Have you currently got a child in year 6? Are they dreading their SATs? Preparing for Year 6 SATs should not and does not need be a stressful time for parents or children. I’m here to offer advice based on my very own experience.
As a family we have already had 4 of our children sit their Year 6 SATs. It can be so easy for children to feel the pressure of SATs, especially if there is a lot of focus on SATs during their school day. Any children suffering with anxiety might struggle more during the lead up to SATs and the actual SATs.
Some schools do a great job in preparing the children for their SATs. Helping them feel confident that they are able to answer all questions in the allocated times. As well as reassuring them that they are nothing to worry about. The process is no different from when they took their SATs in year 2 although they might not remember doing them.
Hopefully in this blog I can answer some of the questions you may have.
What are SATs?
SATs stand for Standard Assessment Tests. Children usually sit their SATs in year 2 and again in year 6. By taking the SATs it allows the School and Government to monitor the level of achievement made by the children. It also highlights how the school is performing, either by under performing or by exceeding expectations. SATs results highlight any children who have failed to achieved the progress they were predicted to make since year 2. By recording and publishing the results it allows parents to see if the school is performing well.
Why do our children have to take SATs?
SATs monitor the achievement that children make in years 3,4,5 and 6. Children carry out tests in maths, reading and also spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG).
SATs papers that children take are listed below.
Punctuation Test – 45 minutes
Spelling Test – 20 Minutes
Maths Paper 1 (Arithmetic) – 30 Minutes
Reading Test – 60 Minutes
Maths Paper 2 – (Reasoning) – 40 Minutes
Maths Paper 3 – (Reasoning) – 40 Minutes
SATs are usually carried out over several days and are normally completed in their own classrooms .
Some schools invite children to attend school early to have breakfast at school. It’s a great way to ensures every child starts the day feeling full and relaxed, rather than rushed and stressed. Our children really enjoyed having breakfast at school always, saying it was fun and they were happy to go in early. (Its the only time they have ever been happy to be in school early). Each School will be different in what they offer.
Are SATs important?
Yes I feel they are important. As a parent it allows you see how much progress your child has made. You might not find out the results of the SATs taken in year 2. Schools will normally issue parents with the their children’s Year 6 SATs result . We always got the results in with the Year 6 school reports.
Secondary Schools use the SATs results as they help the Secondary School to form target grades for your child based on their results.
Secondary Schools will sometimes also use the results to determine which class your child will be in when they transition from Primary school.
Can you refuse to allow your child to take the SATs?
SATs are currently classed as being compulsory. As a parent you do have the right to withdraw your child from taking them. This is not advisable and the school won’t be happy with your child not sitting the tests. If you have any concerns or questions over SATs, raise them as soon as possible. The best course of action would be to make an appointment to speak to the head teacher. Always remember that the School is the one being tested on how much progress your child has made. Schools can often be penalised for any children not sitting the SATs.
How can I help prepare my child for SATs?
There are lots of resources on the internet that you can take a look at and download. These may be of benefit to your child.
Our children’s school sent home practice papers and information booklets that we were able to read through. We found these papers particularly helpful in helping us to understand the questions and the expectations.
My overall advice to both you and your children is just relax and do not worry about SATs. I totally understand that you will want your child to do the best that they can and children will always want to achieve a high score.
Reading
Plenty of reading will help your child. It will allow them to read and have better understanding of the questions in the SATs. Being a good reader also really helps with spellings. If you read to your child it will help with their listening skills too.
Practice Papers
Practice papers really help give your child more confident and will allow them to become familiar with the questions and the way they are presented. Having practice will allow your child to answer the questions in a much quicker and efficient time.
Keep a normal routine
Trying to keep things normal for your child will help. If you keep their routine normal this should help eliminate any unnecessary stress. If your child takes part in after school clubs make sure that these continue. It is important for your child to switch off and have time away from thinking about SATs.
Make any revision fun
If you do chose to do revision with your child try and make it as fun as possible. Try and find revision games that you can do together. This is a great way to help your child revise without it feeling like formal revision.
Revision plan
If your child decides they do want to revise at home make sure you work together and create a revision plan. When planning revision time make sure you still include your normal routines and any activities your child takes part in. Revising for just 20 minutes a day is going to be more than enough, especially if they have been revising at school. Try and find a good time for your child to revise when they are not feeling too tired, but still allow some relaxation or free time.
Times Tables
I highly advise that children learn their timetables as this will really help them. Focus their attention on the 6,7,8,and 9 time tables. Having fluent knowledge and a quick recall of times tables will be a huge advantage and time saver for them. Also helping them to learn inverse times tables will really help them to answer the questions set out in the SATs.
Spellings
Ensuring that children can spell all the Year 5 and 6 words will be a huge advantage. Practicing any of the trickier words will really help. If they can be fluent in their spellings it will really help to answer the questions in the spelling test quicker and more accurately.
Good luck to everyone taking their SATs, just relax and don’t worry, everything will be ok.
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