As children head back to primary school, talk pretty soon turns to Year 6 SATs, the Standard Assessment Tests which your child will take at the beginning of the summer term.

Many schools invite parents to a meeting this term to discuss what’s involved but they don’t all do that. You may also find that some parents will have already bought revision books and will tell you SATs are really important. Whereas others will be taking a more relaxed approach and will tell you SATs don’t matter at all. All of which can be fairly confusing for parents and their children alike as they receive these conflicting messages.

However, perhaps the most important things to do are to firstly make sure both you and your child understand what is involved when it comes to Year 6 SATs and why. Then your mission should be to make sure that your child feels confident, comfortable and relaxed both in the months ahead, and when the time comes!

WHAT ARE YEAR 6 SATS?

SATs are formal tests. They perform two roles: they evaluate your child's progress and help measure the school’s performance. Your child will sit at least six tests, two for each of the following subjects:

• English grammar, punctuation and spelling

• English reading

• Mathematics

Each test takes between 20 to 60 minutes and will normally be taken over the course of a week. Some children may also have to take a science test.

The results may be passed on to your child’s secondary school for when they start there in September. You will also be given the results, usually towards the end of the summer term.

HOW DO THEY WORK? 

Your child’s performance is compared with the standard expected from an average child of the same age. Your child will get a score of between 80 and 120. 100 is the expected standard. Your child cannot fail and will not have to retake them if they get a low score.

What will my child be tested on?

SATs test your child’s skills in English and maths, focusing on grammar, spelling, punctuation, comprehension, arithmetic and reasoning.

How important are SATs?

Although many parents will tell you that SATs are not important and that your child will be retested when they get to secondary school, as the first formal test your child will sit, they are significant.

If nothing else, SATs should build your child’s confidence. When they get to secondary school, they’ll take lots more tests, so you want their first experience to be a positive one.

What’s more, whatever your views, your child will be very aware of their results and they will probably also talk to their friends about how they did. If your child doesn’t think they’ve done well, it can really knock their confidence and self-belief, just as they approach secondary school. You may tell them that the tests are a measure of their school’s performance but that is unlikely to be mean much to a child whose scores show they’re below average, even if it’s only by the smallest amount.

On a more practical level, the SATs results will identify any areas where your child may need support over the summer in preparation for their new school and will often help your child’s secondary school decide which sets your child should be in and that can set the tone for their secondary school years.  

The best way to prepare for Year 6 SATs

As we’ve mentioned already, they key is to ensure your child is confident and relaxed. You almost certainly won’t achieve that by lots of last-minute cramming during the Easter holidays or by forcing your child to do nightly revision for months on end.

However, you should also bear in mind, that if your child has done nothing to prepare for their SATs, they may lose confidence in their own ability (particularly if they know their friends have been revising). So, it’s really important to get the balance right.

The school’s involvement 

Your child’s school will normally start helping the Year 6 pupils with their SATs in January, but every school has a different approach. Some will start earlier and put a lot of focus on SATs, other schools will take a much more relaxed approach. Just because their teachers are not talking about SATs, doesn’t mean they are not helping your child with the required skills but if you have any doubts, speak to your child’s teacher. Find out how they’re getting on and how you can help.

Helping at home

As with most of your child’s education, there are always things you can do at home to help. Encourage your child to read and write. If they’re a reluctant reader, try and find just 10 minutes a day to read with them.  Talk about what they’ve read. Ask them to explain the plot and describe the characters.

Practise maths throughout the day. Encourage them to work out the change you should receive when you’re shopping. Ask them to divide things and weigh or measure things. In fact, ask them to help you with the many simple calculations you probably do in your head every day.

Get a little extra help

It’s no secret that trying to do revision with your child at home can be time consuming, difficult and stressful. In order to help them, you’ve got to understand how things are taught these days and what they will be tested on. And how often have you looked at their homework and realised that you couldn’t do it or don’t understand it!

Then there’s the battle to get your child to do their revision in the first place, tempers getting frayed and the days, weeks or months when you just don’t seem able to have five minutes to spare to sit down with them. All of which are perfectly reasonable and common family issues. 

Enrol them with MagiKats

We have a thorough understanding of what your child needs to know and do for their Year 6 SATs, and this includes making sure they are fluent in maths and English and can show reasoning and critical analysis. These are concepts which aren’t always easy for parents to explain and teach at home but are an important part of the tests.

We also tailor the tuition to suit your child, so that if they struggle with one particular aspect, we can focus on that. And your child will be supported by our mentors, who will teach, encourage and reward them – all of which takes the pressure off you!

Our English, maths and reasoning tuition is hands on and practical. We don’t just ask them to work through test papers – we make it interactive and fun! Yes, fun! Done in a workshop style, it doesn’t feel like hard work to the children, but it does help them develop all the necessary skills – and a few more!

Don’t leave it until it’s too late  

Whatever you do, don’t ignore SATs or leave revision to the last minute because that won’t help your child. The sooner you start gently preparing your child, the more confident and relaxed your child will be.  And that’s the key to success.

If you have any questions about Year 6 SATs, why not contact your local MagiKats centre and ask them how they can help or alternatively, enrol them at your local workshop today!