i found out today ds1 had SATS last week and i didnt know

[cheesesarnie]

he never mentioned it!neither did school!now im worried im a bad unsupporting parent!

[FairyMum]

No I think great! That's how its supposed to be!

[MrsWeasley]

How old is he?

My son is year 2 and the school dont even call them SATs (its just special work for the teacher). DS isn't aware they are doing any! The school prefer it that way.

[smartiejake]

you obviously don't come on here often. it was all we could talk about last week!

Don't worry! If he didn't mention it, he must have been totally unstressed by it all!

Is he in year 6? It is most unusual for a school not to mention this.

[TurkeyLurkey]

I didn't know either and my DS is 7 and had his last week. The school don't tell the kids about SATS either.Best way in my opinion. They are far too young to get worried about exams.

[cheesesarnie]

hes 7.year 2.good im glad its ok that i didnt know-i was bit shocked that hes having 'exams' so young.why do they do sats?what do they mean?

[cheesesarnie]

smartiejake- i come here far too often!i knew that year 6 were doing them but not year 2!hes a baby!(but dont tell him i said that).

[unknownrebelbang]

That's how it should be!

Well done that school and teachers!

[cheesesarnie]

ooh this is good news-im not a bad unsupportive mum who pays no interest in my childs education afterall!thankyou mn!honestly i am pleased,i thought it was me being crap and bad communication.

[TurkeyLurkey]

I thought it was a way of testing the school rather than the children..but there again I may be wrong..need a teacher to clarify..where are they when you want one???!!

[SlightlyMadSweet]

Yr 2 SATs are to test teh school not hte child.

I refused to give my DCs extra tuition for Yr2 SATs as it goes against the whole principle of measuring the school.

Yr6 SATs are a little different as I think that it can have an impact on a childs future education to some extent. Some secondary schools use it to put the children into ability sets etc.

[cheesesarnie]

thankyou

[smartiejake]

Oh he's only little! Yes teachers don't usually tell the year 2s they are doing sats. (They don't have a set day and time to do them in year 2 like whe they do the year 6 SATs).

When my dds did theirs the teacher called them special secret squirrel work and they were both quite laid back about it! Still think it's bloody stoopid though testing kids this young! (Well at 11 too... and 14..)

[MrsGuyOfGisbourne]

Cheesie - I didn't know my Dc were doing the tests last week till I read about it on mumsnet - better not to know probably, and better for the school to keep it low key and unpressured.

[ingonitoIRbod]

I knew my DD was doing them but she had no idea, they just thought they were doing 'special quizzes' and were very excited about it all lol

[TheFallenMadonna]

My ds has no idea that he's done them. Which is just as well really.

[MarsLady]

I wouldn't fret it. I never bothered once about the DCs SATs and they were fine.

[AbbeyA]

I think it is much the best way-stress free.

[Lulumama]

DS had SATS the week i was away after a bereavement, i called him and asked what have you been doing, how was school etc. to be told, not done anything , same old etc..

turns out, not only had he had SATS, he had had them with a scribe in a private room due to his dyselxia

so how bad did I feel !!!!

[InTheseShoes]

Much better to be like that IMHO., Even though my class (not Y2 or Y6) know exactly what they are doing, I still call the optional SATS "Quizzes" and play it low key with them. Better than the Y2 child in my school who when presented with the Y2 SAT paper said "Oh! I've done this one at home!" How sad for that child!

[gagarin]

Cheese - you have unwittingly done exactly the right thing! Made life normal; not added to stress by endless questioning; not fussed in the mornings; not gone in to check with the teacher that your DS is coping....etc etc

[kidsrus]

my ds has just done his too in yr 2.
i asked why he didn't have homework and he said he wouldn't for 2 weeks as he was doing special work at school in special books(big clue).
when i asked if the books were difficult he replied no they are easy and he said he choose the easiest book to read too!

is there an easier book? or are they just different formats according to the childs choice?

[snorris]

My dc's First school don't tell the parents so they can't make a big thing of it.

[Romy7]

Two different books - all sit level 2, and if they do well in that, then the most able sit the level 3... that's what happens in our neck of the woods anyway. nb they are only supposed to be able to achieve the level 2, level 3 suggests working above the average... weird that he got to choose - not sure if there are a selection of different level 2 papers?!!! Our school doesn't make a big deal of it either and the kids don't know they are 'tests'...

[Mercy]

What are these books? And how are they tested, is it just like normal school work?

(my dd was unaware of the SATS, so was I until she mentioned a special test. Apparently they have been doing the test over a 3 week period!)

[annh]

I think when kidsrus' son said he chose the easiest book to read he was referring to the one-one-one reading which they do with the teacher to assess their reading level. They do it in a different room usually and the teacher leaves out a selection of books, inlcuding some non-fiction, from which they get to choose one and the teacher asks some questions about it.