what's going wrong with my daughter

peachyprice

smily wrote: »

my daughter is in year 3 and was due to move up to year 4,as the school has not got enough student's or teacher's for a 6th class they are only having 5 classes so this is how the classes go
class 1=reception + year 1
class 2=year 1+ year 2
class 3=year 3+ year 4
class 4=year 4+ year 5
class 5=year 5+ year 6

It is actually quite normal for there to be mixed classes in primary schools. Some schools mix based purely on age, others are mixed based on ability.

If your school is mixing based on ability it doesn't necessarily mean she is being 'held back'. She will still to much of the same year 4 topics, but will be working at a level which she can achieve, rather than pushing her to a higher level and failing.

Moving her to a different school will not guarantee that she will not be streamed in the same way.

When is her birthday BTW?

Spendless

Quite common for school years to be mixed at primary level for various reasons, oversubscribed in 1 year and undersubscribed in the other, lack of classrooms, unable to afford another teacher.

You'll have to ask the school how they select which children are going into the mixed year class. When their birthday falls may be one, their ability may be another, maturity to be in a class with other pupils not in 'their' year.

I doubt she will repeat work she has already covered but again ask the school.

mrsvicx

Schools have been mixing classes for years, I was in mixed age classes for every year of my primary school education except one and I am now 31 :eek:

gratefulforhelp_2

Do you know what levels your DD gained in her latest assessment, and how these relate to average levels? Do you know what progress she has made over the year, and how that relates to average progress?

If not, these are questions you need to ask (gently) before tackling the class issue, IMO.

slightlyconfused1

Hi

Your child is not repeating a year. She will be in year 4 in a year 3/4 class.

My children all attend a small school and we have 2 and a half classes p1-p4 p4-p5 afternoons only and p5 - p7. I find this a great system. Although they have year groups within the classroom they also work with children of similar abilities be they older or younger. No-one feels that they are more or less clever than their friends, they are just in different groups. This system is also really flexible and individual needs are much more easily addressed as classes are not set in stone.

An earlier poster asked when your daughter's birthday is. This is incredibly relevant. My son is 6 and is entering p3, another child will be 6 in October and is just starting p1. If your daughter is one of the youngest she may benefit with being with the older children in year 3 as the age gap may be less.

You don't say on what basis the classes have been split. It may age, or academic or even alphabetical (when I was at primary we had too many children in our year so they created a third class and the split was purely alphabetical). It may even be that her friends are being put in that class.

If you have worries academic or otherwise about your daughter then please approach the school but I really wouldn't worry about composite classes as, in my experience, they have many benefits.

ontheroad_2

I will read through the posts here again as I've just skimmed - but have to say that I agree she's not being held back a year if she's going into a composite class - my daughter was in a composite class for 2 years in years one and 2, and she may be in a composite class next year (years 5 and 6). They don't repeat a year, and my daughter is well above the national average for most of her subjects.

callow

My children's school has mixed classes. They have enough for 1 1/2 classes for each year. So for example Year 3 and 4 have one full Year 3, a mixed Year 3 and 4 and a full Year 4. Same for Years 1 and 2 and Years 5 and 6.

Despite being in mixed classes they are taught at their year's level and are given different work (although the same topic) and have different expectations.

The classes are divided strictly by birthdate so their is no arguing about who is in whos class.

Although it does cause some division of friendships, academically there are no problems.

peachyprice

slightlyconfused1 wrote: »

An earlier poster asked when your daughter's birthday is. This is incredibly relevant. My son is 6 and is entering p3, another child will be 6 in October and is just starting p1. If your daughter is one of the youngest she may benefit with being with the older children in year 3 as the age gap may be less.

Yes, I definitely agree with this, my DD is among the youngest in her year, she's this year been in a year 3/4 class, there's no way in the world she's mature enough to have been in a class with girls that are almost a year older than her, they change so much when they get to 9-10, my DD just wasn't ready to deal with that, and I was more than happy for her to be kept with the 8-9's.

clairehi

I would go into the school and talk to the Head about how they will manage the teaching of a mixed year group class and ask how they will ensure your DD is both supported and challenged to achieve her best.
A mixed class doesn't mean that she has to be held back but I can totally understand how it feels that way to you and her.

It must be really hard if her friends are going into another class too. So ask the school how they will deal with that?

Having said that, at the other end of the school, there will be half a class who have to "repeat" a year in the Year 5/6 class, so they will have the same problem with those kids then.

I must say though that I had a bad experience with a "mixed age" class. My DS was in a mixed Reception (22 kids) and Year 1 (6 kids) class. We were not even told about this by the school and found out from other parents as term went on. Friends who are teachers could not understand how this could work as FS and KS1 curricula are quite different. Also with only 6 Year 1 kids, they really must have felt "kept back". That school was a car crash anyway and luckily we were able to move DS after Reception anyway. I would also want to know from the Head how a class teacher would manage a mixed KS1/KS2 class too.

*Louise*

I am a bit copnfused reading the posts but to clarify: OP - is your daughter in the younger half of her year age-wise?

When our primary school has to join classes, they are split by age, but even though primary 4 children might be in a 3/4 class - they still do the work according to their year level. They certainly don't do the same work over again.


When I was at school, it was so small my sister and I actually ended up in the same class for a year - I was p.7 and she was p.5 (there were only 4 kids in p.6) - I certainly didn't do the same work as her though :rotfl: