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Minxygal

Disapplying a child from SAT's

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Does anyone have any idea how I would go about disapplying a child from SAT's if I chose to?

 

 

My son James had a terrible time when he was in year six and found the whole experience really negative. I have this real problem with SAT's especially as my NT daughter was extremely bright and was subjected to huge pressure when taking her SAT's, pressure that I feel very strongly shouldn't be put on children.

In my son's old school they went to pathetic lengths to make sure that the school stayed towards the top of the league tables.

PE was cancelled after christmas, so that extra SAT's revision could be done. There was no art, no drawing, very little opportunity for creativity.

Naming and shaming became commonplaced, with the childrens work being graded infront of the whole class and children having to stand up and let the whole class know how well or how badly they were achieving. have also found that schools are so desperate to hang onto their higher acheiving children that these kids are actually allowed to get away with a lot more than some of the others. I have witnessed this from both sides of the arguement.

 

James achieves, according to the school and the league tables, much lower than the average child. He went through a really rough time in year 6 when he was really badly bullied. The child doing these awful things was a really high achiever. The school ignored our complaints and even turned a blind eye to the horrendous things that this boy was doing to my son. In the end we decided to move our son to another school. The old school never questioned this, nor did it try and talk us out of it. Infact the forms went through very fast. My son was a statistic that this school concidered it could well do without.

 

Having been through all of this, having watched the pressure put on my daughter through her SAT's and seeing her pushed to the point of overdose, while trying to balance her home life with her brothers and the workload that school put on her, I am getting to the point where I don't think I want James to have to feel that pressure.

GCSE's are different, they are a personal thing, something James can achieve for himself. In my opinion SAT's are just a way of monitoring a schools performance and I don't see why I should put my child through this.

I am in favour of testing for both the school and the child, but I want my child tested all years round,when he is not under pressure.

I want him tested in a way that gives me an overview of what he is really achieving.

I want my sons achievement measured on the progress he is making throughout the year and not on the results of one test that effectively compares my child to what the government conciders 'normal'.

I want schools to encourage my child, planting seeds that will give him self respect and a determination to succeed, not give him the very clear message that he is not as good as everyone else.

Is it any wonder that a child who achieves below the national average, might feel that they have no chance in the education system? Is it fair to say that such a child might then no longer see the point in going to school everyday.?

Is it not possible that the reason so many young people choose to truant from school on a regular basis is that they already feel that they have failed?

 

I don't want my child to feel like this.

 

Has anyone else concidered disapplying their child from SAT's? I'd welcome your advice and input on this.

 

I have this feeling that with this being a SAT's year for James much of the support around him will come crashing down as the school re-evaluates it's resources in light of the testing.

 

:tearful:

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Hi,

 

Why don't you go into the school and discuss your concerns with them? Even if you were to disapply your child from the SATs they would still be subjected to the same pressure as the other children unles you make alternative arrangements for him so I do think that you need to discuss the matter with the school as well as just withdrawing your child from the SATs.

 

Found this on the Derby LEA site:-

 

It gives guidance to teachers, can't find anything on parent's withdrawing their children from SATs yet but I know that Bid made a post where she said it was your legal right to withdraw them, if I find any more info I'll post it.

 

 

Disapplication from the SATs is usually appropriate in only a very small number of cases. If a child is capable of working at the levels of the tests, but for some reason is not able to access or participate in them, the head teacher should consider disapplying the assessment arrangements. Children who have the tests disapplied are included in schools? data for the purposes of reporting results and performance tables.

 

 

Children who have been assessed as working at levels 1 or 2 at Key Stage 2 in English, Maths or Science or at level 3 or below in English, or level 2 or below in Maths or Science at Key Stage 3 do not need to have the tests disapplied, as teacher assessment is the sole statutory requirement for children working at these levels. However, these pupils are still included in schools? data for the purpose of reporting results and performance tables.

Edited by Tez

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Thanks for that Tex. The information about this seems to be really limited and it is something I feel very strongly about. If anyone can find the other link for me I'd be most grateful as I've looked but can't see it :)

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Here is the link to the previous post, fingers crossed I get it right:-

 

Here

 

Also this link to a similar discussion on another site which seems to suggest you can't disapply your child:-

 

Here

Edited by Tez

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Other than that, isn't it better just to reassure him that SATs have no particular effect on his future and to let him know that they're not worth getting stressed about? After all, given that the lad's performance over the whole year is taken into account and that everyone is in the same boat, is it really worth getting worked up about them?

 

 

I took this quote from the other link, I do hope that's alright. My point is that we can tell our kids that the SAT's aren't the be all and end all until we are blue in the face, the schools are telling them the complete opposite. Our kids are told that SAT's are of the utmost importance and that they have a duty to do well. As for the years performance being taken into account that is simply not true. It may be taken into account in the teachers assesment nut it is the exam that counts and seeing as my son doesn't have a statement there is nothing to indicate that he has SN's of any sort. I don't want his SN's to be the deciding factor but I do feel that this sort of testing leaves him at a disadvantage and sends him the wrong messages about his progress within school.

 

You know I've been doing really well but with school about to start tomorrow I'm suddenly a wreck worrying about the year ahead.

 

We saw a speech and language specialist earlier in the year who said that she felt very strongly that the school weren't dealing with James's Aspergers but were purely ignoring the behaviours associated with it. I have to say that not only do I agree with them I fear that with this being a SAT's year this is the time when all the cracks are going to crumble into a big mess.

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I do know how you feel. A's Key stage 3 SATs were a major contributing factor to him being signed off school sick. His Deputy Head was telling him, it was ok to just forget about them just relax you're too intense we know what you're capable of , whilst his subject teachers were saying this is the be all and end all of your life, if you don't do well here then you've messed your life up. Patently not true but a sign of the pressure put on these kids.

 

A is a worrier, he is an achiever and he is a hard worker, he's also autistic which makes it difficult for him to stand back and ignore the pressure put on him. He ended up unable to speak, self harming and physically ill. We withdrew him from school. There were other contributory factors but the SATs were considerable added pressure.

 

In the end the he only sat one exam and the rest were too much for him but the damage was done with the revision and teachers'comments in the classroom not the exams themselves.

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Disapplying could solve the problem of the actual tests but I assume James will still be in the classroom where the others are studying towards the SATs and so will still have the pressure applied, even if he is not taking the tests?

 

This is something you need to take up with the school - will James be at a disadvantage, missing out while the emphasis is placed on those who will be taking the tests?

 

I think that you can apply to have a teacher assessment instead of the tests but I'm not sure ... I know this was an option when I worked in KS2 in a school a couple of years back ... the school will know.

 

Sorry not to have been of more help.

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James was stood up in class while his handwriting was compared to the rest of the class. The results of spelling tests were announced to the class with the children being graded as to who came first and last.

We were sent letters by the teacher who wanted us to take our son into school on a Saturday morning for extra lessons. I said no as Saturdays were rest days. James was then stood up in front of the class and told that if he did poorly in his SAT's when it was his fault and our fault.

 

When Gemma was at school (She's in college now) she had anxiety attacks during the build up to SAT's. She did very well in them and achieved lever 8 in maths and English but right after she took an overdose and almost killed herself. We know that the pressure of the SAT's and the pressure of living with two boys on the spectrum was too much for her and she was crying out for help. As a mother I have had to watch the effects of SAT's from both sides, from James who always tries his best but who's best is never seen as 'GOOD ENOUGH' compared to the Norm and from Gemma who was constantly pushed to do more and work harder until the pressure pushed her over the edge.

 

The problems James had then were in primary when he had no diagnosis and very little peer pressure. This time is a completely different ball game. He has problems enough without adding trying to live up to what some over educated toff in the government deems 'normal'

Edited by Minxygal

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I think it is quite involved for the school's to apply for disapplication - I know when T did his SAT's the school decided not to disapply him, even though he would not achieve the results he should have.

 

The best way round the tests is for him to be "ill" that week - but that does not get round the "revision". Different schools deal with this in different ways. The Twins revision went on so long, that by the time they got to the tests they were too laid-back about them!

 

Karen

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Thanks for that I'll certainly be checking it out. We've decided to monitor closely what happens at school this year and if things do go down the pan as we suspect they might we are gonig to apply for statementing. I doubt we'd get it but just applying might be enough to kick a few things into place.

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Hi,

 

It was Jester's Head who told us that parent's have the legal right to withdraw their child from SATs..after we had gone through the trauma of them!! :wallbash:

 

I wonder if there is a difference between a parent withdrawing a child, and the school disapplying a child??

 

I don't know for sure, but I would think it would be a straightforward matter for a parent to withdraw a child, just as they have the right to withdraw a child, for example, from assemblies on religious grounds??

 

Bid :bat:

 

You could Google withdrawing from SATs...

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In 2003 the paediatrician from the multi-professional Autism Team that assessed my son mentioned to me that a parent could withdraw their child from taking the SATs exams (the paediatrician had personal experience of this with her non-SEN child).

 

I had a SATs query recently, I wanted to know if I could withdraw my son from the SATs should there be a need to do so, so I contacted The National Assembly for Wales for some advice. This is what I was told:

 

In Wales there is not a statutory requirement for schools to set Key Stage tests/exams, therefore there is no statutory guidance and any guidance that use to apply no longer applies now.

However, schools do need to provide teacher assessments for children at that level, so it is easier for schools to use the Key Stage SATs rather than for them to use their own set of tests.

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James came home yesterday with a test paper he had done for maths.

It made me so cross :angry:

 

Along with telling me how many he got out of 60 it also told me the percentage that this was and where he stood alongside the rest of the class. Where he came in the class.

 

What for?

 

What on earth does that achieve?

 

Where can information like that ever be seen as productive?

 

My daughter is now at college, but I remember he getting upset because a teacher had put her down for coming second rather than first, so I've seen this from both sides.

 

After asking in his planner for the SENCO to ring me I wrote in big letters.....As long as James tries his best that will always be good enough for us and should be for you. Please do not continue to compare my son to the other children in his class.

 

 

The thing that bugs me is that James probably works twice as hard as many of them as just staying in his seat is a task.

Edited by Minxygal

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Had a really productive meeting with the SENCO of the school today and I have to admit I expected him to try and beat me down when I explained that we felt very strongly that we wanted James disapplied from SAT's. He didn't. He listened to what I had to say about keeping J making progress and not adding unneccessary stress and he said he supported me and would talk to the headteacher about disapplying him. I am so happy that we were listened to. It's one less stress for J this year and one less thing for him to worry about. :thumbs:

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B) Well, done. It so much easier for us and our children when school take our concerns on board and work with us rather than against us. \hope the support and cooperation continues.

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