What years are your children in bouncy sats are in year 2 and year 6 in primary school

yeah thats the one, year 2 and 6. Cant believe it....

year2 sats normally go on throughout May and your child may be able to still sit them when he/she gets back as I dont believe they are externally marked. year 6 is different . this year they are being sat mon 14- fri 18th may and If they miss them they will be marked as absent . They are obviously important but more for the schools benefit than your child. the year six results will be forwarded on to the secondary school but im sure they could forward on other assessment results if the worst came to the worst. dont think the school will be very happy though
could you change your holiday dates if necessary??

lyn

looked into changeing dates, worked out very expensive. gotta bite the bullet. There both very bright kids so no major concerns. School going to go mad!! dreading it a bit.

brave girl get ready for the fine

Back in May 2000 my daughter missed her KS1 (Year 2) SATs because I'd booked a holiday thinking the exams were later in the month She did the tests on her own with one of the qualified classroom assistants when we got back. The school were a little bit funny about it but I didn't really see the point of making a big fuss over tests for a 7 year old which were only for the school's benefit anyway.
Since then I've always made sure I know what dates the tests are before I plan anything. I recently had to re-schedule an important hospital appointment for daughter because it clashed with her KS3s (she's 14 now - how time flies...) and the hospital were a bit sniffy about this, so you can't win 'em all and I absolutely point blank refused to take the school's big SATs Easter Revision Pack on our Easter holiday (a holiday which had cost me a lot of money compared to a holiday in term time, but that's another issue - sorry, off topic, not going there again...) If the school can't fit everything in during term time, that's their problem...
The KS2s are fairly important though! The results go forward to the secondary school and in a lot of cases help the new school decide which "sets" each child should go into, although my own kids' school pretty much ignores them and does their own exams at the beginning of Year 7.
It may be expensive to change your holiday to just after the SATs as this will be coming into the Whit half-term, but have you tried pricing up for after the half-term, say mid June? The prices often drop just after half term. School still won't like it but at least you've cleared exam time.

I'm a teacher. In secondary.

The SATs are a pain from every point of view. Your child's teacher and school will not be best pleased with this especially if your child is expected to get decent levels in the tests (level 5). Instead of 5s he/she will be recorded as a zero. This will affect the schools position in the league tables and give the Head ulcers Not really a problem academically as the knowledge will still be in his/her head. However the levels generated at KS2 are used by the DfES to generate expected levels for KS3 and KS4 (GCSE). You must make sure that although your child will not have any KS2 levels that the Primary school makes sure that the secondary school knows what levels he'she should have got as these will most likely be used to decide which teaching set he/she gets put into.

It's not the end of the world, it won't make any difference to the teachers but it will sure as hell annoy all those bean counters and statisticions they abound in the education system.

Hi, when our first child was in year 2 i'd done the same, booked a weeks hol in May. Didn't know anything about SATS then. She just did a few of her tests on her own, not really a big deal.

Year 6 is different. I know when mine did them, there was no way you could do them on any other day as all the schools in the area do the same paper on the same day. This is to avoid kids telling other kids what the questions are.

So we've always tried to go around June time. We've got a holiday this year, going in four weeks time, but next year is another story. Got our eldest starting in yr 10, so now we've got GCSE coursework to think about and early exams next June

As its all booked then i'd just go and have a lovely holiday, at the end of the day, some kids are off ill and miss SATS tests. I think a lot of these results are more for the schools league tables.

It's not the end of the world, it won't make any difference to the teachers but it will sure as hell annoy all those bean counters and statisticions they abound in the education system

My opinion exactly!

We have a pre-SATs (KS3) parents evening this week and I know they're going to ask why daughter didn't do any of her revision during our Easter holiday in Fuerteventura. My reply will be simple:
1. Whatever you can't teach them during term time really isn't my concern, I've "done my bit" by sending her in for the whole term
2. When my daughter is 18-19 and going for a job, nobody will want to know how she got on in her KS3s...

Obviously, I'll make sure she does the "big push" for her GCSEs in the next couple of years, because, in my opinion, they're what's important to her and not to the school

Good luck breaking the news to the school

thanks people, feel bit better now. Have looked at all the options and it all works out just over thousand pound dearer which we cannot afford. Fingers crossed it will all be ok.

i thought that...they have enough going on when there older, GCSE's, learning to drive, A levels, House buying and it can go on let alone when there 7 and 11 years old. At least i send them to school i suppose more than some people in this country do. Feel loads better now!! HA.

Well with our holiday this year we had to apply to all three schools for time off for the kids. Two of the schools have been lovely and authorised the time off. The one school has told us the 8 days will be unauthorised.

I think the days missed will be spent much better having time with the family and exploring new places. My kids hardly ever have any time off and we can't all afford summer holiday prices.

We don't have SATS this year, but do have assessment weeks which I have tried to avoid, wanted to book up for next year but as I posted earlier, daughter will be in yr 10 and looking at what this years yr10 are up to, it looks like they have extra lessons afterschool during May/early June ready for tests later in June, plus they have days out covering course work.

So taking on board that it gets more difficult as they get older, I'd grab the holidays you can have with the kids when they are younger.

We go to Bulgaria on 25th May, however my sons Sats are that week.(year 5)

However the teachers have kindly let him squeeze the work into 4 days so we can travel on the friday. They will keep him behind on thursday for 2 hours, as the friday work load isnt that much.

my 7 yr old has her sats this month and i wouldnt have hesitated taking her off at this stage as i dont agree that 7 year olds should do these ,think its crazy at this age and really only benefits the school, shes really bright and in the top set anyway,but i think year 6 is more important but i wouldnt worry about it, im always taking ellie out of school for hols infact ive gone over my holiday allowance this year and taking her anyway as far as im concerned most of the holidays i take her on are educational and im lucky that we have a good head master that is on the parents side regarding holidays with the TO putting prices up so much in the school holidays

I think if it is year 5 they are the optional tests. The tests can be taken when the school chooses and they are not externally marked.

My son is in year four and will miss his sats. The teacher has said they will use his work for the year as an assesment, but like another poster has said at 8 yearold there is more to life than sat's which at this time are only of benefit to the schools grades and not the childs. I don't agree with them any way, stuff like this fased me when I was at comp, god knows what goes through the minds of primary kids

I work in a primary school and was asked by a few of the parents of children in year 6 if i could check with the local secondary school as to what happens if their children had not taken the SATS.The secondary school stated that the children would be classed as having got a 'W',meaning they are working towards the lowest level.They also stated that the ability groups are set using the SATS and that the children would not be retested until after christmas.They insisted that even if a child had been expected to get a level 5 they would be put in the bottom set until the retesting was done regardless of any other teacher assessment ,reports etc that the primary school might send them.Obviously each school/local education have their own rules but i would ring the local secondary school to check what policies they have regarding this.

I think the National curriculum needs to be scrapped and replaced with something more child centred which caters for all abilities. IMO putting pressure on children to achieve the target levels at such a young age is wrong. Some child experts have said that they think the pressure put on children to achieve levels/targets that they might not be capable of has contributed to the sharp increase in children developing emotional problems. I think revision packs for 11 year olds is so wrong and you've done the right thing by not ruining your daughter's holiday by making her revise. Why can't children be children. I can remember doing coursework on holiday the February half term of year 11, took as little as possible though, sat out on the balcony doing it in the sunshine. I don't mind end of year exams in secondary schools as children need to get used to exam conditions before the GCSE's. I left school in 1993 so was the last year that didn't do National Curriculum. I know that for me the National Curriculum would have been disastrous.

You only have the 'National Tests' commonly known as SATs in years 2,6 and 9. In all other years they are not National tests but are ones done optionally by the school. The SATs in yrs 6 and 9 take place all over England (Wales had the good sense to chuck them out and Scotlland never had them in the first place) on the same day. If you miss them then there is no other chance to take them. The yr 2 tests can be taken at a time of the school's choosing.

No sensible teacher will give a rats @ss about a kid missing them. A few Heads will though!