When it comes to key stage 2 Sats, it’s not just the pupils who need to be made aware what will happen and when, but parents, too.
Often parents find out about what happens during Sats week in briefings after school. But, as many teachers, leaders and parents are all too aware, finding a convenient time for both teachers and parents to have these meetings can be tricky.
Enter Michael Tidd: headteacher and Tes columnist. He’s produced a handy go-to video explaining everything a parent needs to know about the KS2 sats.
The five-minute video includes technical information about what days the tests are on, how long each one is and how many marks each paper is worth.
There are also past paper questions, so parents can see the sorts of tasks their children will be expected to undertake.
Sats: Reassuring the parents
It also explains the marking process and how scaled scores are worked out. And, at the end, there are tips for how parents can support their children in run-up up to the tests and during the tests week.
“I made the video a few years ago when the new changes came into the KS2 tests. We held meetings each year for families to find out about the tests, but it's always hard to hold these at convenient times for all parents, and so we used to share our PowerPoint online afterwards,” says Tidd.
“The trouble was, you could have pages and pages of slides, but without the teachers explaining them, it's hard for parents to grasp.
"By making the short videos, we found we could inform and reassure parents, without having to drag them into school on a cold February evening. It also meant that we could give a common message to all parents, and still be able to respond to questions if they had them.”
And clearly, it’s not just the parents at Tidd’s school that have benefited: he says that each year since 2016, the videos have had over 35,000 views.
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