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The new, tougher SATS are here to stay (for now at least) and the MagiKats revision programmes - completely re-written last year for the new requirements – are back! One of the key requirements of the new standards is that pupils are expected to be able to use reasoning to do well. That’s great news for any MagiKats student, as reasoning is part of every workshop. What is crucial to our students undergoing this tougher curriculum is locating the right information and being able to explain what they’ve found. To meet these demands the new MagiKats revision programmes are now running in all our local workshops.

• We think it is important to start revising students in examination groups right now.
• We’ve come up with some creative ways to ensure core skills are placed inside critical thinking-style questions.
• We’re helping everyone get-to-grips with new ways questions are being asked and the style of answer that is needed for success.

Filling gaps in learning

Every child will have a blank spot somewhere that makes a part of the curriculum harder than it needs to be. As every MagiKats student has their own, individual programme, we can look for and fill those gaps. Each child receives a combination of activities in Maths and English, a variety of question papers, and one-to-one mentoring in every workshop. Fun activities and focused revision materials offer students a solid opportunity to fill gaps in learning – and enjoy the process.

Coping with different question-types and wordings

In our workshops, mentors find that lower marks can often be put down to a lack of practice or meeting something important only once, or in one way. This leads to students being confused when a question is worded differently. We know important concepts get missed sometimes. Tutoring sessions with our mentors cover all curriculum areas – and students are always relieved when a gap is identified and filled.

Identifying areas for extra support

Feedback from both our mentors and the students themselves at each session identify gaps - including the “sticky” areas students often say they’d like to revise.  We tailor our programmes for individual learning and we don’t just teach to the tests. This is an important part of our approach to learning at MagiKats – building confidence across the board and not just practising to the test.

Who can study the New Revision Programmes?

We’re offering the Maths and English programmes to our more experienced students who’ve been with us a while and enjoy the challenge of learning that stretches them. If your child is not yet studying at MagiKats, then you can enquire today by visiting www.magikats.co.uk/find-a-centre to see if there are any spaces left in your local workshops.

From the team at MagiKats HQ

More about the SATS papers:

You might have read up on this already, so I’ve only included a brief summary and our response to it. If you’d like more details or to discuss your child’s progress please feel free to find your local centre at www.magikats.co.uk/find-a-centre and give them a call. They would love to hear from you.

English Reading Paper: reading booklet and reading answer booklet

The paper concentrates on reading unseen texts and answering comprehension-style questions. We’ve introduced a topic-based comprehension unit.

English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Papers 1 and 2

Both papers focus on knowing and applying grammatical terminology and the full range of punctuation. We’ve introduced a Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar Revision Unit to cover gaps in learning related to the paper guidance materials.

Mathematics Paper 1: Arithmetic

We’ve added a new arithmetic using no calculators revision unit.

Mathematics Papers 2 and 3: Reasoning

Various question combinations including arithmetic reasoning, mental calculation, number sense, geometric reasoning, word sums and spatial reasoning practice.

*Source: 2018 Assessment and reporting arrangements (ARA)