How To Stay Sane Now The KS2 SATs Are Over

The fourth and final post in my series of blog posts for Third Space Learning focusing on teacher and pupil wellbeing during the key stage 2 SATs testing period:

An almost audible collective sigh of relief rises from Year 6 teachers and KS2 pupils across the realm. Suddenly, the prospect of life beyond SATs becomes tantalisingly real and, at least for now, it is there to be enjoyed.

Feelings during the next few weeks will (though I hate to have to remind you) morph from the relief that the end of the SATs week brings into the impatient wait for results day on July 4th.

Click here to read my five tips for staying sane now that the key stage 2 test are over: https://www.thirdspacelearning.com/blog/2017/sayonara-sats2017-5-golden-rules-for-year-6-teachers-to-make-the-most-of-lessons-after-sats

Twas The Night Before SATs by @parky_teaches

Twas the night before SATs, and all through the land

Not a teacher was stirring, the curriculum banned.

Past papers pored over, practised just so,

Fingers are crossed that thresholds are low.

The children were fretful, nervous in their beds

While visions of ticking clocks danced in their heads.

Heads in their offices give keyboards a tap

Writing excuses for that OFSTED chap.

When out in the playground arose such a chatter

Of parents and media to see what was the matter.

They could not believe just what they had heard, 

And started to panic about things like adverbs.

Would the Reading test reduce children to tears?

This was just the first of their fears.

Revision packs bought, tutors booked up

Parents stressed out, leaving nothing to luck.

A courier arrives, so lively and quick,

The papers are locked in the safe with a click.

Staff arrive early, their visages bleak,

Year 6 teachers wishing for just a quick peek.

"Now, Kirsty! now, Donna! now, Seb and Mina!

On, Holly! On, Dev! On Connor and Tina!

To your new seating plan! Right next to the  wall!

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As children that before the biggest challenge try

When they're met with a SAT they let out a cry

"Not more past progressive, not more long division

We can take no more of the government's indecision!"

And then, in a twinkling flash of inspiration,

Memories flicker across the nation.

The teacher sits, fidget spinner in hand,

Hoping beyond hope things go just as planned.

They were just about dressed, from their head to their feet, 

And their eyelids droopy from the lack of sleep

A bundle of assessments, flung on their back, 

In case a standardised score is starting to slack.

His pupils - how they twinkled! (Well they did in year 5)!

Now they were dull, barely alive

Drilled into submission, all out of fear

That somebody's job might be gone next year.

The stumps of pencils found gnawed by teeth, 

And clumps of hair torn out in disbelief 

Looking over shoulders, "Is that a four or a nine?"

Mentally of course, we don't want a fine.

Once the first one is over, it's onto the next

They're really relentless, they are, these tests.

We jump hoops through SPaG, through every last trick,

Then it's onto the maths, the ol 'rithmetic!

They spoke not a word (they weren't allowed),

But when the time was up, they cheered and they howled, 

And laying aside their pencils and pens, 

They breathed a sigh of relief, along with their friends.

Teachers sprang to their desks, to their teams gave a whistle,

And outside they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard them exclaim, ‘ere they drove out of sight,

"Oh wait, it's writing moderation next, bugger..."

Year 6 Teachers, You've Got This! Your 5-Step Game Plan for SATs Week 2017

The latest in my series of blog posts for Third Space Learning focuses on SATs week itself. The focus is on teacher and pupil wellbeing and provides 5 steps to take to ensure year 6 teachers and pupils aren't too frazzled by the end of it.

So, the time has come. SATs week 2017 is upon us. On Monday morning, after months (hopefully years) of preparation, the nation's Year 6 children will sit down to the first of 2017's Key Stage 2 National Assessments.

Year 6 teachers across the land will be pacing halls and classrooms, catching glimpses of questions and hoping beyond hope that the primary school children in their classes will do their very best.

And I assume you're probably one of those teachers, or a supportive Head or SLT member.

You'll be feeling a heady mix of excitement and nervousness while anticipating the children’s chance to show off all they've learned. You might also be wondering what on earth the test-writers have come up with this time.

Click here to read on over at the Third Space Learning blog: http://thirdspacelearning.com/blog/2017/year-6-teachers-you-ve-got-this-your-5-step-game-plan-for-2017-ks2-sats

From the TES Blog: The Pre-SATs Checklist: An Eight-Point Guide To Ensure You're Ready

Here's one I wrote for the TES blog all about those little things that might be forgotten in the run up to SATs but that, if sorted, will make the week run much more smoothly.

By now, as a Year 6 teacher, you're probably fairly fed up of Sats-related advice, but bear with me. You see, there's always the chance that some minor detail has been missed. Sure, your scripts are all locked away in the safe, you know which test is happening on which day and you can bet that the children are as ready as they can be, but is there anything else you need to sort out in these last few days before the Key Stage 2 Sats tests kick off?

Here's my personal last-minute checklist, which I will be running through in the next few days.

Click here to read for free on the TES blog: https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/pre-sats-checklist-eight-point-guide-ensure-youre-ready

Rocking My Reading World (Reading Rocks 2016 Review)

Last year’s Reading Rocks came about at just the right time: we had suffered in the 2016 KS2 reading test and I was on a quest to improve the way we taught reading.

Twitter had already come to the rescue in part – advice gained from blog posts by Rhoda Wilson and Martin Galway among others were formative in my thinking and strategising about teaching reading. I’d also been tweeting with a great group of people who had a similar outlook on education as myself – book talk was a regular feature in our conversations.

Read the rest over on the Reading Rocks blog: https://wherereadingrocks.wordpress.com/2017/04/29/rocking-my-reading-world/

Book Review: 'It Ain't So Awful, Falafel' by Firoozeh Dumas

Firoozeh Dumas is an Iranian author - right away you have a reason to be using this book, 'It Ain't So Awful, Falafel', in your classroom; the majority of us teachers teach very few texts by non-white authors. As Darren Chetty wrote 'diversity should start at story time'.

And whilst the focus of this laugh-a-page, partly-biographical novel is difference, it serves better to highlight the differences in how people treat those who appear to be different. In many ways the book's protagonist 'Cindy' (real name Zomorod) is no different to the group of friends she builds after she moves to California, yet she experiences varying degrees of treatment from other key characters in the book. It's useful in the classroom to have both positive and negative examples of how others should be treated - this funny and charming story has both.

Once the scene is set the story revolves around the Iranian Hostage Crisis of the 1970s - we see how events abroad cause people to stigmatise and behave  negatively towards those who they perceive to be linked to things happening in far-off places. The story is a safe place to start classroom discussions about stereotyping, ignorance and critical thinking.

The other main theme of the book is relationships (what book isn't about relationships at its core?); what's striking is that despite her embarrassment at times, Cindy clearly loves and respects her parents - positive parent-child relationships are not always portrayed in children's literature. 'It Ain't So Awful, Falafal' also shines a spotlight on close friendship groups (Cindy's contains a nominal Christian and a Jew), relationships between children and their friends' parents and it has a literal look at the concept of 'love thy neighbour'. All of this provides further opportunities to discuss the treatment of others, especially in a plurality of differing relationships.

For a light-hearted springboard for exploring some heavy subjects, an upper key stage 2 teacher couldn't go far wrong by introducing 'It Ain't So Awful, Falafel' to their classroom. With super-short chapters this is the sort of book equally as perfect as an end-of-day read aloud as it would be in a more formal reading lesson. Highly recommended.

Preparing For SATs: Advice For Year 6 Teachers (Part 2)

You might question whether or not I'm a legitimate 'wellbeing expert' but regardless of that I hope you find enough helpful advice on my latest blog post for Third Space Learning.

It's the second in a four-part series focusing on year 6 and SATs. In this week's article I focus in on the two or three weeks after the Easter holidays and look at what's best avoided and what should be prioritised.

Even if you're not a year 6 teacher you probably know someone who is so please consider sharing this link with them.

https://www.thirdspacelearning.com/blog/2017/tackling-sats-week-2017-tips-and-tricks-for-y6-teachers-to-help-pupils-smash-ks2-national-assessments