SATS key stage 2

[Karen A]

Hi All.

I am just wondering.Ben is becoming quite stressed out at school especially during numeracy.He is very able in literacy if the task fits his understanding of the world.However in numeracy in particular he is finding it difficult.I am worried that with SATS approaching the stress can only exacerbate his anxiety.The HT informed him today that she expects him to get level 5s across the board...which has not done much for his stress levels.

I wondered what the situation is if parents wish to withdraw their child from SATS.Anyone know if it is possible ?

 

I do not know where the rules are for SATS this year.If anyone can point me in the direction of assessment arrangements and exemptions/ special arrangements for SEN that would be helpful.

 

It may not be the best option.However I am not sure whether it is worth the stress for us or Ben.

Ben has a secondary school place.Classes at the school are mixed ability so there are no implications for us re banding.

We are working very hard in an attempt to increase Ben's independance to enable him to manage transition to seconary.Just now SATS do not feel high on our list of priorities. Thanks Karen.

[lynne]

 

 

 

All the children get stressed over sats. All the children seem to do is practice SATS the other activities are classed as low priority.

 

The school can withdrawn the child from SATS. But I don't now if the parents can. However, if it is going to interfer with his learning than you have a good argument.

 

But if you do withdraw your child he still has to sit in the class while the other children practice their SATS and your child would still hear the pressure the other children would be under. But it would depend on what support your child had. If your child has full time support than there is no reason why he could not come out of the classroom to do his work.

 

 

My son sat some SATS in the class and others on his own.

 

I explained to my son it did not matter what he scored in his SATS as these tests were assessing how good the teacher was and hence, the reason why some teachers get upset.

 

 

 

 

[Kazzen161]

It is not easy for a school to get a child disapplied, but if he just happens to be ill on those days there is not much they can do about it.

 

To be honest, a lot of our children like the tests, as for once it is quiet in the classroom!

 

I don't like it when schools put too much pressure on the children re: SATs.

 

The concessions should be on the QCA site, but probably should have been applied for by now.

[chris54]

If you don't want your child to sit the SATs just don't send them to school on the day of the test. If we all did that perhaps the government would get the message that we don't wont or like SATs.

 

And as for preparing for the test, I thought the whole idea was to see how the children were doing with their education not how well the school can cram them for some test.

 

As you may have gather I am totally against SATs and if I thought that they were detrimental to my son I would not hesitate to keep him of school.

[Karen A]

Thanks kazzen and lynne.I will have a look at the QCA site later.

Ben is obviously more unhappy than I realised.He is still in bed at 8:25 despite attempts to persuade him to get up.I don't know exactly what happened yesterday but it has not worked. Karen.

[bid]

It is perfectly legal for parents to withdraw their child from these SATS...we were told this by DH's old Head Teacher.

 

Bid

Edited March 3, 2009 by bid

[Karen A]

It is perfectly legal for parents to withdraw their child from these SATS...we were told this by DH's old Head Teacher.

 

Bid

 

Thanks.

Ben is still sound asleep which has never happened before.I think he must have not slept well at all last night.We will have to try and figure out what is going on.

Today is the day the class find out about secondary school places and the pressure is on re SATS.Anxiety levels are running high amongst parents and children.Perhaps it is too much for Ben at the momment.

It is strange how things turn out.J was out of school for much of the summer term in year 6 due to stress and anxiety.He is now doing extremely well at secondary school.At least I know we have coped once already and can do it again.Last time we were told that SATS were so important by primary school only to be told by the secondary school that they considered them unimportant.J actually went down a level between year 6 and 7.

It also helps knowing so many people here have struggled with education but things can work out. Karen.

[Mum of 3]

Hi Karen,

You can, as others have said, keep Ben off school for SATs week, but that might just cause him more anxiety (if he's bothered by not following the rules!).

School will probably have gone through all their SEN forms and applied for everything they think they can get away with (they usually are quite savvy onn this!), and if Ben is likely to get L5s, he's not likely to be disapplied, as this is for children with SEN who aren't able to access the tests due to being below the level they are testing.

Is it worth talking to the HT and the teacher to see if they can help?

I do hope you are able to get this sorted out and things get better soon. <'>

Edited March 6, 2009 by Mum of 3

[JsMum]

 

I think the term is exceptional circumstances, if the worry of the sats where effecting his mental health and interferring with his learning then you would have reasonable exemption, ensure you write your explanations in formal evidence.

 

This link is about a story of a Headteachers who has concerns over children as young as 7 taking SATS, bearing in mind that my son has a developmental age that is much younger than his real age, so you could also argue that he just isnt developmentally prepared just yet.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...-year-olds.html

 

The school was in agreement for J to be disaplied for Litracey but he did take his science and Maths and had it in a seperate room with his 1-1 to scribe and read, otherwise he wouldnt of been able to access the whole test.

 

They broke it into two sections too so he could cope with the time span, as he cant concentrate for long, he got level 3s in the end.

 

It could be they could accomadate him better in the tests, looking at ways to reduce the stress of doing the tests, if he ever does finally take them in the near future.

 

JsMum

 

[Karen A]

Thanks for all of the ideas posted.

Unfortunately the SATS question I posted is almost becoming secondar

Ben has had a very difficult couple of weeks.He is very anxious and unhappy and is not sleeping well at all.

He could not cope with school yesterday.He managed to go for the morning this morning.However we are really quite concerned about him.

It does help being around on the Forum and knowing others have been through tough times and have come out at the other end. <'> Karen.

 

[Canopus]

Kids still have to take KS2 SATS even if they have GCSEs.

[Daisydot]

SATS are a real worry aren't they?

 

When my son (ASD) did his KS2 SATS last year, the school put him in a room with one other child (his friend who has ADHD). He thought he was there to help his friend, but actually he needed to be there just as much! The school managed to get him 25% more time and this allowed the pair of them to take breaks, and of course the room was quiet and less distracting than the main classroom. He got through all his SATS without major hiccup and got 4s (well, with all the hoo har about last year's results, we think he got 4s !!!!). The concession of extra time had to be applied for through the school and I dont know if you would be in time to do this now. I think it did help things go smoothly.

 

However, as soon as they start secondary school, they get assessed and the SATS results seem irrelevant now, nearly a year on. I work in a school and the general feeling among many teachers is that SATS are not for the benefit of the children, so if you feel that withdrawing him from SATS would be in his best interests, then do it. He will still have the teacher prediction part of the result which is just as important.

 

Good luck with it all.