As teachers, organisation is key and preparing for SATs is no different. As Easter has come and gone, ensuring you have a checklist for your SATs preparation can be your secret weapon of success this year. So make the most of our resources to give you a helping hand. Within this article, we share our five pre-SATs must-dos which we believe can help keep those last minute nerves in check, without forgetting anything important.
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SATs checklists help to ensure no topic or task is left behind as exam week approaches.
Formatted in digestible chunks, we share our five pre-SATs tips to add to your checklists for a smooth ride into the examination period.
1. Provide students with a self assessment checklist to assess their confidence & knowledge
2. Address any last minute errors in technique
3. Ensure you have enough stationery for the test week
4. Review your classes wellbeing & provide support where necessary
5. Get ready to celebrate
We also answer some of the most common questions around SATs checklists and how they can help prepare both teachers and students.
A SATs checklist not only helps keep teachers accountable and organised in the run up to exams week, but also provides visual proof nothing has been missed at the last minute. We’d hate for you to start preparing for SATs by setting out the exam room and suddenly realise you’re two pens short for your class! It’s the little things like this that can make all the difference. Call it superstition if you’d like, but when you prepare for all measures, the likelihood of needing them may just reduce.
Having a checklist for the SATs period may also be a handy visual for anyone substituting your lessons. While we all aim to be available, you never know when an emergency situation may emerge. Having this checklist visible, can help keep track of not only where you are in your SATs preparation, but also showcase what is left to do.
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Students need structure and guidance, whether they’d like to admit it or not in Year 6! So when the time comes to revision and preparing for SATs, checklists are an easy solution. Whether you want two individual checklists, one for Year 6 Maths and the other for Year 6 English, or combine them together, the decision is yours.
The aim of these SATs checklists are to provide students with a breakdown of the topics and themes which they have been taught over the past year and may appear in their exams. They can then take these away and establish if they feel confident with the topics or if there are certain elements which they’d like further help with.
Following Easter, your lesson planning may be aimed primarily at revisiting topics your class feels the least confident on. This is not the time to be starting anything new. Thanks to already covering the work in previous months, this is your time to really drill down on technique and iron out any last minute errors which may be cropping up. Nipping them in the bud prior to the children sitting their SATs exams, could be the difference they need to achieve their expected target.
Equipment and checking your supplies. Many of us may be routinely checking the supplies cupboard and ensuring there is enough to go round, but now is the time to get specific. The last thing you want is to prepare your exam room and find you haven’t got enough stationery. Our SATs preparation tip is checking your supplies early to allow you the flexibility to order more before the exams.
Whether this is your first exam season or your tenth, one thing you must understand about SATs week is the mental toll it will take on your class. For many, this could be the first time they are sitting exams, or they have built up nerves over the importance these tests may be. To ease your classes mind, why not set aside time in your SATs checklist to practise some mental wellbeing. From introducing yoga stances to allowing time for mindfulness, test different wellbeing practices to see what works best for you and your class.
Celebrations need to be on your SATs checklist. While many think these lists are just for tasks prior to the exams, you need to ensure you are helping your students feel a sense of achievement over what they have just done. This isn’t to say that the rest of your week's lesson plans are out the window, it's just simply finding time to congratulate the students' hard work.
A SATs checklist can be utilised at any point from the start of the academic year. We’d recommend using one as early as possible to really feel the benefit and prepare with ease. However, if you’re on the home straight to exam week, a final pre-SATs checklist is still possible to use and can help to keep both your personal and professional life structured.
Like any other organisation resource, a SATs checklist is a handy tool which benefits teachers by helping them to break down the preparation steps with ease. Whether that is establishing last minute orders to place, running final revision clinics or ensuring you don’t miss a vital theme which could appear in the tests. Each as important as the last, you want to make sure you’ve left no stone unturned. Just think, the satisfaction you can feel when you tick off all your to-do tasks, on your SATs checklist, will be worth the hours of preparation you have undertaken.
While there is no direct link between SATs checklists and an increase in students' willingness to revise, making one available to your class can only help encourage them in the right direction. As a teacher, your priority is to help guide your students through the topics, making it fun and educational along the way.
When it comes to revising outside the classroom, many students may feel they don’t know where to start. By generating a checklist of the Maths and English SATs topics, students can work their way through revising what they feel least confident with. Preparing this list early can not only be beneficial for home learning, but it can provide the necessary time for students to ask you questions on what they are not sure about.
Preparing for one of the busiest weeks in your Year 6 calendar doesn’t need to be difficult. With the help of Pango, you can easily find high-quality, premium resources at the click of a button. From geography activities, to science worksheets and history resources. Always made for teachers, by teachers. Sign up today and receive a 7-day free trial to all our premium content.