Preparing children for life is what school is about-this should put things into perspective.  For those of you who know me and understand my philosophy on education, this letter will come as no surprise. It isn’t often that I can discuss my views on education and my views on the testing process and current testing systems. If you walk into our school and visit classrooms, you will find creativity, children being listened to and lots of smiles and active learning. Our Year 6 children didn’t bother at all when it came to taking their SATs because they were thoroughly prepared and had been for some time. Learning didn’t change for them. They continued to thrive on a creative curriculum, where writing is exciting and grammar is taught through songs and dance moves! When children are excited and motivated to learn, they will thrive. Happiness first and all else will follow- under a blanket of excellent teaching, learning and care.

Yesterday, our Year 6 class received their SATs results-and a covering letter…                                                  `

 

To our wonderful Year 6 children,

I write this letter to you all to congratulate you on your wonderful achievements over the past year: you have worked so hard and we are all so proud of you.

Not every skill in school is tested and they cannot all be measured. SATs didn’t test your enthusiasm for animal welfare or how great you are at Judo. They didn’t test your kindness towards others and they didn’t test how good a swimmer you are or what incredible knowledge you have about History. They didn’t listen to you perform in a concert and make us all laugh and they didn’t see you helping the younger children in school. SATs didn’t see your compassion for the elderly and they didn’t ask you what YOUR dreams and hopes are.

You tried your very best and no one could have asked for more. Some of you will have found you have passed all of the tests or passed some. I would like to tell you that not one of you scored ‘below’ (which means that the scores were too low to meet the scale). This is a huge achievement in itself!

We have our own standards and they involve how we conduct ourselves in this world and how we have integrity and enthusiasm to work hard for what we want. Children, you have to believe that you can do anything if you believe you can. The sky really is the limit and you must listen to this.

Keep your unique personalities and spark. Keep your smiles and your kindness. Keep your manners and your exciting hobbies. Keep your high spirits and take these things with you to High School. You are about to have a wonderful summer break and then you embark upon a great adventure.

We couldn’t have asked any more from you and we are all very proud. You are truly amazing.

Good luck on whatever path you choose. Make the right choices and know that ‘If you think you can, you will. If you think you can’t, you won’t.’ Always think and BELIEVE you can!

You can find your results on the next page. A scale score of 100 or above means you have met the threshold and passed the test. Anything close to this is brilliant-especially as SATs are now a lot harder than they used to be.

I am privileged to have known such a wonderful Year 6 Class.

Well done all of you!

 

 

For parent information, we are SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE NATIONAL AVERAGE with the following % achieving the expected score:

SPaG =100%      Reading= 90%    Maths= 90%    Writing=80%

Congratulations Year 6!