KS1 sats are they all that ?

[Bodular]

Does anyone know how/if they're important and does it matter if they are missed

 

[El Sid]

The most important ones are those taken at the end of KS2 I believe.

These results will be used to assess progress throughout the 11-16 years and particularly for putting children in "sets" for Maths, English and Science.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

It should not matter to the individual child if they are missed. Their class teacher should be well able to judge an accurate level for them from knowledge of the individual's academic work and classroom participation.

A couple of years ago, many schools boycotted Sats, I don't think the world ended!

 

[Ali_rrr]

The most important ones are those taken at the end of KS2 I believe.

These results will be used to assess progress throughout the 11-16 years and particularly for putting children in "sets" for Maths, English and Science.

This. Don't even remember my KS1 Sats. It's KS2 that matter as it decides what GCSE paper you'll take unless you make an improvement.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Does anyone know how/if they're important and does it matter if they are missed

You go for it. Two weeks in the kids club on the Costas
whilst you get pissed by the pool amounts to the best education possible and you get a bargain holiday to boot.

Meanwhike I will sit back and waits for this smartarse comment to come back and bit me on the arse.

 

[GingerBeerMan]

Unless it's a wedding/funeral I'd say don't miss them.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Unless it's a wedding/funeral I'd say don't miss them.

Why?

 

[Munkfish]

The secondry school I went to many years ago now, used these to place kids in sets for Maths and English in year 7.

I would not suggest missing them, yes take a kid out of school for a couple of weeks in year 6 no harm done, but to miss Sats all together, im not sure its so wise.

 

[supaseagull]

Yes they are very important as they give your child's secondary school an indication of the progress they have made during KS1 and therefore enables them to place them into a form appropriate to your child's level of knowledge attained.

It also provides a practical demonstration as to how the children apply the knowledge they have learnt.

If you pull your child out of school during their SATs, then don't be surprised if they are not placed into a form in secondary which you consider to be appropriate for their developmental and educational needs.

 

[Frutos]

The secondry school I went to many years ago now, used these to place kids in sets for Maths and English in year 7.

I would not suggest missing them, yes take a kid out of school for a couple of weeks in year 6 no harm done, but to miss Sats all together, im not sure its so wise.

Those would be KS2 SATs, not KS1 - KS1 is Years 1 and 2.

 

[matildaseagull]

The main use for KS1 SATs is to provide a level with which to measure progress from the end of KS1 to KS2. They are used by Ofsted to measure progress. Most children should make 2 levels progress from the end of Year 2 to the end of Year 6. They do provide the school with information about the child's ability in reading, writing and maths, but none which the class teacher doesn't already know. I use them in Pupil Progress Meetings to help identify slow-moving children (as well as under-performing teachers!). It really isn't the end of the world if a child misses KS1 or KS2 SATs. However, all schools will say this is an unauthorised absence and the parents may get a fine. It is really the schools that suffer, especially at KS2 as not taking the tests can severely affect their data, especially in a small school where each child can represent a significant percentage of their Year 6.

As far as secondary schools are concerned, most pay little attention to KS2 scores as they know the primary schools have crammed the kids to get inflated levels. Hope this makes sense. Generally speaking, teacher assessments are far more accurate than SATs anyway!

 

[Gordon the Gopher]

Yes they are very important as they give your child's secondary school an indication of the progress they have made during KS1 and therefore enables them to place them into a form appropriate to your child's level of knowledge attained.

It also provides a practical demonstration as to how the children apply the knowledge they have learnt.

If you pull your child out of school during their SATs, then don't be surprised if they are not placed into a form in secondary which you consider to be appropriate for their developmental and educational needs.

True maybe for KS2 (7-11) but not KS1 (5-7). KS1 Sats are held over the course of about 2 weeks as the teacher has to listen to a lot the kids read and assess them. The tests part the teacher chooses a past paper and gets the kid to sit them but there is no real time limit and no set day to take them on. In a nutshell, if you're away on holiday, they do them before or when your kid gets back depending on the timings!

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Yes they are very important as they give your child's secondary school an indication of the progress they have made during KS1 and therefore enables them to place them into a form appropriate to your child's level of knowledge attained.

It also provides a practical demonstration as to how the children apply the knowledge they have learnt.

If you pull your child out of school during their SATs, then don't be surprised if they are not placed into a form in secondary which you consider to be appropriate for their developmental and educational needs.

As Frutos said, you are talking about ks2 Sats.

 

[Rabeen]

The OP is asking about KS1 which is for end of foundation stage - reception - year 2. They are another indicator of progress for those first three or four years of school and the importance level is a matter of where your stand point is. As a primary school teacher and currently in year six, we look at progress data from KS1 when assessing progress at the end of year six (KS2 SATs time), so for us it's helpful vs. no data at all.

It is however not the end of the world, and although it can affect children in setting once going to secondary education (after KS2) missing either testing rounds makes no huge difference. If you're experience good teaching throughout expect your child to progress, if not and they are appearing to fall behind then testing won't correct it but may be a helpful indicator that something is wrong / could need looking in to.

I once had a level five student across the board leading up to SATs, he was then poorly and missed the maths so got an N grade. At high school he was put in the wrong set to start with but very quickly the error was recognised and he was moved accordingly.

The final thing to consider might be the attendance level of your child. For KS2 SATs we don't authorise any absence in the weeks leading up to and including the SATs testing. This could leave you open to prosecution for failing to ensure your child is in school. The thresholds for how many unauthorised sessions (two per day) was halved from 20 to 10 last September.

I hope this helps.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Yes they are very important as they give your child's secondary school an indication of the progress they have made during KS1 and therefore enables them to place them into a form appropriate to your child's level of knowledge attained.

It also provides a practical demonstration as to how the children apply the knowledge they have learnt.

If you pull your child out of school during their SATs, then don't be surprised if they are not placed into a form in secondary which you consider to be appropriate for their developmental and educational needs.

I'm a Primary School Teacher, so feel that I can give an accurate assessment of this. What you are saying just isn't the case - teachers are assessing pupil's progress throughout the year, every year, and have a far more complete and accurate 'picture' of the child than can be gathered from one day in a SATS test.

If a pupil misses SATS this will affect the school's data, and schools don't like this. But teachers from Primary and Secondary schools have lengthy meetings to discuss ALL aspects of a child's development, including their academic progress. This includes 'levelling' the children, and these figures are far more likely to be of value to the Secondary School. These meetings take place in the summer term to aid the successful transition of children beween key stages.

When SATS were boycotted, most Primary Schools did SATS-like tests to back up their assessments, and their levelling. There were also moderating meetings across different Primaries so that the accuracy of the levelling could be rigorously validated.

So, in the grand scheme of things, if a child misses the SATS tests it will not affect them at all.

The SATS at KS1 are certainly not 'all that', and if your child misses them it will have absolutely no effect on their progress. My headteacher wouldn't like to hear me saying this, but it's true, if there's something else you've got planned, don't let KS1 SATS get in the way.

 

[ropey9]

Sats are used to measure the schools performance - they are not used to stream children from primary into secondary education. Too much emphasis is placed on teaching children to pass the Sats especially in KS2, this skews the childs education for year 6 (I'm sure this differs school to school) and undue pressure is wrongly applied to both the child and the child parents by the teacher (and school). There is a myth that the child Sat results have a bearing on movement into secondary school which is perpetuated by primary educators, which then sucks the enjoyment that children had at primary school prior to hitting year 6.

At secondary school (again this differs from school to school) streaming doesn't usually begin until year 8/9. This allows proper assessments of ability to be made in the first 2 years.

 

[elbowpatches]

I currently teach Year Two and can categorically say that results that are entered at the end of the year are from teacher assessments built up throughout the year. The SATs tasks should inform that judgement not be based solely on it. The results do not have to be sent to County until the end of June/beginning of July depending upon the Local Authority.

Children can in theory take the tests until then and at different times (if they were ill or absent for other reasons). In my opinion, and I openly tell parents this, children undertaking KS1 SATs should not be pressurised and parents should not feel that they should coach their children. We don't tell the children they are doing them and try to have a relaxed time around the tasks, taking weeks to complete the tasks not just one. Having taught Year 6 for six years and seeing what KS2 SATs can do to children, I will not allow that to happen to children who are 6 or 7 years old!!

The teachers by May should have a very good idea of your child's abilities and should be implementing these tasks in order to prove their judgements.

However, and I might get loads of abuse now, I personally don't agree with parents taking children out during important times of the year, if at all, for holidays. Yes, they are cheaper, and yes, times are difficult now but they are potentially missing two weeks of education. If it is a wonderful experience and may enrich your child's knowledge and understanding of the world then fine.

 

[smeariestbat]

ks1 sats are just used for school league tables