Dear Children,
As you all know, next week you will be sitting your SATs. We would first like to start by telling you all how proud we are of all of your hard work. It isn’t the ideal year to be in year 6 as the changes that have been made to the curriculum have resulted in you having to learn some really difficult concepts, some of which we didn’t do until we were at secondary school or even college.
We have had a struggle on our hands as teachers because the government has changed the way that the SATs will be marked and levelled. Unfortunately, we have been unable to tell you and your parents how we think you will score in your tests as we simply do not know the pass marks. We do know that however you are defined or levelled, you will do your very best and we cannot ask for more from you.
These tests are such a small moment in your lives and they do not define you as people. They do not test your ability to sing, dance or play a sport. A punctuation and grammar test cannot showcase your talents for drawing, gymnastics or computer programming in the same way an arithmetic test cannot measure how kind you are, how helpful you can be or just what an amazing friend you are to those around you.
This year you have been taught so much more than the National Curriculum. We hope you will look back at your time in Year 6 and see that you were taught about the world you live in, how to be accepting of differences, supportive of those in need and how to treat people with respect. None of these things will be tested next week, as they cannot be measured with a test paper, but they are essential life skills and we are pleased to witness them within you every day.
Whatever the outcome of these tests, please remember this- your scores will be a small snapshot of what you can do in a test environment but they will not measure anything about what makes YOU the fabulous person that YOU are!
So, enjoy your weekend. Get plenty of sleep, spend time with your family and relax.
We’ll see you on Monday ready to get through the week like we have through the year, together as a team.
Good luck. We believe in you!
Miss Patterson, Mrs Park, Mrs Milne, Mr Winn and Mrs Boudari.