SATS Results 2016

[remoaner]

Has anyone managed to see how Southwark schools have got on? Website keeps crashing.

Thanks

[Monkey]

A mixed bag, as you'd expect. Goodrich did well, particularly regarding the percentage of kids reaching over the expected level, which is ahead of some of outstanding schools etc....

Also noted excellent performance from Bessemer and Dulwich Woods.

[redjam]

I looked at the results via the Telegraph website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2016/12/15/primary-school-league-tables-2016-compare-schools-performance/

All the local schools look like they did well, at or above the national average of 53% pass, apart from Ivydale (43%) and Goose Green (36%). Bessemer Grange and St Anthony's seem to have done particularly well. Surprisingly varied numbers of kids working at the 'higher level' - 20% for Goodrich but only 6% for the Ofsted-outstanding Dulwich Hamlet.

That said, I do take it all with a pinch of salt - the changes were handled completely chaotically by the government last year and the curriculum itself was a nightmare. Poor kids and teachers...

[remoaner]

Thanks guys. My computer seems to prefer the Telegraph site!

[bawdy-nan]

I had a child who did the SATS last year (at the Hamlet) and met the standard. I was so pleased with the way the school handled the very difficult and often ludicrous curriculum and tests. The children were well prepared but not to the exclusion of other learning, wonderful, creative projects etc. A wonderful year 6 that could have been awful.

I heard absolutely awful stories from parents at other schools (throughout the country) with teachers floundering, children very upset and year 6 a constant drilling in the finer (and disputed) naming of the grammatical parts.

[Passiflora]

Results were in the Evening Standard.

[LondonMix]

I am actually glad grammar is being taught more rigorously now as part of the curriculum.

As an expat, I've always found it extremely odd that it wasn't before. Two of my English friends have actually said it initially made learning foreign languages much more difficult for them as they didn't have the basic vocabulary to understand the teaching of foreign grammar. One gave up languages but the other now speaks 4.

Anyhow, Bessemer Granges results are spectacular. An 81% pass rate and almost 20% higher attainment under the new system is so far ahead of all the other schools and the national average they should really be applauded. They also have a high intake of English as a second language pupils, children with special needs and poorer children and it appears they are doing an excellent job bringing everyone along.

[Saffron]

Tangentially related to exam results, but excellent food for thought:

http://schoolsweek.co.uk/pe-and-re-teachers-make-least-effective-superheads-new-study-reveals/

[Sesame]

Interesting article, Saffron! One of the reasons why one shouldn't focus too much on test results and stats in general.

[LondonMix]

That's not my take away from the article but I suppose different perspectives lead to different understandings!

I thought it was a very good article though highlighting how different heads approach things and why all improvements aren't equal and its important to examine how these improvements are being achieved.

[Sol]

Sorry to bump this up but have a question regarding the number of children who took the SATS last year.Do all children in year 6 have to sit the exams?

It says there were 94 eligible pupils at Goodrich; so the school have more than 30 children in each class then?, that is if they were a 3 form?. Didn't they have a bulge class last year? so elegible children would have been 120?

For Bessemer it says 47. I thought this is a 3 form school, so it would have been 90 children eligible; unless there were only 2 year 6s last year, but even so there would have been 60 children. Or perhaps not all the classes were full.

For Heber it says 55, which sounds about right if they are a 2 form school and not all the classes were full.

I am a bit confused with this and would appreciate your opinions to clarify. Can the schools exclude some children from the exams due to SEN or not being ready? If this is the case, this would completely change the way you read the results.

Thank you

[cactus]

One reason for example, can be if a child joins the school community in Year 6, but has English as an additional language, isn't already a fluent speaker/reader and has been educated overseas. I worked in a Southwark school for a number of years, where there was quite a mobile population, so this was fairly common.

Other reasons I'm not so sure, but perhaps others on here will have more insight. Significant SEND issues may also be a factor.

[remoaner]

Yes, Sol, I had wondered about this too. Bessemer was a two form entry until quite recently, so it would have been 47 / 60 kids sitting their Sats if Year 6 was full, but I think class sizes sometimes get a little smaller the further up a school you go (people move away etc, some kids go private). If there was a bulge year at Goodrich then it would have been 94 out of 120 kids sitting the exam.

[Cora]

Yes, this year six was a two form entry with smaller classes....

[Sol]

Thank you. That makes more sense now.