Ham & High

Schoolboy’s website advice on sitting Sats - 30 September 2005 Caroline McClatchey

AN 11-year-old schoolboy is teaching the whole world wide web how to pass exams.

Daniel Hardoon, 11, from Connaught Drive, Hampstead Garden Suburb, has set up a website to help his peers pass their Standard Assessment Tests (Sats).

A former pupil at Brookland Junior School in Hill Top, he left with the top grade in all three subjects - English, maths and science - and started at Mill Hill County High school in September.

He said: "I came up with the idea when I was sitting my Sats in Year 6. There wasn't much out there when I was revising.

"I spoke to my dad and he thought it was a great idea. It was only a rough idea to begin with but we did more and more work on it and eventually created a site. It probably took about six months."

He had help designing the Sats Guide site, which includes examples of work and a special A to Z of Sats "how to", but he wrote most of the text.

He said: "Most of the information is for free but if you want to do the online tests there's a £5 registration fee for the whole year. There are hot tips, what's going to happen on the day, what equipment you will need and foods that are good for exams.

"I just wanted to help other people who were doing their Sats. They weren't too difficult but some people might find them difficult and I just wanted to help."

Daniel is really enjoying his first year at secondary school and says his favourite subjects are computers and maths. What has pleased him most about the Sats Guide website is the feedback from pupils, the Department for Skills and Education (DfES) and the QCA exam board.

Mandy Steel, from QCA, said: "I am sure a lot of time and effort has gone into producing this and you should be proud of such an achievement."

The site went live last weekend and four people, all from outside London, have already registered. There were more than 141 hits after just two days.

Daniel's father, Henry, said: "He's always liked to help people. When his sister was doing her violin exam, he did a walk-through for her and she got a merit because of it.

"He's also fond of IT. In his final year at Brookland, he was asked to take the computing lesson. He is largely self taught - the other day he took some pictures and made them into a film of his final year and classmates. He converted it into the right format for DVD and put on a menu.

"He's been very good and it's something we have to encourage."

For more information visit www.satsguide.co.uk.

caroline.mcclatchey@hamhigh.co.uk