Dreaded SAT’s week
This week signifies the end of 8 months of non stop SAT’s stress for our 10/11 year olds.
They have all the skills and the ability to do this, but its hard to remember this when the pressure is on.
As parents all we want is for our children to be happy and to succeed to the best of their abilities. But I can’t be alone in feeling like the pressure of SATS is too much for children of such a young age. It was the first thing F mentioned when he came home from school on his first day in year 6.
I know from first hand experience how difficult it is to cope with the pressure they are facing. My poor F has really struggled, he has been ill which is very out of character and has been struggling with sleeping.
He is a smart lad and has done well in his practice papers so I am not worried and I have constantly reassured him that ‘he’s got this’. But I can understand the fear that he must have given that there is so much emphasis on these exams.
We are all feeling it, I want to support him but it is tough, especially when he is smarter than me!
Maybe I should not have been so open with F when I told him that the SAT’s measure the school more than they assess him. But I think it is important for him to know this.
I won’t sit here and say that I do not agree with them but I do think that maybe they should be done much like an Ofsted inspection. Spot tested as such, they come in and test all the children in a less formal way. Children should have been taught all they need to pass the SAT’s from September anyway. It would make it a lot less pressured for children. But I am sure that is unlikely to ever happen.
Radio Times
Now as they face their fears, I have faced a fear I didn’t even know I had. I wrote a message to children taking their SAT’s and pre-recorded it for the local BBC radio station. I was not sure about doing it, no one really likes hearing their own voice. In fact when I hear my own voice I take a silent vow to never utter another word again!
Who knew recording for Radio would be so hard and so nerve-wracking! I am pretty sure I sucked, and in fact if I made the cutting room floor I think even that would be a privilege.
Injecting character in to a microphone seems like a simple thing to do but let me tell you it is not! I have a new found respect for anyone who works in radio.
Here it is, I’d love you to share this with your children this week, a little note to remind them it’s OK.
A letter to ‘our babies’
And as the week begins, the week you’ve been working towards since September, all of us parents want to remind you of a few things.
All those sums running through your brain don’t change how we feel about you in our hearts
Those spellings you’re repeating over and over to yourself, we would sound them out for you if we could.
The text you’re trying so hard to interpret, just remember that we are holding your hand while you read it.
The relief you’ll feel when it’s over, we feel it too.
We know you want to succeed, we all want it for you.
But when this week is over, we will love you just the same, we will be filled with pride and you should be too. Because no matter what, you’ve worked hard, you’ve stepped up and proved your ability regardless of the scores.
None of us are defined by the numbers we reach but by the determination we’ve shown, the effort we’ve put in and by our ability to work hard.
Good luck to all of those sitting their SATS this week, we are proud and we love you no matter what.
Take time to celebrate and unwind, summer is coming and you’ve worked hard to get there.
Summer’s coming
And once it’s all over, now it’s time to unwind, relax and put all this pressure to bed.
I plan on taking the boy out for dinner on Thursday night to celebrate the end of his exams and the wind down to the summer. And I am pretty sure that they won’t be doing much in the way of serious work between now and the end of the term.
Bigger things are coming for our babies….. High school! I get anxious just thinking about that, but hey one thing at a time.
How has your child coped with the pressure of exams? Do you have any top tips on surviving them? Will you be glad for them to be over as well?
I’m sure everybody who has been taking these exams are ready for the summer! I think constant encouragement works best when it comes to doing tests. They can be difficult to cope with, but having a good support system helps a lot with the nerves.
WOW! I do not miss SATs at all. Patience and not rushing is the best thing as well as a good night sleep. However, once it is done like you said it is time to unwind and get ready for summer!
Excited for Summer, bring it on. My son came home full of the joys of SAT’s and has gone in with a spring in his step this morning, I am glad the stress seems to have left him now 🙂
I’m wellllll past the age of doing my SATS now but trust me to be the person who actually enjoyed SATS week hahaha! I’m such an Hermione Granger. I didn’t get all A’s but I genuinely didn’t mind revising and taking exams. There was such a sense of achievement afterwards! Wishing yours the very best of luck!
Jenny
http://www.jennyinneverland.com
Thank you! I don’t even remember taking my SAT’s it was that long ago. I didn’t get worked up over my GCSE’s though, I just remember being relieved they were over!
My twins took there’s 5 years ago. It was a trauma which Rachel only reallly got over when she succeeded in her GCSE’s last year. The teacher favoured about half a dozen of the high flying kids.and the rest were made to feel that they weren’t as good. Stephen has Autism and the whole process was too much so he wasn’t entered for them.
Not everyone learns the same way and for me sats measure the wrong things.
Oh massively! I do really dislike the whole process. I’ll just be so glad when they are over.
I do hope though that my son will learn that things that cause us stress are not always as bad as we think they will be which is a good life lesson x
My daughter just started her GCSE exams today but last week she was so stressed she came home on the Thursday lunchtime crying so hard she couldn’t breathe. I kept her off on Friday and told the high school she was having a mental health day. I don’t even remember so much pressure being put on me when I sat my O Levels. They are far too stressed if you ask me!
Sarah 🌺 || Boxnip || Latest Post
I’m so sorry your daughter experienced that. I can’t remember giving a hoot about any exams, the results yes but not the exams. I know they were important and I worked hard but not like these poor children are being over worked now x
I remember my dreaded GCSE’s, A Levels and Uni exams! The stress was very, very real! There was so much pressure put on us to succeed, and half of it came from society as a whole, not from the school. I put myself under a lot of that pressure too because I didn’t want to be ‘the dumb one’ in the class. Looking back I shouldn’t have bothered, I should have just went with it because my intelligence can’t e measured in a 3-page essay about green spaces!
Encouragement and support is a must! I wish them all the luck in the world! xx
I don’t think I worried enough about my GCSE’s, thankfully I did well. But i feel the SAT’s pressure is too much too young, especially given the fact that the scores reflect on school more than the individual.
He actually loved it though!
I just wish they’d abolish the SATs. The children’s teachers know them best and are in a much better place to say how they are achieving rather than making them sit for a week taking exams in a very stressful environment. It’s not good for the children and its not good for the poor teachers either who are under pressure to get certain results.
I couldn’t agree with you more! We have the eleven plus looming and I’m constantly feeling conflicted about what and how much to do with my child. At the end of the day they are just children. Why do we put them under so much pressure so early on in life? It’s all about balance, but sadly I see so many parents who go crazy.
I’ve tried to be as relaxed as possible about it and do no work outside of school specifically for SATS because his whole year group have been having breakfast booster sessions, I feel that is enough given that it is all they do all day as well x
My oldest is in year 4 so is just starting to become aware of SATs and I’ve told him they are to test the school not him, I don’t care how well he does in them as long as they don’t stress him out!
What a beautiful, well-written message. Well done you! I’m sure you made lots of children feel so much better. And now you’re a celebrity too! Xx
Well they’ve not played it yet!! So cutting room floor it is! Thank you so much for your kind words 💕
What a wonderful letter of encouragement! I don’t have to deal with those specific tests here in US but son gets very stressed about any sort of test or quiz so this is really helpful.
Thank you so much for your kind words x
Awww … we are not there yet, but I’m already dreading it. My daughter is a worrier. Thanks for sharing this. I’m going to pin for the future! #itsok
It’s a scary time but constant reassurance is they key 😘
This is a brilliant post. We are still in reception, but I’ve seen friends and their kids stress over 11+ and SATS, and it is just too much pressure for such young children. But as long as they know the results do not define them as individuals, and it doesn’t suck the life out of them, it’s fine – good luck and great post. Thanks for sharing with #itsok.
Thank you so much. I feel that it is a great skill for children to learn that life is tough at times but that they are able to cope with it. But it’s just too much to young x
Oh, my word! Sounds like the worst day ever! Good luck in making it through the week, and what a beautiful message to your children! Knowing that they have your support and a good reminder that you have their back! Thanks for sharing #itsok
[…] This is the moment F has been talking about since September last year! We had all been dreading it, sleepless nights, tears and tantrums, and that was just me. But you can read more about my thoughts on SATs Here. […]
We are about to start preparing for GCSE’s next year, the pressure is a lot for them isn’t it, especially younger ones doing Sat’s. Lots of positive encouragement needed!
A huge amount. Good luck with the GCSE’s. I remember them as if they were yesterday x
I had 2 doing SATS this May, my son in year 2 and my daughter in year 6. My son was just told they were doing quizzes so he wasn’t phased at all. My daughter was so nervous about them, I told her she’d be awesome and all she could do was try her best,
There is way too much pressure in year 6. Seeing as SATs measure the schools teaching rather than the children themselves, I really think they should just scrap them
I totally agree, or they should be done very differently x
Exams can be such a stressful time for everyone but I think it’s just important to let your child know to just do their best.
That’s all we want for them isn’t it x
I am in Scotland so we have a slightly different schooling system, so no SATs. I’m sure we have our own set of assessments that cause just as much stress though
Oh I’m sure you do. It’s too much for these little brains x
Our son is six and I’m already dreading these…it seems like they create so much unnecessary pressure. Well done for doing a radio recording, that would terrify me!
It was genuinely terrifying and I am not sure I made the cut!
I do remember the SATs stress I endured but once I did them it wasn’t so bad after all.
Yeah my son skipped his way in to school each day once they actually arrived x
We don’t have SATs in Scotland, we have Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSAs) in literacy and numeracy in P1, P4, P7 and S3. Children take the assessments once during the school year. There is no set timetable and the assessments do not have to take place at a specific time of year: individual teachers and schools, decide when they will happen for each class and school. My P4 wasn’t even aware he was being tested.
That’s exactly how it should be. That’s a really great system x
[…] results! The day we’d been waiting for, despite trying not to sweat the SATS (see more here SAT’s week is here, Be strong!) I had been anxiously awaiting […]