Parent Information Session SATs 2016

 The Year 6 KS2 SATs will be administered in the week commencing 9 th May 2016.

 During the SATs week there will be a breakfast club in the year 6 classrooms. This helps the children come in and settle in before school, so that they are relaxed and ready for the tests to begin.  Also is a great time to do some brain workout activities with the children.

 The reading test will provisionally be a single paper with questions based on one 800-word text and two passages of 300 words. 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.’

 The grammar, punctuation and spelling test will consist of two parts: a grammar and punctuation paper requiring short answers, lasting 45 minutes, and 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.’

 Children will sit three papers in maths:  Paper 1: arithmetic, 30 minutes (written)  Papers 2 and 3: mathematical fluency, solving problems and reasoning, 40 minutes per paper  KS2 mathematics test There are 3 papers; Paper 1: arithmetic; Paper 2: reasoning; and Paper 3: reasoning.

Paper 1: arithmetic replaces the mental mathematics test.  The arithmetic test assesses basic mathematical calculations. The test consists of a single test paper.  Pupils will have 30 minutes to complete the test, answering the questions in the test paper.  The paper consists of 36 questions which are worth a total of 40 marks.  The questions will cover straightforward addition and subtraction and more complex calculations with fractions worth 1 mark each, and long divisions and long multiplications worth 2 marks each. Papers 2 and 3 each consist of a single test paper.  Pupils will have 40 minutes to complete each test, answering the questions in the test paper.  Each paper will have questions worth a total of 35 marks.  In some answer spaces, where pupils need to show their method, square grids are provided for the questions on the arithmetic paper and some of the questions on Paper 2.

 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. (Monday 6 to Friday 17 June is the science sampling test period in which your child might sit the tests.) 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

 /national-curriculum-assessments sample-materials

A SAT does not reflect who they are, what they are worth or even how much they have learned. It provides a snapshot of what they are capable of understanding on a particular given day. It gives them: a raw score (what they got on the test); a scaled score (how they compared against other children sitting the same test) and confirmation of whether they reached the expected standard or not. It does not give them a level But this is not all it provides. It also presents them with opportunities: opportunities to challenge themself, work intensely and independently for an extended period of time, puzzle things out for themself, struggle, make mistakes, succeed, reflect on things they know how to do, identify things that they do not know how to do YET, celebrate their successes and mull over their failures to name but a few. Taking tests is part of school life. Y6 provides the first real testing opportunity for many with the SAT tests in May. These tests are the first in a raft of many tests that the children will take as they go through their school lives. So, how should they approach them?

 A test, while focussing their attention upon a particular area such as maths, is about much more than just that. Whether they are happy with their final score or not, remember to think about the learning that came out of simply taking the test itself.  One day, they’ll take a driving test, go for a job interview, do a GCSE, A- level or degree exam, take a ballet or music exam, complete a swimming assessment, go for a sports trial, the list is endless. SATS can be a great place to begin developing a healthy ‘growth mindset’ towards tests and being tested. Try and use them as a learning opportunity.  They will prepare for the tests so that when test day rolls around, they will be confident in the knowledge that they are ready. Working hard, puzzling through the tricky things listening to teachers and putting their learning into practice all counts towards being in the best shape they can be come test day.

 Pupils used to be awarded a "level", such as 2a, 3b and 4c, that corresponded to their "raw marks". E.g. if a pupil got 84/110 then it would correspond to a “level 5”.  KS2 SATs papers have been updated for May 2016 to be fully in line with the new national curriculum. As well as the content and structure of the papers being tweaked, the marks reporting method has too.  From May 2016, children will not be given a level and will instead be given a scaled score.

 Scaled scores are simply a different way of reporting your child’s exam marks. Instead of being given their “raw score” of 84/110, your child’s raw score will be moderated (alongside everyone else’s exam marks) and converted into a scaled score out of 100.  The interpretation of these scores is as follows: Below 100: Those that score below 100 will have not reached the nationally set “expected standard” and will need further support and development before and indeed at secondary school. Within close proximity of 100: Those that get 100 will have reached the national standard that’s expected of them. In other words: "Bravo, you’re ready for secondary school little Jimmy!" Above 100: Those that score significantly higher than 100 will have exceeded the standard that’s expected of them.

 What difference does it make to us? For parents and pupils, very little. The most frustrating thing is that until now, your child would have had their progress tracked using levels and now they’re not. Do be aware though that your child’s scaled score will be reported to their secondary school so that they can prepare for their arrival appropriately.  What scaled score should my child be aiming for? There’s no trick here, the more marks your child achieves in their KS2 SATs, the higher their scaled score will be. Work hard and aim high!

 Papers will be marked using a computerised system. Children must record answers in the correct places.  Any written responses with errors such as capital letters omitted or in incorrect places will be marked incorrect regardless of the content.  Questions asking for another word for something will be marked incorrect if incorrect spelling is used.  If a question asks for the children to underline a word or phrase they must not underline any other part of the sentence.

 Pupils who do not meet the required standard at the end of KS2 will take compulsory resits in December  On 13 January 2016, the Department for Education updated its timelines for maintained schools and academies to say that Key Stage (KS) 2 SATs resits will take place in December 2017.timelines for maintained schoolsacademies  The resits will be compulsory for pupils in year 7 who did not reach the required standard in English reading and maths at the end of Key Stage 2.