can I request the school SAT test my son every year?

Counting_Pennies_2

Our children are informally assessed at the end of the half term, so three separate tests each year.


They do this in order to support the midyear assessments which are all linked to the SATS benchmarks.


Why not ask the school if they do a similar thing

iammumtoone

springdreams wrote: »

Or the children on the bottom set may have received additional coaching before the tests to help them do better as these tests are also a reflection on the school, so this extra help may be what had an impact on your son's results ...

I think this is less likely but not impossible. Schools might do this for the KS2 stats but I haven't heard of coaching for KS1 ones.

I would like to know the reason why this has happened, however I can't speak to his current teacher as they wont know enough about him yet (and weren't involved with this) and can't speak to his previous teacher as they are now nothing to do with him, they have new pupils to worry about. It is very annoying that I didn't get this information (report + results) until the next to last day of term, leaving me with no time to discuss it with anyone.

peachyprice

iammumtoone wrote: »

I have to be honest and admit that is something I did not think of :eek:

I do tend to agree with the test more, ok I would say that, but I was bit surprised when she said he was below level as I always thought he was bright. He has been tested when he was 4 (not with school) and came out above average for his age then. Maybe he is just good at tests, time will tell. I am assuming it will stick out a lot clearer if he is in a wrong higher set, then a wrong lower one.

Some children are naturally more gifted at passing tests than producing consistently good work day to day.

I do find it strange that they don't test them at the end of each year though, how would the next teacher know what level her new pupils are working at? Are you sure they don't, or is it just that they don't give the results out to parents?

maman

As another poster said, there are 'optional' SAT papers but as the curriculum has changed from this term and the Year 6 SATs have changed as well they are getting very out of date.


I think you're putting far too much focus on testing OP. Just because your boy seems to have turned it on for the day (or rather it would be days) of his KS1 SATs I'd be far more concerned if he is messing around and not concentrating on the days in between. Obviously it's very early days this school year but the fact that he's missing his mates (read not so much chatting going on) and the work is harder (he's finding it a challenge which is a good thing) sounds as if he's at least trying to turn over a new leaf. If I were you I'd work with his new teacher, ask how he's doing, how you can help, support him with his homework, encourage him to talk and express himself, keep practising his reading with him to extend his vocabulary, ask how he can improve his handwriting....... There are masses of things you can do, far more important than testing.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

iammumtoone wrote: »

I think this is less likely but not impossible. Schools might do this for the KS2 stats but I haven't heard of coaching for KS1 ones.

I would like to know the reason why this has happened, however I can't speak to his current teacher as they wont know enough about him yet (and weren't involved with this) and can't speak to his previous teacher as they are now nothing to do with him, they have new pupils to worry about. It is very annoying that I didn't get this information (report + results) until the next to last day of term, leaving me with no time to discuss it with anyone.

My youngest had it because, as one of the youngest, they felt she needed more input at the end of year 2 with her reading. She still hates writing at 15, but it's perfectly legible now.


She's still a flaming pain in class, but she ended up as one of the gifted and talented ones, on course for A* if she can be bothered to put the work in - if being the operative word.

But she had already worked out that a) high school ignores SATS in favour of their own baseline assessments and b) if you're discovered to be smart, they expect more. So, after doing much better than any of her teachers had ever imagined, she then came out as average at high school.

Eventually, her boredom caught her out.


Had I pressured her to do well in exams on top of her natural stubbornness, I think she would never have done well, as she would have completely switched off right at infants level.

FBaby

I had similar concerns with my DS. He is very clever but he isn't very confident and not one to show off, so it can take some time to recognised his ability. I have found through his education so far that experienced or good teachers recognised much quicker his abilities than others. The worse was his year 1 teacher. He finished reception in the top group in all three areas, so started his year 1 there, until his teacher (very young) moved him down to the lowest. I waited until November to discuss it with her, she then kind of said that she had noticed he was quite able and did need to move to the top group, but it still took until Easter before it happened. That year, I felt he had learnt nothing.

Thankfully, he had an excellent year 2 teacher who was very good at getting him out of his shelf. Year 3 was the same than year 1 to my disappointment but thankfully, she had finally got to know my son better, so was in top group from the start to finish of the year.

He then changed school, didn't know anyone at all, so it took time for him to adjust, started in middle group until Christmas but again, excellent teacher who despite him being quite withdrawn that year recognised his abilities.

Good teachers in year 5 and 6, and he finished primary school with a level of 5b in English and 6b in Maths, so clearly did manage well.

His behaviour shouldn't affect which group he is in, as a matter of fact, being bored and not challenged is much more likely to affect his behaviour. My son hated his year 2 and often complained of being bored.
Don't wait too late to speak with the teacher and discuss your concerns. It might very well be that he doesn't make an effort to show how well he can read or count and this needs to be tackled if it is the case. It might be linked with his behaviour, so maybe it is time you start expecting more of him in that regards.

de_g.

Unless your son's school is on a fast track to 'inadequate', it should be regularly assessing progress AND sharing both progress and individual targets with parents and children. Look up 'assessment for learning' to find out a bit about how it works, or better still - ask your son's class teacher. I

SATs every year misses the point - assessment should be ongoing, not annually.

GreenQueen

My DD - just gone into Year 4 - has had some behavioural, concentration and handwriting/presentation issues, and for two years now, she has had an Individual Education Plan (I think they've changed the terminology now). This means that she has simple rules that she has to follow (e.g. putting up her hand rather than shouting out), and this is agreed by teacher, parents and pupil.

Suggest you speak to class teacher and/or SENCO to see what the school can put in place to help and monitor.

GQ

dizziblonde

It could well be that there's an element of him just being one of those kids who is very good at pulling it out of the bag for a test (I'm like that). Could be that the test played to an interest or particular strength of his that grabbed his interest a bit, could be he's had a sudden spurt of maturity and development (seen this one happen as well).

The school WILL be doing some form of ongoing internal assessment - they HAVE to. They might not be using what often get called the optional SATs - but they'll be assessing informally after every lesson, and assessing how things are at given points in the term... or they'll be getting hammered by Ofsted and the teachers will all be keeping records for their individual performance management targets. Every time the class is handed over they'll have their current and target levels passed up to the next teacher - you can't sit still in education for more than a second without someone trying to assess you and set a new target!

They might not be making a big song and dance about "today we're going to do a maths test" though - I'm guessing that's what they mean. Even teachers' lesson plans - you're expected to have notes scrawled all over them commenting that "need to check Johnny grasped this, or reinforce this bit on Friday with these kids, Freddie really got the hang of this very quickly" and the like. We shall not mention the state of some of my planning that got handed in for scrutiny has been over the years!

suejb2

At my childrens school they do optional S.A.Ts in years 3,4 and 5 and every year I get the results, though they are never offered!The statutory S.A.T.s in years 4 & 6 are always handed out with their report.