SAT’s are in three weeks for Dylan, the same week that Chloe has her first two GCSE exams for Core Science. I want my children to do well, and I want them to be happy. Chloe is working really hard preparing for her exams. Past papers are being done and I have taken out shares in WH Smith for the amount of cards, notebooks and stuff that Chloe has requested over the past few week whilst she learns how to revise effectively. I am pleased that she is doing Core Science this year as it gives her the opportunity to understand how ‘real’ GCSE’s work.
I think most of us would agree that we want and would encourage our KS4 children to revise for these GCSE exams but what about SAT’s?
There are a few schools of thought I keep hearing. One is that secondary schools are decided on and allocated and therefore SAT’s results are of little worth. Others seem to stress the importance as a good marker of whether your child is progressing as expected.
As a teacher I understand that we do need to monitor progress and ensure that children are achieving their potential. It is about individuals but we need to know where those individuals area. However, I am against the continual formal assessment that strips away teachers professional judgements. I do think SAT’s at the end of KS2 are important and I want to know how my child has fared at the end of primary school. I do think a standardised test is a good measure that all children sit under the same conditions.
Another area of debate is how much children should be revising and being prepared for these tests. Due to league tables and Ofsted using this data as the principal way to measure a school, there is no question of why schools feel the pressure but what about parents?
As Chloe is revising, Dylan to, has a couple of the CPG 10-minute tests books, namely for KS2 Maths Study Book (for the New Curriculum)
Reasons to not do any revision at home.
1. Secondary School allocation is already decided and not dependant on these results.
2. Teachers are doing their job at school and home should be free from that pressure.
3. It is an assessment of the child and should not be viewed as a competition between children
Reasons to revise at home.
1. It is setting the foundations for homework for next year. Dyl will be going to a school that will give him plenty of homework.
2. Revision is a skill that needs to be taught and learnt and if we start now they know what to do come GCSE’s when it really does matter.
3. Education should be a partnership between the child, school and home. If we support each other and work together the dialogue remains clear.
4. The SAT’s results often are used to determine sets for core subjects at secondary school. Ultimately those sets do lead to self fulfilling prophecy and how the child is perceived by teachers and their peers.
Therefore Dylan has been doing a few short sharp bursts of focussed tasks. We are not being militant about it, but this approach has helped him as he has asked me what a few words mean and he has consolidated some learning. I feel that I am preparing him to achieve his potential. He knows that SAT’s count towards which sets he will be in at secondary and he wants to do well.
There are a whole host of resources you can use at home and a look at Education resources in your local bookshops or Amazon will probably have you feeling lost and unsure what is useful. Personally I like the CPG Ten Minute Tests, each test is designed for a quick burst and the answers are all included for parents. Likewise I was recently sent the Jack Cherry Sats Success DVD. To be honest Dyl was reluctant to watch it thinking it would be boring but I popped it on in his bedroom whilst he was tidying his room. I was also up stairs tidying and on hand to chat to him. He was quickly engaged and watching the short DVD.
The focus was all on being positive and thinking positively and banishing negative thoughts. It encouraged the students to think about positive vocabulary and how they would feel when they achieved well. I am a big fan of this approach. I totally believe in a self fulfilling prophecy and how negative thoughts can bring the child down. Dyl soon told me it was good and interesting. If I was teaching yr 6 I would show them this. Dyl is so keen he asked me if he could lend it to his teacher!
One Response
Great post – we agree on so much! I wish the focus was put back on teacher’s professional, internal assessments and the tone was lowered on end of Key Stage assessments.