English SATs
What does it mean for you and
your children?
What does SATs stand for?
Statutory Assessment Tasks and
Tests (also includes teacher
assessment).
Usually taken at the end of Key
Stage 1 (at age 7) and at the end of
Key Stage 2 (at age 11).
What level should children be at?
National expectation for the end of
Key Stage 2 is Level 4B.
Some children will still be at Level 3
and some children will achieve Level
5 or above.
A small percentage of children will
not yet be working at Level 3.
How are the children assessed?
For children working at Level 3 and above,
there are two sorts of assessments:
 Tests
Teacher assessments.
For children working below Level 3, the
only statutory assessment is teacher
assessment and those children do not take
the tests.
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Is teacher assessment used?
 In English, writing is assessed purely by teacher assessment and the
levels reported in June after the SAT exams so, even after the tests
are finished, children will still be working towards their writing
levels.
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When do these tests happen?
This year the tests dates will be from
the 11th - 15th May.
 It is a busy week for children and
staff alike.
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How is SATs’ week organised?
 The reading paper is on the morning of Monday 11th May
 The grammar paper is on the morning of Tuesday 12th May
 All children must sit the tests at the same time.
 Tests are completed in the hall, with some children who
need a more familiar environment in smaller groups. We try
to ensure that all children are properly supported and feel
secure.
 Any displays that may help are covered over.
 The LA monitor 10% of schools per year.
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ENGLISH
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Reading Comprehension
The reading test was changed in 2014. This
year, as last year, the texts in the levels 3-5
English reading booklet will not be linked by a
theme. The booklet will contain three or four
texts. The least demanding text will come first
with the following texts increasing in level of
difficulty.
Instead of being given 15 minutes reading
time and 45 minutes to answer the questions,
children will have a total of one hour to read
the texts and complete the questions at their
own pace.
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The reading answer booklet will comprise
approximately 35 to 40 questions (totalling 50
marks). The questions are:
Shorter closed response items (such as multiple
choice and matching questions)
shorter open response items
Longer open response items that require children
to explain and comment on the texts in order to
demonstrate a full understanding
Questions are worth 1, 2 or 3 marks
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Some examples of reading papers are on your tables.
Why don’t you try a few questions?
There are also examples of level 6 papers.
These require different skills. They are
hard and a challenge. Only a few children
will do these - if they feel confident
enough.
English grammar, punctuation and spelling
A new statutory test of English
grammar, punctuation and spelling
was introduced for children at the
end of Key Stage 2 from May
2013.
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The level 3-5 test assesses children’s
abilities in the following technical
aspects of English:
grammar
punctuation
vocabulary
spelling
We are currently sending children home
with grammar and spelling homework in
booklets to help them.
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Spelling
 Some children find spelling very difficult.
 At Catshill, as at most schools, spellings are
taught in spelling families where words are
grouped according to specific rules or patterns.
 In addition, certain harder sight rules have been
identified by the Government as words that all
children should know by 11!
 These are displayed on every classroom wall
and strategies for learning them are varied.
Examples:
Chief
Station
Immediately
Instructor
Awkward
Accommodation
Stopped
The main difficulty children find with the punctuation and spelling
tests (apart from the spelling!) is the technical terminology.
How many of these terms do you know?










Conjunction
Personal pronoun
Article
Preposition
Compound sentence
Noun
Proper noun
Adverb
Apostrophe
Inverted commas
Examples:
Circle all the adverbs in the sentence below.
1.
Open the drawers carefully and quietly
when using the filing cabinet.
2.
Add a suffix to this word to make an
adjective.
dread ______________
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Complete the sentence below with a
contraction that makes sense.
If you give me the recipe___________
buy the ingredients on the way home.
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 In which of the following is a question mark used
correctly?
 Tick one.
 “How were the pyramids made?” asked Rashid.
 “How were the pyramids made”? asked Rashid.
 “How? were the pyramids made” asked Rashid.
 “How were the pyramids made” asked Rashid?
 For each sentence, put a tick to show whether
the main clause or subordinate clause is
underlined.
Sentence
I have violin lessons, although I have not
been playing for very long.
If you want to improve, you must practise a lot.
I practise every weekend, even when it’s in the school
holidays.
Main
clause
Subordinate
clause
One actual answer.
 Write the correct singular or plural form in each space
below.
 One has been done for you.
 one table, three tables
 one present________________, four boxes
 one foot, a pair of ___socks__________________
 one sheep, a flock of ___sheeps____________
And for those of you with children in Year
5 it gets harder…
Fill in the gaps in the sentence below,
using the past progressive form of the
verbs in the boxes.
to play
While I ________________________in the park, my mum
to push
________________________my sister on the swing.
Your children will also need to know:
 Perfect and conditional tenses (modal verbs)
 The subjunctive
 Fronted adverbials
 Relative clauses
 Determiners
 Subordinating conjunctions
 Question tags
 To name but a few
However..
The new curriculum tests also test
grammar in context by asking questions
from a passage of writing.
It also requires punctuation and grammar
error correction in longer texts as well as
the traditional shorter questions.
It is hard – very hard!
What will we be doing in school?
Exam technique.
Practice papers.
Self assessment and analysis.
Book related topic base. Talk books!
10 minute grammar starters.
Boosters.
Reassurance and encouragement.
How can parents help?
The best help is interest taken in
learning and progress.
Attending meetings and parents’ evenings.
Supporting home learning.
Not putting children under too much pressure.
Ensuring children arrive for tests:
- in good time
- having had breakfast
- having gone to bed at a reasonable time
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More specifically:
how can you help in reading?
 Talk books!
 Reassurance and encouragement.
 Questions that always come up:
 Find and retrieve exact words and phrases
 Why does the author use this vocabulary?
 What effect does this have?
 Compare and contrast
 Read between the lines
 Text structures
And in SPAG?
 There are lots of SPAG internet games sites that
are fun to play such as:
 Zondle, BBC Skillwise and Bitesize and links
from Woodland’s Junior
 There are also a lot of word class song sites (not
world class – verbs and nouns etc). The children
love these. You Tube – Grammarheads.
Grammaropolis is one though it is very
American.
 Help them look for patterns in their spellings.
The booklets have different tips for learning at
the front. Encourage them to practise every day.
Thank you for your help!