Key Stage 2 SATs Workshop

What are SATs? “SATs” is a term which covers the assessments that mark the end of KS2. They are national assessments, which take place in every school in the country. Why? They provide a snapshot of your child’s learning and achievement as they leave primary school. They provide a benchmark for secondary schools, helping them to make assessments of where students should be by the time they finish secondary. They are used by the government to make judgements about how effective the teaching is at primary schools.

Why is this important? SATs cover what children are expected to know by the end of primary school. Secondary schools build on this, so in order to access the curriculum there, children need a good grasp of the material covered by the assessments. These assessments need to provide an accurate picture of what your child can do so that they are appropriately challenged at secondary school.

There are a number of assessments: Reading Grammar, punctuation & spelling Maths Paper 1 Arithmetic Paper 2 Reasoning Paper 3 Reasoning II Writing (not a paper, but based on texts written throughout the year)

Reading This consists of three texts…

… and the children have one hour to read the texts and answer 33 questions on them – 11 per text.

Some questions look like this…

Others look like this…

…and then there are these

Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling This section consists of two papers: a 45-minute Grammar & Punctuation paper consisting of 45 questions A 15-minute spelling test consisting of 20 spelling words

Example questions...

Example spellings...

Maths The arithmetic paper is 30 minutes long and consists of 36 questions which get progressively harder throughout the paper

Example arithmetic questions...

Maths reasoning papers These are both 40 minutes long and consist of 20 questions each. These questions test a variety of mathematical skills and range from worded problems involving the 4 number operations to questions about data, co-ordinates, angles, measures and basic equations.

Example questions

Writing Writing is based on fulfilling certain criteria over a variety of text types throughout the year. It is teacher-assessed, but often assessors from Croydon will come in to ensure the teacher assessments are accurate and fair. Examples of text types the children will write include: A Short story B Diary C Newspaper report D Information E Letter F Promotional leaflet

All of the above criteria are essential to have, but not enough for a child to pass their SATs

How can you help? Now… Continue supporting your children at home to: Ensure that all times tables are known. Ensure that all year 5/6 spelling words (in diaries) are known. Ensure that they are reading a challenging text daily. Complete homework. We will be setting homework based on sections of the SATs question and revision books. This style of homework will also help prepare for secondary school. Occasionally practice answering some questions against the clock, for example in a practice paper.

How can you help? Approaching SATs… Dedicate a little extra time to study.. Reading through any tricky sections of revision books, or downloading old SATs papers and practicing answering the questions against the clock. http://www.satspapers.org.uk/Page.aspx?TId=5 Make sure bedtime is followed. Rest is really important if you are to perform at your best! Make sure your children get time to be children and have dedicated free time to do activities they enjoy or just relax! Keep an eye out for any signs of stress discuss any concerns or worries.