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Year 6 sats

Funnygirl

Hi, I have just had a conversation with the SENCO at my son's school. They are considering having him excused from his Sats as they feel the stress and anxiety may be too much. My son did some mock sats last year and did ok. However I know the pressure is huge this year. Although I don't mind him not doing them I am concerned he will feel even more different and get really upset. He has a strong sense of being different and hates it. He has a diagnosis of Autism and ADHD. Further are there any consequences of him not doing them? Just wanted to hear people's thoughts and experiences. Many thanks. 

  • From an educational perspective, there is no need for him to do the year 6 sats (I work for a Local Authority in the School Improvement Team). The main reason for the sats is to judge the schools' ability to ensure all their pupils make progress and compare standards achieved, it's not the only way that your son's abilty will be shared with you or other educational specialists: his secondary school will still be given his "teacher assessment" grades in each subject of reading, writing and maths, so your son won't be disadvantaged in the sense that his next school will have no idea what his abilities are. 

    The question is really a psychological one: is your son ready to face the stress of being in exam conditions, is he ready to face the uncertainty of the result (which could potentially be stressful if he does less well than his friends)? But similarly, is he ready to be one of the only children to NOT be taking the sats in his class or year group?

    As his parent, you (or your son) are best placed to answer those questions, along with guidance from the school about how they plan to administer the tests (i.e. can your son be in a room on his own, will he be given a break?)

    I hope this helps.

  • Thank you for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it. Definitely given me something to think about. Thank you. 

  • If he has a strong sense of being different and hates it then he ought to be encouraged to do them.  I too suffer from hating to be different at times. I did level two adult numeracy and without checking with me, some misguided tutor thought I would do better if I had a one-to-one maths exam.  I actually hated it and would have walked out in 5 minutes but was too scared so sat there and pretended to work through the paper. I would have been far happier if allowed to do it the same time as every else. This was only the other year. I failed level two conseqently, Stress of only one in the exam room doesn't begin to describe it and am used to exams via university etc so why they thought I be happier one-to-one. It was so misguided of them.   He would feel too keenly he not done them because of his condition.  There is no reason why the school shouldn't be able to arrange for him to sit them away from the others if he is presssured by the whole atmosphere. But there is no reason why he shouldn't do them and be allowed to 'join in' and considered like the others for having done them.   But find out from him if you can what he is thinking and what he may like.  I think school might be a bit misguided if he didn't do them at all..... Hope this helps