1. Year 6 SATs information evening
Welcome
Year 6 SATs information evening

2. What – When - Where
What are SATS? SATs stands for statutory assessment tests. Currently children take them at the end of KS1 (Y2) and the end of KS2 (Y6). Since the new curriculum was introduced in 2014 the expectations have significantly risen. KS2 SATs were overhauled to be in line with the new national curriculum in May When are the SATs for your child? SATs for our current Y6 will take place during the week beginning May 14th Where will they take place? SATs tests are administered in the Year 6 classroom for most of the class. Some children may complete their tests in the Year 5 classroom if they need additional time, a reader or special access arrangements. The class teachers will inform you if your child qualifies for this –strict guidance must be followed and submitted.

3. KS2 SATs in 2018: What parents need to know
At the end of Year 6, children sit tests in:
Reading
Maths
Spelling, punctuation and grammar
These tests are both set and marked externally but delivered in school.
Your child’s marks will be used in conjunction with teacher assessment to give
a broader picture of their attainment.
Secondary schools use this assessment data so they are very important.

4. Reading
The reading test is a single paper with questions based on three passages of text.
Your child will have one hour, including reading time, to complete the test.
There will be a selection of question types, including:
Ranking/ordering, e.g. ‘Number the events below to show the order in which they happen in the story’
Labelling, e.g. ‘Label the text to show the title of the story’
Find and copy, e.g. ‘Find and copy one word that suggests what the weather is like in the story’
Short constructed response, e.g. ‘What does the bear eat?’
Open-ended response, e.g. ‘Look at the sentence that begins Once upon a time. How does the writer increase the tension throughout this paragraph? Explain fully, referring to the text in your answer.’

5. Grammar, punctuation and spelling
The grammar, punctuation and spelling test consists of two parts.
a grammar and punctuation paper requiring short answers, lasting 45 minutes
an aural spelling test of 20 words, lasting around 15 minutes.
The grammar and punctuation test will include two sub-types of questions:
Selected response, e.g. ‘Identify the adjectives in the sentence below’
Constructed response, e.g. ‘Correct/complete/rewrite the sentence below,’ or, ‘The sentence below has an apostrophe missing. Explain why it needs an apostrophe.

6. Maths Your child will sit three papers in maths:
Paper 1: arithmetic, 30 minutes
Papers 2 and 3: reasoning, 40 minutes per paper
Paper 1 will consist of fixed response questions, where children have to give the correct answer to calculations, including long multiplication and division. 
Papers 2 and 3 will involve a number of question types, including:
Multiple choice
True or false
Constrained questions, e.g. giving the answer to a calculation, drawing a shape or completing a table or chart
Less constrained questions, where children will have to explain their approach for solving a problem

7. What about science? Not all children in Year 6 will take science SATs.
However, a number of schools will be required to take part in science sampling: a test administered to a selected sample of children thought to be representative of the population as a whole. Science sampling testing will take place in the weeks commencing Monday 4 June 2018 and Monday 11 June 2018.
For those who are selected, there will be three papers:
Biology: 25 minutes, 22 marks
Chemistry: 25 minutes, 22 marks
Physics: 25 minutes, 22 marks
Example questions:
Biology: ‘Describe the differences in the life cycle of an amphibian and a mammal’
Chemistry: ‘Group a list of materials according to whether they are solid, liquid or gas’
Physics: ‘Predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other, based on where the poles are facing’

8. What and which day? Science sampling tests
Date
Test
Monday 14 May
English grammar, punctuation and spelling papers 1 and 2
Tuesday 15 May
English reading
Wednesday 16 May
Mathematics papers 1 and 2
Thursday 17 May
Mathematics paper 3
Science sampling tests
Schools selected for science sampling will need to be available to administer the tests
within the 2 week period from Monday 4 June 2018

9. How can you help?
There are past papers available free to download on the internet. Type free KS2 SATS into your search engine and many sites will be visible.
*Please don’t use the 2016 or 2017 papers as these are the ones we use in school. Any papers before this will be the old curriculum but still relevant and good practise.
Help your child approach the SATs with a ‘can do’ attitude. We do not want the children to worry about them but they should take them seriously. Examinations are a part of life so we cannot avoid them. The children should not enter into them with a ‘it doesn’t matter mindset’ –imagine doing that heading into a theory driving test! We need to prepare them for SATs and life when challenges will need to be faced.
Use some of the suggested websites we have listed.

10. Suggested websites http://www.myminimaths.co.uk/
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA