A Parent’s Guide to Key Stage Two SATs (Statutory Assessment Tests)

Aims of this presentation To understand what the Year 6 children will be tested on and to explore the format of the tests To understand the role of Teacher Assessment To understand what the levels mean To explain how parents can help and support their children

What do SATs tests show?  The idea of the SATs is to show what pupils have learnt and retained during Key Stage 2.  The tests help teachers to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of what your child understands about a subject.  They provide a ‘snapshot’ of a child’s attainment at the end of a Key Stage.  Each child is awarded a level in English (Reading, Writing, Punctuation, Spelling and Grammar) and Mathematics.

SATs Levels The Government expects most children to gain a Level 4 in Reading, Writing, Maths and Science by the end of Year Six. However, for some children, achieving Level 3 is a real success. A child achieving Level 5+ is working at a high level.

Can my child fail a SATs test? It is important that children understand they are not going to 'pass' or 'fail' the test – it will just show what they have learned and what they can do. The testing is just to show what your child has been achieved throughout Key Stage 2.

What are the children tested on? The children are tested on all of the work they have covered in Key Stage Two in English, and Maths. These tests allow the children to achieve an overall level within a 3 to 5 boundary. Externally marked level 6 tests are also available to schools to administer to those pupils considered to be eligible.

What form will the tests take? English Reading = 1 hour duration to read a booklet and answer questions Grammar; Punctuation; spelling = 45 minutes short answer paper + 20 spellings Mental Maths = 20 minutes Maths paper 1 = 45 minutes Maths paper 2 = 45 minutes There is no test paper for Writing. The level awarded will be based upon ONGOING teacher assessment. Tests will be taken in the familiar environment of the Year 6 classrooms for the majority of the children.

New for 2014 For the first time ever, the second Maths Paper (traditionally known as Paper B) will be a non- calculator paper. In the past ‘Paper B’ allowed the children to use calculators and questions were targeted to test calculator skill. This year, ‘Paper 2’ will be a more ‘problem solving’ based paper but as yet no examples have been released. This year the Reading Paper is NOT themed. In the past, all of the reading material was grouped around a theme, wolves, The Plague, water etc. This year there will be a selection of unrelated reading items for the children to answer questions on.

SATS Week Timetable PLEASE – Do NOT book holidays or appointments for this week! DateTests Monday 12 May Levels 3-5 English reading test (ALL CHILDREN) Level 6 English reading test (some children) Tuesday 13 May Levels 3-5 English grammar, punctuation and spelling test (ALL CHILDREN) Level 6 English grammar, punctuation and spelling test Wednesday 14 May Levels 3-5 mental mathematics test (ALL) Levels 3-5 mathematics Paper 1 (ALL) No level 6 tests timetabled for this day Thursday 15 May Levels 3-5 mathematics Paper 2 (ALL) Level 6 mathematics Paper 1 Level 6 mathematics Paper 2

WRITING SATs Mr Simpson and Mrs Clarke award a final level for writing based on an ongoing assessment of KS2 work. This includes day to day class writing across all subjects and homework tasks. This avoids a judgement being made on a ‘one off’ performance. It also means that the children are aware of the requirements of Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5 writing and should be striving to be their best at ALL times! A sample of schools are chosen each year to be ‘moderated’ to ensure that teachers are judging levels accurately. Maths and Reading are still being sent away for external marking.

English (Reading)  The children have 1 hour to read a story or poem and some information writing and then to answer questions about the texts. Some are tick-boxes and for others they need to write a few phrases to answer (it doesn't have to be in sentences).  The questions range from the literal (who does what, when) to the deductive (where, for example, they have to work out how someone is feeling from what they say).  Your child will be encouraged to justify their answers for some questions.  Pupils often need to back up their ideas with evidence from the text, to fully support their answer.  No adult assistance can be given during this test.

The level 3-5 test will assess children’s abilities in the following technical aspects of English: grammar; punctuation; spelling; English grammar, punctuation and spelling

Examples Circle all the adverbs in the sentence below. Open the drawers carefully and quietly when using the filing cabinet. Add a suffix to this word to make an adjective. dread ______________

Underline the subordinate clause in each sentence below. One has been done for you. Although his Mum thought they were very smart, Peter disliked his new trousers. Before he could go swimming, Ali packed his towel.

Complete the sentence below with a contraction that makes sense. If you give me the recipe____________ buy the ingredients on the way home.

Mathematics There are three tests:- The mental test (20%) Paper 1 -no calculator allowed (40%) Paper 2 – NO calculator allowed (40%) Some children who need questions read to them, or whose writing is hard to read (and need a helper to write it for them) can be given extra time in these tests.

Mathematics A few questions for you to try....

_____ _____ 2.47

Mental Test The third paper is on mental skills. Children are played a tape of 20 questions, and given either 5, 10 or 15 seconds to answer them on a prepared sheet.

What information do parents get and when? Maths and Reading Test papers are sent to external markers and will arrive, marked, back in school early in July. Schools then check the results and papers to ensure there are no errors. Sometimes papers are sent for re-marking. We, as a school, must inform parents of SATs results by the end of the school year in July. Parents receive test and teacher assessment levels for English, maths and science. Parents are given the overall school results as a percentage. These are compared to the previous year’s national figures.

What information do the Academies receive? We will transfer information to all relevant academies Data is transferred by computer, but we will have opportunities to liaise with the Academies to transfer ‘human’ information. This includes name, date of birth, unique pupil number, Key Stage 1 SATs results, Year 6 teacher assessments, and Key Stage 2 SATS results. Academies have this information by July, which helps them to group children and provide necessary support. Other information and data is used by the academies. Setting is NOT based on SATS results alone.

How we are helping your child at Haylands As well as the Quality First teaching that you would expect.... Booster sessions to bridge the gaps for some children Opportunities to write with guidance from a teacher followed by opportunities to write independently in order to show what they know! Readers and scribes during the tests for some children. Breakfast on the days of the test! To ensure that the children are in school on time and feeling settled, we will be serving breakfast in the school hall. We will be allowing the children to come to school in casual clothes during SATS week. This allows us to have a programme of ‘fun’ activities for the afternoons. It also helps to put a more positive ‘spin’ on the week!

How you can help at home Encourage your child positively, without putting too much pressure on him/her. The tests are not an eleven plus! A child does not fail SATs. Support with homework – provide a quiet place for work, encourage your child to do their best – not just enough to get by! Homework tasks are a part of the assessment evidence. Do make occasional use of revision guides and websites to support your child’s learning. BBC Bitesize, Woodlands Junior and Mathszone are all good. Read with your child, discussing the content and choice of words the author has made. PLEASE do regular times table practice Although we want the children to take these tests seriously, we do not want to put any unnecessary pressure on them. Playing is important - children should not be stopped from living their lives as normal during test week. However – a good night’s sleep is vital, so please encourage sensible bedtimes.

Thank you for coming this afternoon Are there any questions?