Year 6 SATs Information Meeting 25 th February 2016

Aims of this session  Know when your child will sit their SATs in Y6  Understand how they will be assessed  Know what the tests will look like  Understand how the results will be reported to you  Understand how you can help your child prepare for the tests

When is SATs week? This year SATs take place during the week beginning the 9 th May 2016 DateTest Monday 9 th MayReading Comprehension test (1 hour including reading time) Tuesday 10 th MayGrammar and punctuation test (45 minutes) Spelling test (about 15 min) Wednesday 11 th MayPaper 1 Arithmetic test (30 mins) Paper 2 Mathematics reasoning paper (40 mins) Thursday 12 th MayPaper 3 Mathematics reasoning paper (40 mins)

Reading comprehension test A single paper with questions based upon a reading booklet with between 1500 and 2300 words in total. This booklet will consist of a range of texts including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. 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.’ Questions will be in order of difficulty. The paper will be scored out of 50, as currently, with final raw scores being converted into a scaled score, with 100 representing the expected standard. There will be no extension (i.e. Level 6 equivalent) paper. Just over half the marks (25-35 marks) will be awarded for one-mark answers. There will be 5-8 two-mark questions and 1-4 three-mark questions. The breakdown of content covered is shown in this table from the framework document:

Marks for the reading comprehension Subject areaPercentage of overall mark Themes and conventions0-10% Making inferences20-40% Comprehension40-60% Language for effect10-25%

Grammar and punctuation test  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.’  The spelling test will be read to pupils, with each spelling within a contextualised sentence.

Marks for the SPAG test PaperSubject areaOverall percentage of mark Grammar and punctuation Grammar Punctuation Language strategies 36-50% 14-28% 4-10% Spelling 29% Note that ‘language strategies’ refers to words and words-building (so will include some element of vocabulary).

Grammar terms your child should know  See handout

Arithmetic test Major change! A written paper, 30 minutes long, assessing content from the number domain only. Pupils will have to give the correct answer to a series of calculations. This new paper will consist largely of one-mark questions using context-free calculations. There will be some 2-mark questions for long multiplication and long division calculations. In two-mark questions, it will only be possible to obtain a single mark for a wrong answer derived from a correct method when using the intended standard method. There are 30 marks for this paper, representing 27% of the total test score.

Maths paper 2 and 3: fluency, problem- solving and reasoning These 2 papers, 40 minutes long, will contain a selection of the following question types:  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.  There will be no calculator paper (and calculators cannot be used in the tests), and no extension paper. Formulae will be provided where required (apart from the area and volume of a shape). As with other tests, raw scores will be converted to a scaled score, with 100 representing the expected standard.

Allocation of marks Subject areaPercentage of overall mark Number, ratio and proportion and algebra 65-75% Measurement, geometry and statistics25-35%

Science sampling We may be selected to administer a Science test for sampling reasons. (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

How will the results be reported to you? The old system of national curriculum levels is now no longer used, after the department of education abolished it in Summer Instead, children will be given standardised scores. You will be given your child’s score, alongside the average for their school, the local area and nationally. There will also be a ‘performance descriptor’ of the expected standard for Key Stage 2 pupils. The Department for Education is aiming for 65 per cent of children to reach or exceed that standard.

How can you help your child?  Encourage them to practise answering questions e.g. mathletics, BBC bitesize  Reading every night for at least 20 minutes.  Reading a range of different genres.  Know times tables off by heart.  Ensure they are completing homework.  Use books from CPG/Rising stars to help with learning key information.

During SATs week  Make sure your child has a good night’s sleep every day.  No need for revision during the week, just rest.  Eat well.  Snack and water bottle every day for school.  Come to school on time.