Lots of our lovely students will be sitting their KS2 SATs next week! We are so proud of what they have achieved this year, and wish them the best of luck next week in showing it all off! Here are some last minute words of advice on how to help your child at home over the next week.
Next week, your child will be tested on their reading, mathematics, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. In addition to this, your child will also have their writing and science levels assessed by the teacher based on their class work. At the end of the school year, every child will receive a scaled score between 80 and 120 for each subject. Children who score 100 or more will have met the ‘expected standard’ for a Year 6 child.
This is the 2022 exam schedule:
Monday 9th May: English grammar, punctuation and spelling paper 1 and 2 (AKA SPaG)
Tuesday 10th May: English reading
Wednesday 11th May: Mathematics paper 1 and 2
Thursday 12th May: Mathematics paper 3
If you want to find out more about the KS2 SATs tests, the Department for Education has produced a useful information leaflet for parents all about the tests.
At Primary Tutor Project, we understand that this is a stressful time for children and it can feel like a lot of pressure for a 10/11 year old to deal with, particularly as they have missed a lot of school over the past couple of years. With this in mind, here are some tips to support your child this week:
During SATs week
Reflect
Spend some time this weekend thinking about all the things your child can now do that they couldn’t do before Year 6. This can provide a confidence boost, shows your child how far they’ve come and reminds them that with hard work they can improve and learn new things (the key message we want them to take with them to secondary school).
Maintain a routine
It is beneficial to keep the week of the test as normal as possible. It helps to stop the week becoming a big thing, rather than just a few quick tests to show what your child can do. Encourage your child to eat well, drink plenty of water, get some exercise each day, and go to bed nice and early. You want your child to feel their best for what might be a busy week.
After the tests
Don’t dwell on the tests
Once the tests are done, they’re done, and worrying about them won’t change the result. Once the tests are over, celebrate with a treat. It is hugely beneficial to reward the hard work and preparation that has gone into the tests, rather than rewarding the results. This shows your child that the value is placed on the effort they put into their learning. After the tests, the learning doesn’t stop! Keep practicing the core literacy and numeracy skills ready for secondary school.
Looking ahead – 2023 SATs
If your child is sitting the SATs in the future and you are looking ahead and beginning to plan how you can support them? Read these tips on knowing where to start:
Focus on the skills and knowledge that the SATs test
You can help by focusing on the skills and knowledge of English or maths that the tests assess, rather than the tests themselves. If effort goes into supporting your child to learn new concepts in mathematics or develop fluency in reading, rather than them passing the SATs, then the tests can be a vehicle for helping children to be confident readers, and writers of English and fluent mathematicians. These are key skills that will help your child to be ready for secondary school.
The tests are designed to be a snapshot of what your child can do at the end of Year 6. The SATs tests focus on testing the skills and knowledge that will help your child do well at secondary school. As the SATs tests focus on these areas it is important to note that they don’t tell us how accomplished your child is in other important areas of the curriculum such as humanities, sport or the arts.
Identify weak areas
Talk to your child to try and find out the areas of the curriculum where they feel confident and where they feel like they might need some extra support. If you haven’t already, you might also want to talk to their class teacher / tutor about your child’s progress and how they think you can best support them. Like all of us, it can be very tempting for children to spend more time on the topics they enjoy and are already good at. Instead, you should encourage your child to spend time on the bits of the curriculum that they find more difficult. All children will benefit from some support and encouragement with this.
If you need further advice or are considering tutoring, feel free to contact us here at Primary Tutor Project where we can tailor our teaching specific to your child’s needs!
