A Parent’s Guide to
Key Stage Two SATs
(Statutory Assessment Tests)
Aims of this presentation
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To understand what the Year 6 children will
be tested on and to explore the format of the
tests
To understand the role of Teacher Assessment
To understand what the levels mean
To explain how parents can help and support
their children
What do SATs tests show?
The idea of the SATs is to show what
pupils have learnt and retained during Key Stage 2.
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The tests help teachers to learn more about the
strengths and weaknesses of what your child
understands about a subject.
They provide a ‘snapshot’ of a child’s attainment
at the end of a Key Stage.
Each child is awarded a level in English (Reading,
Writing, Punctuation, Spelling and Grammar)
and Mathematics.
SATs Levels
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The Government expects most children to
gain a Level 4 in Reading, Writing, Maths and
Science by the end of Year Six.
However, for some children, achieving
Level 3 is a real success.
A child achieving Level 5+ is working at a
high level.
Can my child fail a SATs
test?
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It is important that children understand they
are not going to 'pass' or 'fail' the test – it will
just show what they have learned and what
they can do. The testing is just to show what
your child has been achieved throughout Key
Stage 2.
What are the children tested on?
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The children are tested on all of the work they have
covered in Key Stage Two in English, and Maths. These
tests allow the children to achieve an overall level within
a 3 to 5 boundary.
Externally marked level 6 tests are also available to
schools to administer to those pupils considered to be
eligible.
What form will the tests take?
English Reading = 1 hour duration to read a booklet and answer
questions
Grammar; Punctuation; spelling =45 minutes short
answer paper + 20 spellings
Mental Maths = 20 minutes
Maths paper 1 = 45 minutes
Maths paper 2 = 45 minutes
There is no test paper for Writing. The level
awarded will be based upon ONGOING teacher
assessment.
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Tests will be taken in the familiar environment of the Year 6
classrooms for the majority of the children.
New for 2014
For the first time ever, the second Maths
Paper (traditionally known as Paper B) will be a noncalculator paper. In the past ‘Paper B’ allowed the children
to use calculators and questions were targeted to test
calculator skill.
This year, ‘Paper 2’ will be a more ‘problem solving’ based
paper but as yet no examples have been released.
This year the Reading Paper is NOT themed.
In the past, all of the reading material was grouped around
a theme, wolves, The Plague, water etc.
This year there will be a selection of unrelated reading items
for the children to answer questions on.
SATS Week Timetable
Date
Tests
Monday 12 May
Levels 3-5 English reading test (ALL
CHILDREN)
Level 6 English reading test (some
children)
Tuesday 13 May
Levels 3-5 English grammar, punctuation
and spelling test (ALL CHILDREN)
Level 6 English grammar, punctuation
and spelling test
Wednesday 14 May
Levels 3-5 mental mathematics test
(ALL)
Levels 3-5 mathematics Paper 1 (ALL)
No level 6 tests timetabled for this day
Thursday 15 May
Levels 3-5 mathematics Paper 2 (ALL)
Level 6 mathematics Paper 1
Level 6 mathematics Paper 2
PLEASE – Do NOT book holidays or appointments for this week!
WRITING SATs
Mr Simpson and Mrs Clarke award a final level for
writing based on an ongoing assessment of KS2 work. This
includes day to day class writing across all subjects and
homework tasks. This avoids a judgement being made on a
‘one off’ performance. It also means that the children are
aware of the requirements of Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5
writing and should be striving to be their best at ALL times!
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A sample of schools are chosen each year to be
‘moderated’ to ensure that teachers are judging levels
accurately.
Maths and Reading are still being sent away for external marking.
English (Reading)
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The children have 1 hour to read a story or poem and
some information writing and then to answer questions
about the texts. Some are tick-boxes and for others they
need to write a few phrases to answer (it doesn't have to
be in sentences).
The questions range from the literal (who does what,
when) to the deductive (where, for example, they have
to work out how someone is feeling from what they say).
Your child will be encouraged to justify their answers for
some questions.
Pupils often need to back up their ideas with evidence
from the text, to fully support their answer.
No adult assistance can be given during this test.
English grammar, punctuation
and spelling
The level 3-5 test will assess children’s
 abilities in the following technical aspects of
English:
 grammar;
 punctuation;
 spelling;
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Examples
Circle all the adverbs in the sentence below.
Open the drawers carefully and quietly when using the
filing cabinet.
Add a suffix to this word to make an
adjective.
dread ______________
Underline the subordinate clause in each
sentence below. One has been done for
you.
Although his Mum thought they were very smart, Peter
disliked his new trousers.
Before he could go swimming, Ali packed his towel.
Complete the sentence below with a
contraction that makes sense.
If you give me the recipe____________
buy the ingredients on the way home.
Mathematics
There are three tests:
The mental test (20%)
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Paper 1 -no calculator allowed (40%)
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Paper 2 – NO calculator allowed (40%)
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Some children who need questions read to them, or
whose writing is hard to read (and need a helper to write
it for them) can be given extra time in these tests.
Mathematics
A few questions for you to try....
3.99
5.99
6.99
_____
16.97
16.97
14.50
_____
2.47
2.47
Mental Test
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The third paper is on mental skills.
Children are played a tape of 20 questions,
and given either 5, 10 or 15 seconds to
answer them on a prepared sheet.
What information do parents get
and when?
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Maths and Reading Test papers are sent to external
markers and will arrive, marked, back in school early in
July.
Schools then check the results and papers to ensure there
are no errors. Sometimes papers are sent for re-marking.
We, as a school, must inform parents of SATs results by the
end of the school year in July.
Parents receive test and teacher assessment levels for
English, maths and science.
Parents are given the overall school results as a percentage.
These are compared to the previous year’s national figures.
What information do the
Academies receive?
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We will transfer information to all relevant academies
Data is transferred by computer, but we will have
opportunities to liaise with the Academies to transfer
‘human’ information.
This includes name, date of birth, unique pupil number,
Key Stage 1 SATs results, Year 6 teacher assessments, and
Key Stage 2 SATS results.
Academies have this information by July, which helps
them to group children and provide necessary support.
Other information and data is used by the academies.
Setting is NOT based on SATS results alone.
How we are helping your child at
Haylands
As well as the Quality First teaching that you would expect....
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Booster sessions to bridge the gaps for some children
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Opportunities to write with guidance from a teacher followed by
opportunities to write independently in order to show what they
know!
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Readers and scribes during the tests for some children.
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Breakfast on the days of the test! To ensure that the children are in
school on time and feeling settled, we will be serving breakfast in
the school hall.
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We will be allowing the children to come to school in casual clothes
during SATS week. This allows us to have a programme of ‘fun’
activities for the afternoons. It also helps to put a more positive
‘spin’ on the week!
How you can help at home
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Encourage your child positively, without putting too much pressure on
him/her. The tests are not an eleven plus! A child does not fail SATs.
Support with homework – provide a quiet place for work, encourage
your child to do their best – not just enough to get by! Homework tasks
are a part of the assessment evidence.
Do make occasional use of revision guides and websites to support your
child’s learning. BBC Bitesize, Woodlands Junior and Mathszone are all
good.
Read with your child, discussing the content and choice of words the
author has made.
PLEASE do regular times table practice
Although we want the children to take these tests seriously, we do not
want to put any unnecessary pressure on them. Playing is important children should not be stopped from living their lives as normal during
test week.
However – a good night’s sleep is vital, so please encourage sensible
bedtimes.
Thank you for coming this
afternoon
Are there any questions?