Helping your Child with SATs

How Will My Child be Assessed? Subject Teacher Assessment SAT Reading  Writing  Spelling  (within writing) Punctuation & Grammar Maths Science

What is Teacher Assessment? In addition to the ongoing, informal assessments made in every lesson, everyday, the Government has set out criteria in Reading, Writing (including SPAG), Maths and Science that represent ‘The Expected Standard’. Children are assessed during the course of the year against these criteria. Using these assessments, at the end of the year, each child is assessed as having met the expected standard or working towards the expected standard. Teacher assessments are subject to rigorous moderation to ensure that all judgements are secure and evidence- based.

What is Teacher Assessment? Reading, Maths and Science: ‘At Expected Standard’ or ‘Not at Expected Standard’. There are no criteria for ‘Working at Greater Depth’. Writing: ‘Working Towards the Expected Standard’, ‘Working At the Expected Standard’ or ‘Working at Greater Depth’. There are no longer National Curriculum levels.

What is Teacher Assessment?

What do the SATs Tests Look Like?

The Format of the Tests In 2014, the National Curriculum was revised and, in 2016, the SATs were changed to reflect this. This year, there are timed SATs in: SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar: separate tests) Reading Maths (one arithmetic paper, two reasoning papers) There is no writing test. Writing is assessed by Teacher Assessment only. The same is true of science. Tests are undertaken in strict test conditions. Every child takes the same tests. There is no advanced paper. Completed papers are externally marked.

Results Your child’s SAT results and Teacher Assessment will be reported to you, in writing, in July. Please be advised that the Teacher Assessment results may be different from the SAT results. This is because: Teacher Assessment has been compiled over the course of the year whereas the SAT is only a one-off ‘snap-shot’ of your child’s ability on the test day; Also, Teacher Assessment guidelines make very clear that ALL criteria for the ‘Expected Standard’ must be consistently demonstrated for a child to be considered to have achieved this. However, in a test, if a child picks up sufficient marks in the areas in which s/he is confident, his/her overall score will be sufficient to meet the ‘Expected Standard’ threshold.

How is Kingsfleet Helping to Prepare my Child for SATs? In partnership with parents, we have always strived to support each and every child to ‘be the best they can be’. T Children have always been supported to secure their current understanding, provided with opportunities to apply and challenge this and in so doing, extend their knowledge. In the lead-up to SATs, Mr Frost will be teaching small groups of children, providing focused support and extension. The main change is the formality with which children are assessed, i.e. the SATs. For this reason, there will be an increased (but NOT EXCLUSIVE) focus on test technique. To this end, we have ordered practice papers and revision materials for use in school.

What can I do to Help my Child Prepare for SATs? We have ordered revision books and question books from which the children’s homework will be set between now and the tests. These books provide excellent summaries of the areas to be tested and provide motivating, test-style practise questions to improve your child’s confidence. These have been purchased by the school. However, we would appreciate a voluntary donation towards the cost of these home-learning materials. They are very useful reference sources for High School homework too, I am told!

What can I do to Help my Child Prepare for SATs? Please ensure your child eats well (including breakfast), has plenty of good-quality sleep and spends time enjoying him/herself. Every child’s attitude to SATs is different. Some require frequent reminders of the value of this opportunity to demonstrate everything they have learnt(!) Others are already very anxious and are likely to bite your head off if you mention their importance! Please judge this continually and support accordingly. Continue to make mud pies! The National Trust have a list of 50 things to do before you are 11 ¾. Spending time outside with family is just as important as spending time revising. You’re only young once!

Questions Please feel free to ask any questions!