Wednesday 9 May 2018

The SATs are coming.....

Ellie is in Year 6 and seems to have been preparing for the SATs for as long as I can remember. She has had after school revision classes and was even at school during the first week in the Easter holidays for 3 hours a day learning. As much as she struggles at school she seems to be doing well.

She had mock SATs and did way better than the teachers expected her to do. In fact when it came to the grammar, punctuation and spelling she was top of the class getting nearly every question right.

She is not worried or stressed in the slightest about next week. I am doing more than enough worrying for the both of us....


Next week will see children up and down the country doing their SATs....According to the experts, SATs aren’t about passing or failing but are used to reflect the level your child is working to.....

The year 6 SATs consist of 4 days of tests:

Monday 14 May 2018 
English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 1: questions.
English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 2: spelling

Tuesday 15 May 2018
English reading

Wednesday 16 May 2018
Mathematics Paper 1: arithmetic
Mathematics Paper 2: reasoning

Thursday 17 May 2018
Mathematics Paper 3: reasoning

How can you support your child?

Keep it peaceful at home! - Ease up on them a bit. Does their bedroom still need tidying? Keep things at home as relaxed as possible so they come back to a calm environment after a day of exams.

Sleep - Get them to bed earlier than usual. It means they'll be bright and ready to go the next day.

Breakfast! – Even if they don't normally eat much for breakfast, during SATS week, make sure they do. Things like porridge, Weetabix and brown toast, will help will help their body to burn energy slowly and steadily. My girls school lets the kids go to the breakfast club at school free of charge. It means they are fed well and it makes sure they are not late for school....

Include some time to exercise in their week Exercise a proven way to help reduce stress which is why it's recommended for children taking their SATs. Half an hour run around in the park or a walk help them take their minds of the tests....

Plan something fun - My girls school always do something fun on the Friday to reward the kids for all the hard work they have put in. I know when my teen did her SATs they had party food and a bouncy castle and were allowed to just have fun all afternoon. I am sure they have something planned for Ellie and her class too. We are planning to go out for tea and get her a toy she has been wanting for a while....

Try not to stress! - The most important thing to remember is don't let your child get too worked up. It is easier said than done. As important as the SATs are they are just a very small part of their education. They are not life changing. Try not to stress!

Good luck to all the children taking their SATs! I am sure they will all do great!

21 comments :

  1. Good Luck to Ellie! I am sure she will ace all the papers.

    #bloggersbest

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  2. Ella went to Easter school as well. They did learning in the morning then the school provided lunch (one of the days they had pizza delivered!) and they did a fun activity in the afternoon which included playing sports and a cinema trip.
    Ella's quite relaxed about the SATS as well. I'll be glad when it's all over, myself!
    Good luck to Ellie :)

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    1. Ohh! That sounds like a lot of fun! Getting pizza delivered is my girls idea of heaven. lol
      Good luck to Ella xx

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  3. Great advice Kim. LP will be doing his SATs in a couple of years but I'll keep this handy for then. xx
    #bloggersbest

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  4. Good luck and really informative post, thanks for sharing X #bloggersbest

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  5. All the best at this stressful time. Exams and test do not define a person and I so worry about the impact on our children's mental wellbeing and the pressure on parents too #PoCoLo

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    1. Thank you! The school have tried to be good not putting too much pressure on but it's hard.

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  6. Hi Kim, dare I admit that I'm not even sure what the SATS exams are? But saying that studying for any exams is stressful, my daughter is currently studing for the A level equilvalent and it feels like it's been going on forever... It's great that Ellie did better than expected, it's better that way than the other... Going easy on them right now is only fair, we can always give them a hard time afterwards!... Good luck in her exams!

    Popped over from #PoCoLo.

    xx

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    1. They are Standard Assessment Tests. They are there to find out how well the kids are being taught judging the teachers and they will also decide what sets my girl will go into when she goes to secondary school in September. Good luck to your daughter with her A levels x

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  7. We take something like those but it is TerraNova testing. As a teacher I try not to put a lot of pressure on the kids. Encourage them to do their best but in the end it is a test. One part of an overall assessment. #pocolo

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    1. I have said to my girl to try her best...That's all they can do. They are not the be all and end all of their education x

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  8. Good luck to Ellie, and this was my daughter this time last year. This year we have GCSEs that start on Monday, and boy will I be glad when they are all over x

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    1. Thank you!
      Good luck to your boy! My teen have her GCSE's next year! Eek xx

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  9. I do think the parents stress more than most of the kids do, wait till you get to the GCSE stage #pocolo

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    1. My teen has GCSE's next year. I'm already stressing about her. lol

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  10. I dread any kinds of tests to be honest. A test can give an indication of one’s current level(s) but it shouldn't define a person’s life choices.

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  11. Best of luck and great advice. I must admit that I am anti testing so I'm glad my kids aren't going through this although Holland does have a testing system too so you can't escape it. Hope all goes well. #POCOLO

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  12. BB is taking hers too but she's in year two so they don't really 'count'. Hope yours go well! #bloggersbest

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