What are KS2 SAT’s?
- Standard Assessment Tests
- All children have to be tested before they go to high school
- Provide assessment information for high schools
- Purpose – to assign National Curriculum levels to children before they leave primary school
What is Teacher Assessment?
- Teacher assessment is now used to level writing. There is only a test for grammar and punctuation aspect
- Teacher assessment draws together everything the teacher or teachers know about a child, including observations, marked work and school assessments
- Teacher assessment is not a ‘snapshot’ like tests and is therefore more reliable
- There can be a difference between teacher assessment results and test levels
- Teacher assessment is used for children who work below level 3 (children who don’t do the SATs) in maths and reading
How is SATs Week Organised?
- A timetable is issued to school, telling us on which days/sessions tests must be administered
- All children must sit the tests at the same time
- Test papers can only be opened 1 hour before the tests begin
- Tests are completed in classrooms, with any displays that may help covered over
- Some children will have special arrangements in order to access the test
English SATs
English SATs consist of:
- A reading test
- A grammar, punctuation and spelling test
- Teacher assessment of a variety of writing
Reading
- 15 minutes to read the reading booklet
- 45 minutes to answer questions. Children are allowed to refer to the reading booklet during this time
- There are a variety of different questions to be answered in different ways
- Children cannot have any adult help in this test
Reading Question Types
- Literal – answer is there in the text
- Deductive – look for clues
- Inferential – read between the lines
- Authorial intent – e.g. why does an author use a particular word
How Can Parents Help with Reading?
- Ensure your child reads every night!
- Encourage them to read fiction and non-fiction.
- Try to listen to your child read and ask them questions about the text.
- Help them with the different skills of reading especially ‘skim’ reading where they are looking for key words in the text.
- Speed reading
- Reading homework
- Encourage a love of reading!
Writing SATs
Writing SATs consist of:
- A number of pieces of writing from throughout the year are assessed to inform the final level
- One third of schools are visited by the Local Authority to moderate that writing has been assessed accurately
How can Parents Help With Writing?
- Again, reading a variety of texts – the more children read, the more familiar they become with different text types.
- Reading homework – text analysis
- Writing homework
- Grammar and punctuation homework
- Encourage writing for enjoyment
Grammar and Punctuation
Introduced in 2103, the Government brought in grammar, punctuation and spelling test to ‘assesses your child’s English’.
Skills in four key areas in Year 6:
- Spelling
- Vocabulary
- Punctuation
- Grammar
The test will take approximately one hour to complete.
The results of the test are reported separately to the overall English level.
Mathematics
Mathematics SATs consist of:
- A written arithmetic paper (1)
- Two written test papers (2&3)
- Calculators are no longer permitted in any of the maths tests.
Completing the Maths Test
- Some questions are worth one mark and therefore accuracy is important
- Other questions are worth two marks and even if the answer is wrong, a mark may be given for correct working
- Teachers may read questions in both written papers to pupils if asked
How Can Parents Help with Maths?
- Support with homework – not just helping with the Maths but reading the question can really help
TIMES TABLES!!!
- Help your child to check their work through – this will help them to spot mistakes that can sometimes be easily fixed
- Encouraging your child to complete the maths study guide
How Can Parents Help?
- The best help is interest taken in learning and progress
- Supporting with homework
- Support with completing SATs study guides
- Good communication between the school and home
- Getting a good sleep on a school night!
- Provide your child with bottled water for the test
Useful Websites
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/sats/index.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/
http://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/online_rev/ks2_choice.asp
Links to Test Papers and Mark Schemes
English SATs papers and mark schemes:
http://satspapers.org/englishKS2SATS.htm
Maths SATs papers and mark schemes:
