We have been sent questions, given to year 2 children from supporters of our campaign. We wanted to republish these here to give those who are not currently parents of Year 2 children an idea of the jump in difficulty 6 and 7 year olds in England are having to try and cope with this year in the lead up to being tested in exam conditions soon.
These tests are not the same as they were last year!
As someone supporting our campaign to keep kids off school on 3rd May said “It’s a bit like teaching a ten year old to drive a car… they just aren’t ready for this yet!”
EDIT: There is also the following site with some examples of Year 2 2016 sample SATS papers and questions: http://www.satspapers.org.uk/Page.aspx?TId=4 with “Paper 2 Reasoning” coming in at 28 pages for 6 and 7 year olds!!!!!
Thanks
Example SATs question taken from page 22 of this 2016 example paper
Examples of homework sent to us from parents of Year 2 children:
Let Kids Be Kids - Primary School children need to Play, Create and Move - not cram for tests! 
I completely in agreement with this post, I think we asking too much from our kids and not letting them enjoy a precious time of childhood.
It makes me really sad, angry and frustrated. Sad that people who have no idea about children or education are setting them up to fail at an age when I’m really beginning to question whether they are even ready for school. Angry that I am buying unto their system and frustrated that these Ignoramus’s will not listen to the experts. Really considering home ed as my 6 yr old consistently says he doesn’t want to go to school as it’s too hard. I tell him to go have fun with his mates.
We have had homework like this for a while to prepare the children. Can we please stop this and prepare them for a childhood. Get them outside growing stuff, digging in mud and having fun learning useful things. PS I don’t care how many raisins sita has.
You can access all the year 2 sample questions here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2016-key-stage-1-english-grammar-punctuation-and-spelling-sample-test-materials-mark-scheme-and-test-administration-instructions
Unfortunately, being a teacher myself, I have to work on May 3rd and can’t take my child out of school in protest. But I support this campaign 100% because I want these tests obliterated. I see it from both sides of the fence; and neither view is pretty 😦 Keep up the good work everyone!
Oh for goodness sakes! I get frustrated with parents who think their children must have sunshine and roses and unicorns all the live-long day. There is nothing wrong with a bit of stress (and it IS a bit) in their lives. Children in our day have the most soft lives of children throughout all time. We are testing whether they can do maths and English, not sending them down the mines! These questions are the harder questions at the end of tests, to see if the bright children can do them (and therefore teachers can be aware that they might be bored or frustrated or put off education if they aren’t stretched a bit). Really…I did not spend 4 years earning a degree in education, and then years and years working in a classroom actually teaching maths and English at this level not to know a thing or two about how it works best.
Well yours would be a minority opinion amongst parents and teachers.
Gove went because he was costing votes. If enough parents boycott the tests, the tests will go. If you are a parent and think this is wrong, then you have the power to stop this.
There is no direct benefit to your child of taking these tests. They will not know more Maths or English because they spend an hour or two taking these tests.
I wish we’d had these tests when I was at school. I was so bored in class because I couldn’t understand why we had to do everything so slowly, if I had been tested at year 2 I could have been given more challenging tasks.
And there is the problem with education.
The abuse of ‘bright children,’
Is a musician, actor, artist, sporty kid not ‘bright’ then.
Measuring worth by how academic a child is, is the problem.
You tell that to my little boy who for the past two days has made himself sick because he doesn’t want to go to school because all they are doing are SATS practise paper which he cannot do due to him being on a IEP & having learning difficulties. It may be a ” little bit of stress” to you but NOT to 6 year old!!!!!!
Hi, Sorry to butt in! There is certain circumstances, in cases of learning difficulties and other, where teachers can apply to have children excused from the tests! If you have any concerns about how these test effect your child and due to his LD then please talk to his teacher and ask him/her about it! Wish your lad all the best x
I am both a parent & a teacher, and have worked in education for 22 years. I completely disagree with you. If you studied child development or neurology as part of your studies, you should be aware of the fact that only a small percentage of children flourish under stressful conditions, and that the effects of cortisol can be very harmful to the developing brain.
This isn’t”stretching”, this is age-inappropriate and highly demotivating and stressful. As a teacher and parent of teachers and grandparent of stressed kids I am telling you, Chrissie, that you are wrong. So very wrong.
I have three sons. My oldest has ASD / DCD-DYSPRAXIA, DYSLEXIA, SPD & HEIGHTENED ANXIETY. He is highly intelligent but his ordering & short term memory are weak whilst his long term memory is amazing as is his quirky creativeness. His handwriting is poor and most certainly non cursive as he has very poor Gross & Fine Motor skill. Spelling is improving and despite working very hard using a multisensory approach can be hit or miss, if he fails to decode the sounds/phonics of any given word. It isn’t that he is lazy, he is exhausted by his daily efforts. He will be sitting the SAT’s test’s, I only hope the multicude of trial testing and additional hole filling in regards to teaching him new or missing material is not too much. We would rather he be excused from testing but the law dictates he must if his Headyeacher feels he is competent.
My middle son is in yr 4. He is also very intelligent. He constantly complains of boredom as he is not being stretched to meet his potential. I ask him if he is working through the additional set questions and he responds ‘No because we have to start with the boring easy stuff and can’t move on until everyone understands it’. I have spoken to his class teacher on many occasions and reiterates that it isn’t about ticking boxes and moving on it is about acquiring depth of knowledge, which I understand perfectly but I do question the level of engagement for my son who clearly has ability and is being bored senseless by the narrow curriculum and repeated drills.
Son no three is my most tenacious he seems unfazed by his upcoming SAT’s, I choose to not question too deeply as I do not want to instill fear. I frankly have little care of the outcome of these SAT’s tests but I do care deeply that my children are not restricted in their learning or affected by the outcome.
My oldest ASD son attempted to kill himself 2 1/2 years ago by thrusting s knife to his stomach because he felt worthless. ‘Why can’t I do it mummy, I am stupid, I should be dead, I will kill myself’. Are words I never want to hear again from him. He along with his 2 brothers are my sunshine. I seek happiness and independence for them. We beleive a broad education is the key to opening doors.
There is a great deal wrong with adding to the stress that children already have in their lives at 6. Learning relationships and one’s place in the world is hard enough already. Why put them off learning educational skills, which is what you and these appalling government diktats are doing? If you don’t care about human beings – and your comments indicate you do not – then you should not have the care of young minds.
And there it is…
‘Bright children’!!
Already the others are deemed less bright or able. I’m saddened that you are a Teacher. Any Teacher needing such narrow guidelines and tests to assess the needs and challenges facing their pupils should perhaps reconsider their profession.
My child is 7 and having to face this awful ordeal. There is no way she can understand these questions! Since the government changes school became a misery, the fun and art disappeared and the home learning changed from a dynamic and interesting experience to sheets of questions on maths and English. This test should never exist – it is an unnecessary cruelty.
Whilst I don’t necessarily agree with the tests, surely how we as parents approach it with our children, makes it an “ordeal” or not! Don’t make a big deal of it and it won’t be a big deal to them!
That doesn’t change the fact that the curriculum has changed & is no-longer as inspiring & engaging as it once was. And the fact that the monts of prep for these tests takes kids away from things they should be learning…
It’s all child abuse in my opinion. Sadly, this continues right up the school system, the new GCSEs are going to be much harder – and no one can explain exactly why. This is going to go very badly wrong and a lot of children are going to suffer the consequences. I agree with the 3rd May wholeheartedly. Children need time to relax and be happy – I repeat this is abuse.
I’ll tell you why….. It’s so the results aren’t as good. Then the government can accuse the school of failing, giving them an excuse to convert them into their beloved Accademies.
Please! The GCSEs have been dumbed down year on year since they started. I did an extra college course a few years ago, all of the other students were straight out of school. When it came to the time to do Calculus none of them had seen it before despite the fact that they had all taken and passed GCSE Maths. When I took my O level we covered Calculus without being allowed to use calculators. This lack of subject knowledge and the low GCSE pass standard made for a very long 2 years.
The examples above are for 6 and 7 year old students in primary education NOT GCSE students in secondary school.
It’s not abuse,a little stress won’t do them any harm…
Child abuse really??? You are making a comparison between a little test and a child suffering awful years of neglect and abuse . I wonder how a person who has suffered would feel about what they been through being compared to a little test .. the levels people will go to, To prove a point. Smh
Having dealt with child abuse and neglect on a professional level your comment is offensive. You are entitled to your opinion if only to confirm your own stupidity. I sugestyou remove your children from the school system if it is that poor and pay private or home educate.
perhaps school sports day should also be dropped as this is clearly a test of physical ability and is very competitive or does that not apply for some reason?
I only saw practise text for English and was very surpriced what is expected of my not yet 7 year old daughter. How ( and why) should she know what is “frustrated”, “skyscraper”, “heartbroken” etc. and even be able to find a synonym? I was frustrated myself as in my openion there even isn´t any synonym for frustrated. I felt sad, angry, helpless and maybe also annoyed (as the book suggested)- all in one.
Your spelling is an argument for why we need testing….
@ Kelly Just the kind of comment I would expect to read from someone supportive of SATs tests…
You are right. My spelling is far from excellent. May it be because I am a foreigner? How many foreign languages do you know to at least this extent?
You are right. My spelling is far from excellent. May it be because I am a foreigner? But I am happy you didn´t recognized it. How many foreign languages do you know to at least this extent?
And just to make it clear – I not against testing. I belive there should be more of it. But not this way and in this age.
Ridiculous. Why can’t they just let them be children and let them play!!
I’m not against children learning, but come on….SATS at 6 yrs old!!!!
I told my son to just try his best, that’s all that matters.
My Granddaughter is having to face this in a few weeks. I am so angry and upset for her. I think we need the widest publicity possible. Everyone should understand what these poor kids are going through. School has been ruined for my lovely bright cheerful granddaughter who used to love school and now dreads it.
It’s so awful. No other country in the worl push their kids like this and set them up for failure!! So sad to disempower our children from such a young age..😒😒😒
Candice, Most countries do this. And many, such as China, Korea, Singapore, push them much much harder, with classroom ridicule thrown in as well from teachers. Children do need to learn maths, English etc if they ever want to be able to have good choices in jobs later on. We would do our children a disservice if we just let them play all day, make mud pies and never have to do anything that helps them think, plan and learn.
I think this is far to difficult and confusing for a child that age. Let children be children.
I as a teacher of Year 2 for the last 25 years is very upset for the poor children that have to go through this unnecessary ordeal.My heart breaks for my poor grandaughter who will be 7 only at the end of August. She is suffering from stress and that is so evident in her tummy aches and feeling sick all the time.
Unfortunately the Year 2 Sats will predict her
Year 6 results.
I started the Sats from the 1st year it was introduced and I have seen it change over the years but what is happening this year is
ridiculous. Too much stress for both teachers and pupils.
I sincerely hope in the short time that is left
some changes will take place!!
Triff
My little boy will be sitting these exams next month and I’m not sure he’ll be able to complete a single question. How is that going to make him feel? He has been doing really well over the last year after a tough time in Reception where I believe he wasn’t ready for school. His confidence in himself at school is really good at the moment and I worry these tests will make him feel inadequate.
I don’t agree that only the “bright children” will answer these questions – that’s a comment from a mind brainwashed bu society – oh yes it is 😉 .. A bright child might make a paper plane out of the paper and be able to land it on the teachers desk.. A bright child might not feel the need to swallow every nonsensical task we try to spoon feed them to make sure they are standing in line – future obedient citizens.. A bright child may well get 100% on the test but more importantly have a realisation that he/she is no brighter than the kid who got a very low mark, they are equal in every right – the kids who get the low grades are most likely “brighter” in other areas, maybe more creative – give them a musical instrument or a canvas and they may shine where the 100% kid fails.. Our children are way more than a grey test and a number on a piece of paper – they are our future.. Wake up!!
Children should be allowed to be children it’s a nonsense to push them to do this test. What are the benefits of it???? I have told my child not to worry at all and that this is just a new game 😊. This way he is not worried about it. We don’t practise at home this questions he is doing enough at school and should be allowed to be a child.
‘Cautiously’.
Hmmm.
Do we NEED to know that it’s an adverb in order for us to be able to use it in our spoken and written communications?
Quite simply – no.
We don’t.
Yes, as a teacher, I would want my kids to be able to have this word at their disposal in a developing, articulate vocabulary – but the actual grammar-bollocks isn’t needed.
Probably the reason why I’m not teaching any more.
great post! I couldn’t agree more!! And it’s a great example. I am pretty sure my 6 year old would understand the word and she has a vast array of spoken vocab. But I don’t think she would be able to read the word, and definitely wouldn’t spell it. Knowing what it means rather than the fact that it is an adverb is surely the important point.
This is absolutely ridiculous I doubt my 6 year old would Evan be able to read the question let a lone answer it. When I was at school the first test I did was when moving to upper school. Makes my blood boil the pressure the schools put on our kids. Let them be kids teach them life how things grow and how things work let them run wild on the play ground. #LETTHEMBEKIDS
I am fully supporting the new SATs. I dont understand the uproar. The children in this country are privileged to benefit from free education.
Instead of teaching your child anxiety and stress teach them math can be fun and useful.
I think the reason for the uproar is because the parents are in competition with each other and God forbid they get told that there child is not fantastic at something.
They could not care less .
Our children play and enjoy themselves more then many children all over the world .
This is a very small hurdle in a long line of them but lets wrap them in cotton wool and protect them .
Lets encourage lower standard ,really!?
Stop this over reactions to every damn thing your child can be a child as a child one of the thing we ask of them is to study and in return they get all the good stuff we give to our children.
I think this is the biggest joke ever my 6 year old will sit them if he scores 1 or 100 ill be proud because he jumps the first hurdle in his life without mummy spoon feeding him.
This is not about Kids this is about pretentious parents!!!!!
I couldn’t disagree more. This is absolutely about the children. As a social worker I am very well aware that there are some children who, for a whole variety of reasons, will struggle with these tests. As a parent of the youngest member of a Year 2 class, I can see that my daughter has the comprehension of the topics but her learning style means that she is confused by how the questions are presented and therefore doubts herself. This anxiety does not come from home or teachers but from a very emotionally intelligent and mature 6 year old who has now spent nearly 3 years in a class with some children who are 10-11 months older than her and able to grasp maths and literature sooner and quicker than she is able to. Our school are keeping things very low-key but the children have been told ‘this is your opportunity to shine’. She won’t be able to shine through these tests. Finally, as a university lecturer, I see the impact of our education system which has convinced intelligent, bright and insightful individuals that they are stupid and that they don’t deserve to go to university. Mature students that have to battle their anxiety and lack of self belief and then go on to gain firsts! There is a wealth of research about how children and adults learn best and these tests are not linked in any way at all to what is known. I am absolutely behind this campaign and I don’t care what my daughter or any other child’s score is. It tells me nothing at all about her ability or progress. That I will get from her teacher’s thoughtful assessment.
@ Jo. Spot on! I am both a teacher & a parent, and you have hit the nail on the head. Well said indeed.
Reading your post, it looks like you could do with studying some SPaG…
I do feel that if teachers are as qualified as what they are supposed to be then what is the need for tests as surely they should know what child is working at what level and who needs what work without the need for a test. I am not for or against the tests I will just be there for my daughter if she needs me and continue to teach her about life…..
I love how people think their kids aren’t living because their kid gets asked a few exam questions. SATs help separate kids into sets, so hey can learn at the correct level and with other children of simililar ability. I’m in my mid 20s and at no point do I look back at my childhood or SATs and think, ‘that scarred me’.
It’s a pity you didn’t live through a system that DIDN’T have these exams.
You are a ‘National Curriculum Kid’ – you don’t know anything else.
The system has done its job on you. You have come to accept.
Teacher assessment is all that is needed to sort children into sets. Also SATs have changed considerably since you took them, so your experience is not really comparable.
I am not against these tests, however, what am really angry about is that they have not been given enough time to prepare. As we all know, we study for the exams we due to take and usually follow the curriculum for a year or so before we actually sit down to take them. Year 6 have had the bar raised substantially. I have read through some of the practise papers my dyslexic, autistic child has brought home from school. His teachers worked really hard over the last few years to bring him to the level he should be for his age. We were over the moon when we read his assessments (the old way). The new way of assessment has raised the levels to Year 7, 8 and with some things year 9! The new sats for year 6 have questions that my 14 year old nephew has not covered yet. These poor children have not been given time to prepare properly, they have been set up to FAIL. His teachers and I have worked so hard to build up his confidence only to have the government wipe it out with one big swipe! My son has said I am going to fail these sats and I will be the bottom of the class again. Thanks Mr Gove!!!
In many other countries which are advanced academically they do not send their children to formal school before the age of seven. Children need to learn through play and enquirer before they can learn how to learn. In England all educational pedagogy seems to have gone right out of the window. Of course children need to be assessed – first of all to see if they are even ready for school. Then they need to be taught what they need to know in order to maintain their spirit of curiosity and willingness to absorb. Then they need to be assessed to see how to help them further. But stress and testing should not be part of any child s vocabulary.
Sadly our children are being used as guinea pigs again as the Government continually get it wrong, then decide to scrap everything and start again. Setting children up to fail is never a viable option. Private education is only available to a select few.
Speaking as an English graduate, a parent and an ex primary School Teacher I can only say, that as parents it is only natural to worry about your children. I have looked at the new tests and it is clear many children will struggle. However, we cannot wrap our children in cotton wool, in order to progress they have to learn that life is challenging and sometimes competitive or they face many disappointments in later life.
Obviously you want to protect your children and parents can of course help their children by preparing them at home, finding out what exactly it is they need extra support with and providing that support and of course reminding them that they can only do their best and that’s all they can do.
Tests are part and parcel of modern life and we need to accept that and find the best way to support our children so they do grow up able to deal with stressful situations without falling apart
This is our legacy as educators and/or parents.
I feel I have to comment because I’ve been quite lucky and experienced both British and European schooling and, thus, in a really unique position.
Quite frankly, I’m glad I started school in Europe, because I was encouraged to learn at my own pace. I was a voracious reader and grabbed anything I could get my hands on and could work mostly unsupervised. That meant that the teacher had more time to be able to help the kids who needed that little bit of additional help to understand and, most importantly, we were still disciplined because the class were not being frustrated.
When I returned to the UK, the experience was horrifying as a child. The teachers were really rigid and, even though it was clear I was able to read and write, having a rudimentary understanding of grammar, I had to be held back so that the class progressed at the same pace of the slowest class member. Consequently, my frustration boiled over and I became immensely disruptive and this only abated at the age of 7, when my teacher realised that I could do my own thing and still get classwork done.
I still feel proud that my reading selection caused the class to go on a visit to see the Mary Rose. When he left, the frustration at progressing returned.
That frustration carried on into secondary school. I had developed a real problem with teachers because of how smart I was and not being “allowed” to challenge myself. My apathy meant that I was never expected to do well, although my English teacher was shocked when it came to a GCSE English paper submission: we had the option of rewriting the last scene of Romeo and Juliet or to write a play, based upon the ideas within R and J. In the same time it took my class to write a scene, I had written a play of five acts, with an average of three scenes. It was my fault that, because of the class grading, English language didn’t score anyone beyond an A.
So what is the relation to SATs? In my experience, I encourage and implore every parent to rise up and challenge their kids. Don’t let the SAT be their standard, encourage them to exceed that expectation. Children need that challenge to better themselves and to help them compete in the future. Don’t let them turn into me: a bright, intelligent person who is left wondering at what could have been. If that happens, that bitterness will carry into their adult life.
I have 3 children, all of whom are different, unique and individual in their learning and I believe that is the problem with any ‘one’ system – it will never suit all. I agree that SAT testing is wrong and feel that as previous posters have said, a teacher’s observations should be sufficient, children have to find their own niche without pressure. Ironically my middle daughter will take the tests this month and she will probably be fine but that is just how she is. However, my eldest daughter who is one of the youngest in her year struggled terribly, cried about going to school to the point I considered home ed, compared herself and labelled herself ‘not as good as’….’can’t do that as well as’ etc etc, I spent a year of reassuring her, along with her having the most fantastic teacher who embraced her creativity and she came through. After being told she was ‘struggling’ with reading she is now a ‘high level’ reader with excellent spelling and an advanced vocabulary. I never pushed her, exam results were of no interest, children find what they are good at when they are ready for it…this campaign is important, primary school is about encouraging learning through play, sport, experience and curiosity and should not be about priming the next generation of tax payers, let kids be kids without pressure, let them grow and they will flourish at their own pace, in their own way and in their own time – they will spend a long time as an adult so we owe them their childhood freedom!
Your child’s SAT results will NOT be used to structure their future learning. They will be used by a small detached group of politically motivated people to argue that a particular school and it’s teachers are failing against some artificially imposed standards, or to demonstrate how much better one school is over another.
We as a nation compare quite well compared with most other countries, except where the ‘figures’ are unjustly swayed; ie different age groups, or Shanghai ‘sweat’ schools. The average in China is way lower than us.
Once completed SAT results will have little bearing on planning for individuals, and will mostly be treated as unreliable data by teachers in higher years who know that a school will do all it can to demonstrate ‘improvement’, and very little to establish a child’s progress. Bear in mind GCSE english and maths are required elements for students up to 19 years old until they achieve a ‘worthwhile’ grade. That means everyone must be above average! Set that on a maths paper and see what answers you get.
This is a link to 1950 SATs type questions…they were tests that every 10 or 11-year old took, just like the SATs today. I do not think our present-day SATs are any harder. I sat my 11 plus in 1969 – we did lots of preparation in that school year, and also lots of art, music, PE and fun…just like school now. There was probably more pressure in those days as the outcome of the 11 plus decided your secondary school and most often the types of jobs open to you as an adult. I survived, as did the rest. If your school is too pushy then move. There is massive pressure on schools to show they are raising standards and some to add stress to the children as the teachers are stressed. But children are supposed to be learning maths, English etc…not just playing all day – they have the time after school, holidays weekends etc to make mud pies, play outside, etc. Of course, so many just sit in front of screens…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1030673/Could-pass-11-plus-Exam-papers-used-1950s-puts-family-test.html