Tell your year 6 children that they are so much more than their SATs results

As a dad of two, one already navigating the world of secondary school and another who has just completed her SATS, I have found myself reflecting deeply on what these coming weeks mean for families across the country.

On one hand, I believe in encouraging our children to learn well, stretch themselves and discover the confidence that comes from taking on new challenges. Education matters. Preparation matters. Doing our best matters.

On the other hand, adventure matters in childhood too.

Only a few weeks ago, my wife, daughter, son and I were away in Cornwall during what should have been two weeks of holiday. Cornwall offered everything you could want from family time together: paddleboarding, adventurous places to explore, coffee shops tucked away on winding streets and, of course, the opportunity to enjoy a good cake or two.

I never want them to believe that a mark on a page tells them everything about who they are

Yet, in the middle of all of that, SATs revision quietly followed us.

Practice papers were tucked into bags. Questions circled around when we would fit in another bit of revision. Should we do it in the morning? Before heading out for the day? After dinner?

I carried a tension that I suspect many parents understand.

I wanted my daughter to rest, laugh, play and enjoy being a child during May holidays. At the same time, I wanted to support her, encourage her and help her prepare for her tests.

As parents, we often find ourselves holding these seemingly opposing truths together.

if the results are not what they hoped for, sit with them in that disappointment without allowing it to become their identity

Work hard, but do not lose your joy.

Prepare well, but remember to rest.

Take opportunities seriously, but do not let them define who you are.

For our family, we chose to do a little each day. We worked through the practice papers together, celebrated what went well and navigated the moments that felt more difficult.

Preparing for SATS with a child who has additional needs added another layer to the journey. As a dyslexic father, I understand something of what education and testing can do to a child’s confidence.

As a dad, I wonder whether SATs results can sometimes tempt us to focus only on what appears to be missing

I remember feeling that school didn’t always understand how I learned. I often struggled to demonstrate what I knew in the ways that were expected of me. It took years to realise that my difficulties within formal education did not diminish the gifts, creativity and strengths God had also placed within me.

That experience has shaped how I parent.

I want my children to embrace learning. I want them to revise, persevere and discover the confidence that comes from doing difficult things. But I never want them to believe that a mark on a page tells them everything about who they are.

As Year 6 children receive their SATS results, some families will celebrate. Others may feel disappointed. Some children will be relieved. Others may wonder whether they have somehow let themselves or those around them down.

As Christian parents, I think we have an opportunity to help shape a different narrative.

Read more:

Gifts not grades: Recognising every young person’s God-given talents

How to support your child through Primary School assessments

Celebrate the effort.

Celebrate the courage it took to sit the tests.

Celebrate the progress that has been made.

Celebrate the moments where your child pushed through uncertainty and kept going.

And if the results are not what they hoped for, sit with them in that disappointment without allowing it to become their identity. A SATS result tells part of a story. It does not tell the whole story.

One of the passages I find myself returning to is the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. The disciples looked at the crowd and saw a problem. Thousands of people were hungry. Their instinct was to focus on what they lacked.

Then lift your eyes beyond the numbers

There wasn’t enough food.

There weren’t enough resources.

But Jesus invited them to look again.

He sent them to find what was already present.

A little boy stepped forward with five loaves and two fish. What he carried didn’t appear impressive. It certainly didn’t seem enough to meet the scale of the need. Yet, in the hands of Jesus, what appeared small became the very thing through which abundance was revealed.

The future world our children are growing into needs more than people who can pass exams

As a dad, I wonder whether SATS results can sometimes tempt us to focus only on what appears to be missing. What if Jesus invites us to look again?

What has God already placed in our children’s hands?

For my daughter, it isn’t simply a SATS mark.

It is her passion for caring for the environment.

It is her love of baking and the hospitality that flows from sharing what she has made with others.

It is the patience and creativity she demonstrates through crocheting.

It is the way she notices younger children and makes space for them to sit, read and feel included.

It is the conversations she nurtures with friends.

It is the compassion she carries so naturally.

acknowledge the emotions and honour the effort

There is no SATS paper that measures kindness.

No assessment framework that scores hospitality.

No scaled score for creativity, empathy or encouragement.

Yet these qualities matter deeply.

They shape communities.

They influence relationships.

They reveal character.

They point towards the kind of leader, colleague, friend and follower of Jesus a child may become.

The future world our children are growing into needs more than people who can pass exams. It needs people who can create, innovate, welcome, serve, lead and care for others.

So, as my daughter receives her SATs results, this is the hope I want to model for her.

I want her to know that I am proud of how hard she has worked.

I want her to celebrate what has gone well.

I want her to understand that disappointment, if it comes, is something we walk through together.

I want her to keep dreaming what God is calling her to do.

Most of all, I want her to know that a score cannot define her character, determine her future or limit what God may choose to do through her life.

The story of the little boy reminds me that God delights in taking what is offered into His hands and using it in ways no one expects.

SATs results may become one part of my daughter’s story.

But it is not the whole story.

The whole story is still unfolding.

It is being written through the gifts she carries, the person she is becoming and the God who sees far more in her than any mark on a page ever could.

So, to every parent and guardian waiting for SATs results this July, celebrate the marks, acknowledge the emotions and honour the effort.

Then lift your eyes beyond the numbers.

Look again at the child God has entrusted to your care.

Notice the loaves and fish they already carry.

And trust that, in God’s hands, their story is still only just beginning.