my opinion.

Also, if the OPs son's school is anything like my DD's and my niece's, they'll have been revising the SATs subjects since January, so its not like they aren't preparing them in school time.

Egypt191

Thanks for all of the replies, and support it's very much appreciated. There's very little of it in the school playground as most parents at the school seem to be just as competitive

I haven't got the hang of the quoting, so please bear with me (i'm not too bad with computers...honest)

I took him to the GP this morning and his preventative was increased, I also mentioned to the GP the stress he was under, so it is recorded.

He is under SENCO but they are about as useless as a chocolate fireguard.

Although there is an argument that he is not handling stress well, which may impact on his future, the school have not been teaching the children the correct curriculum for level 6 hence cramming in the information in a short period of time. This would be unlikely to happen for him when he is studying for the Baccalaureates.

I have already began drafting a letter, so thank you, this will be delivered tomorrow. But i'm also considering that if i get another call from the school tomorrow concerning a migraine, to keep him off sick until they sit the SAT's.

Egypt191

Balletshoes, it's interesting that you mention about the middle level 4. My youngest son is in yr 5 (I'v got the same battle next year, joy) and at parents evening a few weeks ago he, and I were made to feel like he was failing because he was only reaching middle level 4. It wasn't until I spoke to the yr 6 teacher for my other Son, who explained the levels, that I realised how well he was actually doing for his age!

Lagoon

balletshoes wrote: »

theres time for that in secondary school.

Indeed. Based on the comments of the two people that have quoted me I feel I should clarify what I meant a little. I don't want it to offend the OP or anyone else.

I'm not saying 'he needs to learn to deal with this stress right now', I was just saying that based on how he's reacted to the pressure and an hour of homework a night, it's probably best to start tackling this slowly and carefully starting fairly soon, because you don't want to be in this same situation three/four years down the line.

This is a warning sign that a young boy is struggling with an hour of homework a night, and that in the future he's potentially going to have at least double that expected of him no matter what ability group he's in at school.

peachyprice

Lagoon wrote: »

Indeed. Based on the comments of the two people that have quoted me I feel I should clarify what I meant a little. I don't want it to offend the OP or anyone else.

I'm not saying 'he needs to learn to deal with this stress right now', I was just saying that based on how he's reacted to the pressure and an hour of homework a night, it's probably best to start tackling this slowly and carefully starting fairly soon, because you don't want to be in this same situation three/four years down the line.

This is a warning sign that a young boy is struggling with an hour of homework a night, and that in the future he's potentially going to have at least double that expected of him no matter what ability group he's in at school.

Did you read the OP properly?

It isn't just and hour of home work a night, he's also doing 'booster classes' several times a week in school and if he doesn't finish the 'booster' work he's being kept in at lunch too. That is more than any 11 yo should be expected to do.

It begs the question, if he needs that much coaching why are they even putting him in for level 6 when it's not going to be a reflection of his natural ability?

bylromarha

How ridiculous. And I'm a primary teacher. Ridiculous.

Can I just say though that the schools are really feeling the pressure to raise standards? Dear old Gove is making this happen to you OP... Level 5 used to be the gold standard for year 6 for the gifted and talented. It was achievable for the top raft of kids. Level 6 is putting 11 year olds under too much pressure to stop being kids. Some of the stuff they have to do I first met studying for GCSEs in the 90s.

If your son gets a level 5, 4,3,2 or 1, who gives a damn? It makes no difference whatsoever to his secondary education. They redo all the primary assessments anyway as they don't think primary schools can assess kids properly.

Just wanted to warn you OP, my niece was a high achieving Aspie and her secondary school ignored the Aspie factor and pushed her through her GCSEs early. The pressure was too much for her and she barely scraped through. Felt a failure and never pulled herself back from that perfectionism fail. So be firm from the outset with the secondary school - if they try to pile the pressure on earlier than his peers, be very firm and let him go at a pace he can cope with.

All the best.

EDIT: See - from the other SATS thread

daisiegg wrote: »

I know as a parent/relative it must be very hard to believe when you are going through it, but the Y6 SATs do not matter whatsoever for the child. I am a secondary English teacher and we completely ignore the SATs level when they come in Y7. They are absolutely useless. Seriously, he is 10 or 11. There is a lot of time in his life for stress and revision and homework. Send him outside to play!

bestpud

Well, Egypt191, you have teachers and parents agreeing with you - that doesn't happen often on here!

Take that as confirmation you are right to act now and release your son from the pressure.

Good luck. Would you let us know how you get on please, as I'm sure there will be other parents thinking the same?