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mixed age classes, infant school. advice please

The infant school my DS1 attends has announced that as of september (when DS2 starts) they will have to mix the classes as they have too many children joining at reception age, at the moment all children join the september after their 4th birthday and each year group is taught in individual classes of 30.

Basically the divide will be 5 classes of reception/ year 1 and 3 classes of year 1 /year 2

We were told by my sons teacher that they are advising DS1 should be placed with the reception children who are starting in september, even though he was born in the september making him one of the oldest(he will be 6 this year, so almost 2 years older than most of them)). they feel that there is such a difference between him and children who will be in year 2 that he wont benefit and by putting him with the younger children he will be on more of a level with them. they made it very clear that he will still be taught the same year 1 material as the children who will be placed with the year 2's who are the same age as him. and when i asked if he was behind or struggling they said no its purely just his interaction with older kids and the fact that he is more interested in play at the moment. they feel he will be a good role model to the younger ones and will improve that way.


we understood that all of his year group would be split according to ability yet today we received a news letter stating that its being done on age. so all the children whose birthday falls sept to feb will be in a year1/year2 mix and all those feb-oct will be reception/year1.

it now appears our son is considered to be not good enough ? :confused: i really dont know and cant do anything about this till monday. but he will be in the same group as children who are 2 years younger than him who are my DS2 friends.


has anyone else experienced the same thing at their school ?

Im really annoyed as i was totally un-aware that my son was behind in any way .


mishka
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"Just because you are offended, doesnt mean you are right" Ricky Gervais :D
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Comments

  • money_maker_3
    money_maker_3 Posts: 9,591 Forumite
    Stoptober Survivor
    I would go into the school on Monday and ask to have a private meeting with your sons teacher and the year head to discuss this. If he was behind in any way, you should have been made aware of it.
    I personally have no issue with the mixed year groups as I find that this can actually help some kids and they are taught the right material for their age group, but I would want to know why he is going into the lower one.
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  • tamlem
    tamlem Posts: 483 Forumite
    My 4 children have all experienced composite classes and they have always been a positive experience.

    There are benefits, the class size is usually kept smaller in a composite class and they have more TA help due to the different abilities/ages being taught. Also if a child needs to do some work at a level below or above his age group he/she can do some catch up lessons with the younger/older class members rather than being singled out to leave the class for a special reading group etc. Of the 3 schools we have experience of, 2 considered individual children/ability/peer group issues/maturity etc in their decisions and 1 just split the children by birthdate- one year this gave my daughter a class with only 2 boys in which i found bizarre!

    If your childs teachers have considered him individually in this process then I'm sure they had good reason. I would in some ways find that reassuring, It would have been useful for them to have been more thoughtful towards including you in the process though.

    I know it's hard but please dont worry about him being unduly behind other children. As you say, this has not been flagged as a major issue by his teachers previously and at the young age he is they all learn at such different rates. the vast majority all even out within the next couple of years. I'm sure he'll be fine.

    Good luck with it all. I appreciate how worrying things like this can be. I do also agree with other posters, go and talk to the staff again if you're concerned.
  • Flashdaisy
    Flashdaisy Posts: 146 Forumite
    I agree that if you have any concerns or questions then it'd be best to make an appointment with the Headteacher or your child's teacher to discuss it, I'm sure they will be able to clarify things for you.

    My youngest child is starting infant school in September and the school she is going to mixes year groups from Year 1 onwards, I'm sure there are lots of benefits to mixing year groups, we're going to an open evening later this month so will hopefully find out a bit more then.
  • sillyvixen
    sillyvixen Posts: 3,642 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    when i was at infant school - 30 odd years ago - we had mixed classes, there were 6 classes of all 3 age groups, classes were encouraged to work together on projects and older children were expected to help the younger ones - it worked well. we only had 2 helpers (teaching assistants you would call them now) for all 6 classes so teachers only had occasional back up. we sat in mixed ability tables and did our age appropriate work together - one of the most important lessons we learned was that everyones contribution was important regardless of age or ability.
    i understand you may have concerns - but i just wanted to say that it has worked in the past, and is a practical solution for the current situation you children's school find themselves in now.
    Dogs return to eat their vomit, just as fools repeat their foolishness. There is no more hope for a fool than for someone who says, "i am really clever!"
  • mishkanorman
    mishkanorman Posts: 4,155 Forumite
    thank you so much, all the posts offer a great amount of helpful advice (which is odd on mse these days)

    we will have a meeting next week with the teacher and clarify that he isnt behind, or request that he is put into the higher level and see if extra tutition would help,

    you have all put my mind at ease a little :)


    mishka
    Bow Ties ARE cool :cool:

    "Just because you are offended, doesnt mean you are right" Ricky Gervais :D
  • andyrules
    andyrules Posts: 3,558 Forumite
    Is your DS being separated from his peers, or are others with whom he plays in his new class?
  • jem16
    jem16 Posts: 19,724 Forumite
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    I am a primary school teacher and have taught both composite and straight classes. If I could choose I would always choose to teach a composite class as the maximum class size is 25 as opposed to 33 (in Scotland). 8 children makes a big difference and the children can get more of the teacher's time.

    As to teaching there is no difference between a composite class and a straight class as in both classes children are taught in groups according to their ability. In the class I have just now I have 3 Maths groups and 1 individual (straight class) - last year I had a composite class and had 3 Maths groups.

    A lot of parents have concerns usually because they don't understand how the children are actually taught in class. I have seen parents who were totally against their child being put into a composite class at the beginning of the session coming up and asking us to make sure their child is in a composite class for next session as they saw the value of the smaller class size.
  • msb5262
    msb5262 Posts: 1,619 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hello OP,
    I agree with posters above that a mixed age class can be really beneficial. Unlike jem16 I teach in England, not Scotland so there is no advantage numbers-wise but I think a mixed age class is great because you can meet the children's needs more easily; you can see what they need to learn next, and teach them that.
    I wouldn't be worried at all by the idea of your son going into the reception/year 1 class - it does sound as if his teachers have thought carefully about him, which is great. However, I'm a little uneasy about the statement to parents by the school that date of birth is the only criterion. Clearly this is not 100% true...why say it? Do address it with the school and see if you can get them to amend this statement.
  • Volupturaptor
    Volupturaptor Posts: 113 Forumite
    Just want to say that my daughter, (who is eight years old, year four) has only ever been in mixed classes as she attends a small primary (4-11) school with just three classes. I consider this to be a very good thing as it pretty much forces the teachers to consider the children as individuals, rather than expecting them all to be the same. As already said, the older ones help the younger ones, creating more of a bond, which prevents bullying and benefits both the helper and the helpee. (Is that a word??) If you watch a group of children playing together, it's perfectly natural for a range of ages to be together, why should school be different?
  • bylromarha
    bylromarha Posts: 10,085 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    Hmm

    This happened in the school I taught in before I became a SAH mum.

    It really frustrated me it was solely split on age-from yr 1, there were children going into yr2 mix that I knew would struggle (and subsequently did) and children in the reception mix who were far beyond the yr 1 work already. The teachers tried to convince the head that the kids would suffer, but she was immovable on it due to the labelling which could be seen to be happening if kids were organised due to ability.

    The fact the school have told you already (beginning of June, rather than let you find out on induction day beginning of July) seems to show that they are keen to get this sorted for the good of the children concerned. Some children thrive on learning through play, others in sitting and doing tasks-it's the way they're wired.

    All the best with the meeting and let us know how you get on.
    Who made hogs and dogs and frogs?
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