If you want to do SATs, go to school in the States
And no, you can’t use class time to revise. I had eight pupils missing from class today. I know that one or two have had official permission to be absent, but this was one of those occasions when several took it upon themselves to disappear. A mail message this afternoon informed us to be nice to this particular group of egos because they’re off to do their SATs on the 5th of October. I still don’t understand why Chinese school children do SATs on top of everything else. It’s an exam for American school children who have been through the American school system. While Chinese pupils may get 100% in the maths exam, they usually make arses of themselves in English. (That said, some of them still get exceptionally good marks overall.) What I’d like to know is whether American universities are even remotely interested in the results Chinese pupils get in SATs. I’m not convinced that any of my pupils need to do this exam, and suspect that this belong right up there beside the fall...