Dear Parent/Carer,

Your child will, no doubt, be a little apprehensive this weekend as we’re facing the week that they have been preparing for throughout Year 6. You are no doubt aware that SATs are required at the end of Key Stage 2 in all schools and that they are a standard measure of how well your child is achieving in the key areas of Reading, Writing and Maths. It is true that the outcomes of these tests are made available to their destination secondary schools and that they can have an impact on learning groups in Year 7 and beyond. It is, therefore, important that your child is properly prepared for these tests and tries to do their very best during test week.

However, and I wish to make this point very clear to both parent and child, the outcomes of these tests will not define your child’s success; whatever they score is information that should be used to support the next phase of their education – your child can’t ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ a SAT test; they achieve a score and get some indication of what support and guidance will be necessary. Some will achieve high marks and some not so high, but they will ALL BE ACHIEVING! and you can guarantee that they will have tried as hard as they can in, what for some, are anxiety inducing circumstances – in some cases just taking the test is a HUGE achievement.

Please recognise their effort, their resilience, and also their worries. Please don’t feed their anxiety, apply undue pressure or talk about ‘failing’. Please reassure them, ‘Big them up!’ and celebrate positivity. We will be looking after them before, during and after the tests and helping them through (within the rules, of course).

Your child has been on a journey at Mildmay. They have learned to work together, play together, engage with new experiences, enhance their talents, express their feelings, be themselves. Your child has excelled; your child has been a star; your child has made progress; your child is ready for secondary school; It is, after all, just a test. Your child is way more important than a score.

D Mulholland

Headteacher