sats homework letter

') } random_imglink() //-->

FREE "HOMEWORK"*: (*with a twist!) Download a free "homework" sheet (positive, relaxing, non-SATs activities) to print out and send home with your students for the weekend! Right-click here

FREE VIDEO: Download a free copy of the above video by right-clicking here . Please share/like/tweet and, most importantly, show to your Year 6s.

FREE LETTER: Download a free letter to use with your Year 6s and their parents by right-clicking here . This is proving rather popular, so we hope it does its job.

FREE POSTER: Download a free poster by right-clicking here .

LIVELY POST-SATS RESOURCES: Check out our lively post-SATs ideas further down the page and also here .

Some thoughts...

The following thoughts, resources and opinions aren't just the ramblings of a company calling for your custom. If you know anything about us, you'll know two things:

2) Everything we do has the important ones - your students, your children - at its heart. Our designs, ideas, motivation are all child-centred. If a resource isn't going to hook them in or help learning to stick, we don't do it.

Yes, we're a bit quirky, but those two foundations of using experience and putting students central are what we're really about. Other resource companies may have SATs pages offering practice questions and past papers, but we think differently. This, then, is the sparky approach to SATs.*

Of course they are. As a way of finding out where students are at before they start a topic, what they've learned at the end of it, what's stuck and what's not, as well as giving students the chance to show what they can do, they're very efficient and extremely useful. That's why they're so popular all over the world. They work. Somewhat.

Of course they are. In an ideal world (this bit's important), they're useful to the current school and teacher (to show what progress has been made), they're useful to the parents (to show where their child is at), they're useful to the upcoming school (to show where the student is starting from) although, in our experience, most children would say they could happily do without them. That's life, kids.

Or have we lost it already? Year 6 is the pinnacle of primary school life. It's the year with the most privileges, the most opportunities and a final chance to shine on the small stage. A big pond awaits, but Year 6 allows students to develop into confident, prepared young people in an environment that knows them and has nurtured them to this point. Year 6 is the peak. A couple of hours tests on a day in May shouldn't be that peak. SATs, if they need to exist, should just be something that happens, no fuss, no pressure, no months of preparation. No biggie...

Image courtesy of Chris O'Brian - The Roanoke Times

That's such an applicable cartoon. The pressure doesn't come from the Year 6 teacher. Most hate what they have to do each year. We've been there. We've sat through parents' evenings discussing level after level, rather than character after character. We've done past papers until we were blue in the face. We've even taught in schools where SATs weren't needed, but they just chose to do them as an assessment tool (same level of pressure as before!).

No, the pressure comes from above. From the link between SATs results and league tables. From the need to continuously demonstrate improvement, despite the varying characters in a cohort. And so, every May we see tweets and comments from parents whose children are bearing the brunt of the pressure, feeling like they're useless and, generally, not relishing being at the peak of their time at primary school.

We're not about molly-coddling our students. But, we are about showing them that we all have different skills and they may not shine at knowing where a preposition sits in a sentence or how to draw a pie chart, but they sure-as-anything shine at being creative, staying positive despite what life throws at them or caring for others. As we read recently, it's all very well encouraging rigour in the classroom, but what about rigour of character? Can we not encourage that?

Here, then, is the alternative... Why not revise for SATs in such a way that students don't even realise they're revising? Why not invent an evil organisation intent on writing maths questions to catch your children out? Second thoughts, don't bother inventing it, we've done it for you already - you just need to use it in your lessons. What about a grammar-loving organisation keeping our cities safe from literacy crimes? Surely that's a much better way to approach SPAG tests than constant past papers? Parents, would you like a blog post that you can share with your child to show them what most teachers think about SATs? (you're probably not going to get it in your half-termly newsletter, even though we're all thinking it!) Help yourself:

The SATs Pack (see above) is a special pack we've put together for schools who want to prepare for SATs a little creatively.

The SCHMATs (see above) are our alternative SATs. Something we've prepared with a dose of humour to show your students they have a multitude of skills that SATs don't test. Useful for SATs week afternoons!

Mathematips leaflets . These are our popular NEW revision leaflets - an attempt to make maths visual!

The Outstanding Teaching Pack contains everything downloadable that we produce, at a hefty discount. Character-valuing, test-life-rebalancing. Very popular with schools that have a similar ethos to us.

The M Files and The League of Literacy are the two "fake organisation" resources mentioned above. These have proved especially popular with Year 6 teachers searching for alternative ways to prepare for SATs. Both resources also feature in the Outstanding Teaching Pack.

Sparky VIP Cards - a way of rewarding who your students are, not just what they do. Some schools might like to use these specifically prior to SATs - as a way of saying, "you've done the work, but what level you get doesn't define you. We appreciate you for these other reasons..." This would be send home a powerful message if you could reward your students before their SATs... Just an idea:

The Way of the Revision Ninja - how to learn by stealth! Revision tips with a difference.

If you haven't listened to the late Peter Benson on The Lost Art of Nurturing Sparks , it's a must.

And for post SATs, we've got the very things! Here are some after-SATs activities :

Here's our Message To All Year Sixes

Parents - you'll probably appreciate what this gentleman has to say: The Lost Art of Nurturing Sparks .

Kids - if in doubt, remember you can always click your fingers and call for the SATs waiter!

Unsure of image origin - please let us know and we'll attribute.

Latest from the blog

C Log in

Year 6 SATs Revision
Class Pages

Year 6 SATs Revision

We hope that this page provides everything that you need to help you with your revision. If there is anything else that you would like, or that you think would be useful, please let us know so that we can add it.

Important dates 2024:

Monday 13th May - Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar - Paper 1

- Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar - Paper 2 (Spelling)

Tuesday 14th May - English Reading

Wednesday 15th May - Maths Paper 1 (Arithmetic)

- Maths Paper 2 (Reasoning)

Thursday 16th May - Maths Paper 3 (Reasoning)

Revision Folders:

Here are copies of the things that you have been given in your personal revision folder:

Year 6 Easter Holiday Revision letter.docx

SPaG revision documents:

Y6 SPaG terminology sheet.pdf
Y6 Grammar Knowledge Organiser.pdf
10-4-10 SPaG booklet.pdf
10-4-10 SPaG answers.pdf

Reading revision documents:

10-4-10 Reading booklet.pdf
10-4-10 Reading answers.pdf

Maths revision documents:

KS2 SATs Maths Knowledge Organiser.docx
10-for-10 KS2 Maths Practice Booklet - Working Towards.pdf
Answer Pack Maths - Working Towards.pdf
10-for-10-KS2 Maths Practice Booklet - Expected Standard.pdf
Answer Pack Maths - Expected Standard.pdf
10-for-10 KS2 Maths Practice Booklet - Greater-Depth.pdf
Answer Pack Maths - Greater Depth.pdf

Need a break?

Other English Revision Resources:

Spelling - these are both websites that we are used to using lots:

https://spellingframe.co.uk/

http://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/spookySpellings/index.html

Spelling - this is the game we played to help with double consonants. It uses words from previous SATs spelling tests:

https://www.spellzone.com/word_lists/games-6050.htm

BBC Bitesize - The Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling section is most likely to be useful for revision. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zv48q6f Make sure you click on the Y6 tab.

Rollama - The new llama-themed grammar, punctuation and spelling website, full of games to play:

https://www.rollama.com/index-sologames.html

BBC Bitesize Crystal Explorers - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zkbkf4j/articles/zbm8scw

Synonyms and Antonyms - https://www.abcya.com/games/wordtoss_synonym_antonym

- https://wordwall.net/resource/1553422/reading/synonyms-balloon-pop

Active and Passive Voice (by Zombies!) - This is the video we used in our English lesson to help us remember the difference between the active and passive voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOoFlstyZm0

Other Maths Revision Resources:

'How To' videos :

Multiplying by 10, 100 and 1000 - https://loom.com/share/32d3c882ec5e4f14807435f4bd1d73e5 This video was made for home learning but is still useful as a reminder.

Dividing by 10, 100 and 1000 - https://loom.com/share/4f95eca7ff0e4908b85c66c970ed9c28 This video was made for home learning but is still useful as a reminder.

Long Division - https://loom.com/share/c7339fce1a0c48a989eb67327e7d4418

'How To' images :

Converting measurements.JPG
How to find a fraction of an amount.JPG
How to find a % of an amount.JPG
How to x decimals pg 1.JPG
How to x decimals pg 2.JPG

Corbett Maths Primary - A fantastic website. Many of the resources can be printed, but could also be looked at on screen with

practise being done on paper.

5-a-day: 5 questions to practise every day at different levels. Perfect for practising some arithmetic and reasoning each day.

Videos: Videos to explain how to tackle different skills, followed by questions to answer.

Worksheets: These link to the videos mentioned above.

Quizzes: Link to Kahoot quizzes.

https://corbettmathsprimary.com/

My Mini Maths (Y6 Arithmetic Practice) - This part of My Mini Maths is particularly helpful when you are practising for the Arithmetic paper. You can select the types of questions you find tricky, watch a video to help you, then try lots of examples of that type of question: https://myminimaths.co.uk/arithmetic-16-practice-questions/ (Unfortunately, you now need a subscription to access this. We will keep an eye on this and let you know if that changes.)

MathsBot (Y6 Arithmetic Practice) - This is new, and is similar to My Mini Maths: https://mathsbot.com/primary/ks2Mini You can either practise all of the question types, or you can select the types of questions you find tricky.

To select question types, click on the question number. (You can select more than one question at a time.)
Next, click 'New', and the questions that match the types you selected will appear.
To return to the original set of questions, click 'Reset'.
Whichever page you are on, to change the questions to a new set, simply click 'New'.
You can check your answers once you have finished by clicking 'Answers'.

My Maths - https://www.mymaths.co.uk/

When you log in, click on 'Practice', then on 'Boosters' just underneath it.

On the first page there is a set of Y6 booster activities. On the second page, there is a set of KS2 SATs activities.

IXL - A fantastic website. You can pick an area to work on, look at examples or explanations and also answer some example questions. To use the website for free, you are limited to a certain number of questions, but it's definitely worth looking at every now and then. https://uk.ixl.com/math/year-6

BBC Bitesize - A great website. Again, you can choose an area to look at. There are videos, explanations and short quizzes to help you. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z826n39 ( Make sure you have Y6 selected.)

Guardians of Mathematica - Our new favourite game!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zd2f7nb/articles/zn2y7nb

Maths Is Fun - This site is really good at explaining things and gives you practice questions at the bottom of each page.

https://www.mathsisfun.com/

Topmarks - You can search for games that link to specific areas of Maths. Look out for the age range underneath all games. It will give you a good idea of how useful it is. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/

Times Tables - https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student/17733

- https://www.timestables.co.uk/

- https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Telling the Time - https://www.topmarks.co.uk/time/teaching-clock A useful website to help you practise reading an analogue clock, a 12-hour digital clock and a 24-hour digital clock.

Missing Angles game - https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/234/missing-angles Scroll down to play the game. Once in the game menu, the first 5 game types will help you with what we've learned.

Reflection - If you want to practise your ability to reflect shapes, this will help:

https://www.teacherled.com/iresources/symmetry/symmetryshapes/

Ooodle - https://mathszone.co.uk/resources/grid/ooodle/ We know some of you love this game. It's great for practising BODMAS, but remember, this is only part of your revision.

Maths With A Mouse - https://www.mathswithamouse.co.uk/satsy-mcsatsface-revision This is the new website that we found. Lots of this is useful, but remember to be careful and choose games that will help you revise Y6 Maths. For example, if playing the coordinates game, make sure you select coordinates in 4 quadrants instead of 1.