Yr2 SATS - any good games/websites etc

[Hazyshades]

DS2 is due for his SATS papers at some point soon.

I don't really care about results but want to make sure he is confidant & not daunted by the whole 'test' part.

He's predicted a 2A+ so no worries about his ability.

Are there any good iPhone games or websites that I could give him beforehand? Just to give him a bit of extra help at home?

[PastSellByDate]

Hi Hazyshades:

first to answer your question - I'd recommend BBC Bitesize KS1 practice: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/

Now for the practicing to improve results bit. Can I just ask why? This is a test of how the school has done & your child is doing - why cram (and it would be cramming - tests will be administered mid-May, but most likely at KS1 will also include continuous assessment by the teacher)?

I know it may be hard - but there is absolutely no risk at this age letting your DS just take the test and see how he does. He's on track for a 2 anyway - which is national expectation (see Mumsnet info at SATs here: www.mumsnet.com/learning/assessment/national-curriculum-levels).

Can I just suggest that rather than thinking of this as a test of your son, why not view it as a test of the school's job with all Y2 cohort. Because in fact tax payers are paying good salaries for them to get all children to NC Level 2 or better.

It's great that you want to help (and I can absolutely understand that you may feel you need to in some areas - I have had to as well), but why are we doing the teachers' job?

[Hazyshades]

Thank you. I'll take a look.

It's not cramming really. I'm not looking to improve his scores.

However they have been talking about them in school and I felt he could do with a bit of extra confidence in his ability.

I thought perhaps a bit of practice might reassure him.

But you're right - I should probably leave it to the teachers.

[Mutley77]

They will have done practice papers in school I'm sure - the schools just generally totally downplay it so that the children don't worry about it.

My DD did several assessments and tests (which are continuous to monitor progress) before realising what they were - she only has gathered in now half way through Year 3.

[Hazyshades]

That makes me feel better.

Note to self: must not promote exam anxiety whilst trying to do the opposite

[Feenie]

tests will be administered mid-May, but most likely at KS1 will also include continuous assessment by the teacher)?

Not 'most likely' - by law the assessment has to be teacher assessment, using many sources of evidence, not just the tests.

[ipadquietly]

I hope they won't 'have done practice papers', as it's totally unnecessary.

Parents aren't told the results of the tests. The levels achieved are for the teacher's use in her final assessment.

[Feenie]

Ds has been told to have an early night because he is doing SATs tomorrow

[Mutley77]

They definitely did do "practice" papers in my DD's school a) so they were familiar with the type of exercises they were going to be presented with. I totally see the benefit of this as it means they are familiar and therefore more likely to present an accurate result. - and b) they use them as part of the ongoing assessment - the papers give a good indication of levels which the teachers are not only assessing at a particular stage in year two. If you look at the papers they are only the types of exercises you would expect children to do as part of their work anyway so I can't really see what all the fuss is about.

[Feenie]

But good teachers can see this from day to day work.

Ongoing assessment does NOT mean test after test. When a school is moderated by the LA, often the test result is not even admissable as evidence, since the moderator will want to see that the teacher has a far better understanding of the assessment process than that.

Newer, inexperienced teachers often rely heavily on test results, and it isn't good practice - it's just one snapshot type of evidence, and really isn't thorough.

Familiarisaton with the type of question comes through weaving into day to day lessons.

[ipadquietly]

mutley Children really don't need to practice these tests. I have a range of abilities, and all of them managed to understand the instructions and put their answers in the right places when we did the tests in February.

You are right in saying that the papers give a good 'indication' of the level the child is working at. That level is used to support the teacher's ongoing assessment in class. However, the teacher's continuous assessment takes precedence, and overrides the test result should there be an anomaly.

[quip]

Sats haven't been mentioned by school or ds1. However I think they have already done a Sats paper in February as ds2 in y1 did a maths one then. Can't work out what's to be gained by cramming as the scores are based on teacher assessment.

[Mutley77]

I think I've been misunderstood. I understand that the tests are only a very tiny part of the assessment process - and was fully reassured that was all they were used for in my DD's school. I don't however see any harm in them being used a couple of times previous to the Sats tests for familiarisation - nor do I see a problem with papers being used at other times during the year as part of the assessment process.

As I say I have seen the papers and to me they just look like normal exercises a child might do in a classroom anyway so I don't understand why there would be any concern about them being used during a lesson.

Personally I see "cramming" as a very different thing and I did not agree with my friend's child doing "practice papers" at home as school-set homework in order to prepare him to get better results - that to me is the wrong idea, not what they were doing in my DD's school.