Anyone else got kiddies doing the tests this week?!!!

Some parents seem to be taking them very seriously, infact one mum kept her kid off school yesterday to prime him

Wonder how WA will compare to the rest of Oz... am I right in thinking this is the first year the results will be published for WA?

Any teachers out there who have opinions on how valuable these tests are?

Any parents who have a child that tells them about today... please let me know as my lad will undoubtedly say "I can't remember" when I ask him how it went

My daughter is in year 7. She had 2 English ones today lasted about 45 mins each. She said it was quite hard, but has never really enjoyed English that much, Maths is more her thing.
I think as a parent putting pressure on them is unhelpful , Just make sure they have a good nights sleep and a bit of breakfast and wish them luck ! They can only do there best after all

Nicky

Couldn't agree more

Really I wish they wouldn't test kids so young. We haven't made a fuss, and he didn't seem stressed.... infact he was virtually horizontal. Its the fuss other parents make that causes me to stress

My daughter had the english one today (Year 7). She found them both ok. Think the numeracy ones are tomorrow and Thursday. I've told her as long as she does her best I'll be happy. No point getting them all uptight.

Ann

Is it just year 7 in WA then? I've never heard of these tests.

Nope. Years 3,5,7 and 9.

And what's the betting it's an English mum who's had an older child do SATS at a competitive school in the UK . A primary in my old town became hysterical about the year 2 SATS, - kids crying from pressure, and the Year 6 ones were even worse. They always got high results but very unhappy kids, very pushy parents and the school would ignore the 'thickos' or normal kids as I like to call them, in fact one mother was asked to keep her year 2 child at home that day as he would pull the scores down. Thankfully the mum did. He never went back

Is this a one off thing, or is it leading to a yearly event? I do hope not.

I think it's a yearly test in those grades.

It was an aussie mum actually, but she's pretty weird

In the UK school my lad was at 10 kids ran out of the SATS test in a panic (or mass protest I liked to call it!). He was just in yr 1 so wasn't involved but it caused a huge stir.

my son did his today also, the school gets them to practise the week before but there is no pressure put on them at all, they are told just to chill out and do their best.

My Daughter did her Sats in year 6 in the U.K, loads of pressure put on her. Then she came here in year 7 and had to do them over here. Totally different, no pressure at all, very laid back. What was quite scary was that she said quite a lot of the stuff had not been covered in school here she just knew it from the U.K
Tracie

No surprises there

My son's teacher has chosen this week to have dental treatment and is away every day

I always told my kids that they didn't have to worry about sats because they were testing the school not the children

So in effect the teacher is saying to the kids 'don't worry, don't stress, just a few tests, and I can't give you the answers anyway'? Sorry, just playing devils advocate

I think it might be interesting to see how the States compare - I have the impression that Qld education is behind that in Victoria so am interested to see if that comes out in the test results. My daughter (yr 5) was a little bit nervous before but came out from school quite relaxed - I think good teachers/parents will ensure kids don't get too stressed -

I am a Deputy Head of English at a private school in Brisbane, and I've got to say that these tests are just a snapshot in time really. They reflect the performance of the kids who sit them on a certain day, that's all. Sadly, this is what happens when you leave education in the hands of politicians!