Year 6 SATs Parents’ Meeting Tuesday 27 th January 2015 Mrs Pye, Miss Smith, Mrs Collings and Mrs Haydon

To share important information about KS2 SATs To answer any questions about KS2 SATs Share ideas about how you as a parent can help your child at home Aims of the session

What are SATs and why do children take them? S – Statutory A - Assessment T - Tests End of Key Stage measure of attainment and pupil progress. KS1 - Year 2, KS2 – Year 6,

What are children tested on? Level 3-5 English 3 tests – 1x reading, 1x spelling, 1x grammar and punctuation Mathematics 3 tests- 2x written and 1x mental arithmetic

What are children tested on? Level 6 English 4 tests– 1x reading, 1x spelling, 1x grammar and punctuation, 1 additional writing task Mathematics 2 x written papers

What are levels? The bulk of the tests cover Levels 3-5. Expected attainment for a pupil at the end of Year 6 is Level 4. A small minority of children will sit Level 6 tests. Pupils are expected to make 2 whole levels progress from Year 2 to Year 6. E.g.1-3, 2-4, 3- 5.

What do the current levels mean? Year 2 Age 7 Year 6 Age 11 Year 8 Age 14 Level 8Exceptional Level 7Beyond Expectations Level 6ExceptionalAt Age Expectation Level 5Beyond Expectations Level 4ExceptionalAt Age Expectation Level 3Beyond Expectations Level 2At Age Expectation

English

There are 4 main types of questions on the reading paper: Literal – answer is there in the text Deductive – look for clues Inferential – read between the lines Authorial intent – e.g. why does an author use a particular word Reading

As the afternoon light started to fade, the cow stopped eating grass, stood instead with its head over the gate and gazed expectantly down the lane. Sentence from: ‘A Day in the English Countryside’ How light was it? (Literal) What three things did the cow do? (Literal) What time of day was it? (Deductive) Where was the cow? (Deductive) What do you think the cow was expecting? (Inferential) What strategies does the writer use to give the reader so much information in a single sentence? (Authorial intent)

How can parents help with reading? Ensure your child reads every night! Encourage them to read fiction and non- fiction. Try to ask them questions about the text. Help them with the different skills of reading especially ‘skim’ reading where they are looking for key words in the text. Speed reading

Sample spellings from previous years 1. sharp 11. ravenously 2. whiskers 12. approached 3. surveyed 13. cautiously 4. lying 14. bristling 5. rigid 15. sensible 6. intruder 16. height 7. scattered 17. corridor 8. enough 18. proud 9. females 19. straightened 10. doubt 20. voice

How writing is assessed in 2015 Teacher Assessed Writing Portfolio of evidence for every child, 5 or 6 best pieces from across a range of genres. Local Authority (LA) randomly select groups of children to moderate to validate our judgements ALL level 6 writing is moderated by the LA

Teacher assessment draws together everything the teacher or teachers know about a child, including observations, marked work and school assessments. Teacher assessment is not a ‘snapshot’ like tests and is therefore more reliable. There can be a difference between teacher assessment results and test levels. What does teacher assessment involve? Is it different from testing?

MATHS

Mental arithmetic test Delivered via a CD- once it is started it cannot be stopped for any reason 20 timed questions 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds A range of skills and knowledge is needed to answer questions Pencils at the ready!

Maths Papers Paper 1 – 45 mins non calculator test Paper 2 – 45 mins non calculator test Level 6 Paper A and B 30 mins per paper (no MA)

When will the tests take place? NB dates are provisional Date Level 3-5 tests Level 6 tests Mon 11th May 2015 English – Reading Test (60 mins) English – Reading Test (60 minutes) Tues 12th May 2015 English – Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling Test Wed 13th May 2015 Maths – Mental Mathematics Test (20 mins)Maths – Mathematics Paper 1 (45 mins NO calculator) No level 6 tests timetabled for this day Thurs 14th May 2015 Maths – Mathematics Paper 2 (45 mins NO calculator) Maths – Paper 1 (30 mins: NO calculator allowed)Maths – Paper 2 (30 mins: Calculator allowed)

Arrangements for test day When the children arrive at school they will be registered and will then meet in the hall for a snack, a drink and a chat. They do still need breakfast on test days! Once they have all used the toilet and are ready to start the tests we will move back to their classrooms (in most cases, see below) and begin the assessments. Some children are entitled to receive support, which can be; extra time, working outside of the classroom, having an adult to read the paper to them, or the use of a scribe. This is determined by the needs of individual children. Tests are kept securely in a locked cupboard until test day. Mrs Cooper and Mrs Haydon open the tests seconds before they are scheduled to begin. Random quality assurance visits are carried out by the LA to ensure that test procedures are strictly adhered to.

After the tests Once the test has finished, the test scripts are collected in silence and handed to Mrs Cooper who then packages them up and seals them immediately for collection. Tests are sent all over the country to be marked by trained SATs markers. During test week, the afternoon sessions will focus on lessons where other skills are required such as PE, Art, History etc.

When will parents be informed of pupils’ results and who else will use these results? The test results will be released in July These results will be a whole level (3, 4, 5 or 6) You will receive a print-out of your child’s results before the end of term together with information about the results Your child will have the opportunity to talk to their subject teachers about their results Pupil’s test results are then transferred electronically to the appropriate Secondary school. These results are then shared with the DCSF and the LEA.

Teacher Assessments Throughout the year your child will have accumulated evidence to support a teacher assessment judgement of their ability in all subjects including Writing specifically. This evidence is equally used by DCSF, LEA and Secondary schools to see how your child has performed over time as opposed to in a one off test. Where a child significantly underperforms in a test we will speak to the Secondary School and advise them of the child’s ability as evidenced over the term.

Should my child be revising at home? Your child may wish to do some revision at home and this should be encouraged to enable your child to feel as confident as possible going into their tests. However, the best idea is little and often. Where possible children should be able to use ICT, games etc to help them revise to make it a little bit more exciting.

Resources available to help your child Revision guides- available from school from next week ICT resources  MyMaths  Sumdog  KS2 BBC BiteSize  Woodlands school revision pages There are so many apps and games out there, many of them free to download or access. Please let us know if you find a really good one so we can share this information with others!

How can I help my child on the lead up to and on test day? Attendance - ensure your child is in school as much as possible, if they are not here they are not learning! Regular and appropriate bedtimes and ‘sleeptimes’. Encourage physical activity and relaxation after school interspersed with short bursts of revision (if your child feels like it!). Let school know as early as possible if your child is ill during test week and if necessary special arrangements will be made. Communicate if there has been any upheaval or upset at home that may affect the pupil’s access/performance in the test. Promote the tests as positive – a chance to show off the hard work they have done in KS2. Ensure your child has a proper morning routine including breakfast. Ensure your child brings a bottle of water and a healthy snack in test week.

Top tips to help your child with SATs Approach a subject from lots of different angles. Software, games, activities, books, flash cards and practical activities all help. Encourage your child to believe in themselves, "you can do it!" Remind your child that the tests are important, but that the are not the only way they are to be measured. Do not put your child under too much pressure. Have fun, they will find things easier to remember if they remember the good times they had learning. Short snappy bursts of revision are far more beneficial than arduous hours- grab the opportunities to revise when you can- in the car, round the dinner table, on the walk to school DO NOT SPEND WHOLE EVENINGS REVISING! Children work hard at school, they need down time too. Make revision fun, competition works well!

Finally – A Health Warning Whilst we do encourage your children to take these tests seriously and use them to show off all that they are capable of, it is important to remember that all the children in Year 6 are special and unique irrespective of a test. The value and worth of each child cannot be quantified by a test level and nor should it. Thank you for taking the time to find out more. If there is something you feel we could support your child with more, please do not hesitate to contact us.