We have the "dreaded" SATS coming up but SATS- just what does this acronym mean? Is it ‘Simple Addition Tests Sanity’ or ‘Severely Analyse The Schoolchildren’?

Apparently it actually it means ‘Standard Assessment Tests’ but since their phased introduction starting in 1991, they have become far more than something that can be described as ‘standard’, to the point that nowadays, only the year 6 SATS remain, with KS1 and KS3 tests having been archived to the bad memory file. But despite the science SAT being dropped for our current  11 year olds, it seems that for year 6 students, these tests are definitely here to stay. And with this years SATS (2016) being more rigorous than ever before, just how do we reassure our children that they are nothing to get their knickers, or indeed boxer shorts, in a twist about?

Whether we like it or not, year 6 is a hugely important year in terms of education for our children. We are not talking particularly in terms of academic results, but more as it is the end of an era, and as those parents who have witnessed a primary leaver’s assembly will vouch for, as they all leave for secondary school, your children do go through their own emotional trauma with the overwhelming and very genuine tears to match, and as much as they will miss seeing their friends every day, a lot of the upset is also anxiety about what happens next. Suddenly after being the oldest at school, they will now be the youngest again, but also the way that they work is about to change dramatically. And the point of me telling you this? As much as it is good to protect them from worrying about SATS, actually some anxiety may be healthy and help to prepare them for the next stage in their educational life.

This also neatly leads into the point that going forward to GCSE’s, qualifications matter when it comes to our children’s future employability chances. The government are placing increasing importance on all of the current youth generation having a qualification in Maths and English and very definitely this can help our kid’s chances of getting a job in an increasingly tough job market. So getting our children used to taking tests can be seen as a good thing. The cleverest of children can get the worst exam grades simply as they are not skilled in taking exams and as harsh as that is, it is reality. My daughter is a Maths whizz but I can see her already becoming anxious about the SATS (which is made worse by the fact that they fall on her birthday week!)

But we can’t forget that SATS are for 11 year olds, and at that age, kids are still very much kids. With hormones starting to whizz around their bodies at a rapid rate, they are very susceptible to panic and stress. However, the biggest reason for children getting anxious about SATS is more often or not the fact that parents are putting them under pressure to do well.  Whether due to their greater importance historically, or parents inevitably comparing their child’s results with others in their class, we are most definitely prone to getting the whole darn thing way out of proportion. We have talked about tutoring recently and how this additional support has been good but I am always conscious not to pile the pressure and try to down play the fact that they are measuring ability!

As such, my plan is to treat the SATS week just like any other school week. If she is worried, I am just going to play the whole thing down but being mindful that a little bit of stress can enhance performance. If she wants to revise and do extra work, I will let her – it can never be a bad thing. But I plan to give her something to look forward to at the end of the week, like a takeaway or sleepover with friends. Hopefully this will let her know that I understand without making a huge deal out of it.

Fingers crossed!

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