School - children skipping years query

Gingham_R

milliebear00001 wrote: »

Being 'academically advanced' at a particular point in one's school career doesn't mean that will always be the case.

Absolutely right. But being academically advanced is not the same as being gifted, as we agreed. Being gifted never goes away, but being advanced can and does 'level out' as children learn things at different rates.

blue_monkey wrote:

That is all very well but what happens if they are in year 6 instead of year 4, what do they do when they are in years 5 and 6? They cannot go any higher so will have to, one day, mix with kids of their own age. What happens then?

I think maybe you misunderstood the point I was making. The fact is that the kids often think and play differently (if indeed they do play - some don't.)

I wasn't saying they shouldn't mix with children their own age - I was saying they should be allowed and expected to mix with children of varying ages, as should all children. And I was saying that children who are socially clumsy with children their own age because they have little in common with them can be seen as having 'social problems' when in fact the only problem is they're expected to be like other children their age when they clearly aren't.

tyllwyd

In my children's school they have about a class and a half in each year group, so a lot of classes are mixed ages. Generally they only mix two adjacent years though, so a year 3 child might be in with year 2 or year 4, depending, but not with year 5. My daughters both went into classes with older children in KS2, and coped OK. They didn't repeat year 6, but there were some kids whose last primary school year was in a mixed year 5/year 6 class. If there were activities directed at year 6 but not year 5, then the year 6's would leave the mixed class and join the rest of their year for those activities. Maths was also streamed in KS2.

But to the OP - if you have concerns, then the best people to talk to are the teachers. If you make an appointment to have a chat with someone and talk through the issues, maybe they can reassure you.

shirlgirl2004

chelle230 wrote: »

I can only speak from my own experience, I know the level my son is at. he was walking at 9 months, reading at 3, hitting all his milestones early.
I'd rather he was in a smaller class where he isn't fighting for attention because he is bored of reading books the others are just starting out on, when he was reading them in nursery.

I don't think walking at 9 months and reading at 3 makes a child gifted. It does however make them bored stiff when they go into reception and most of the class are learning phonics. This is why IMO school doesn't workfor children that are ahead in their learning. My DD was in a private school with 40 students and 5 teachers. Even with those ratios you don't get an individual education it is still a 1:8 ratio.

balletshoes

blue_monkey wrote: »

I am wondering if they are a few kids short in the upper years (some may go onto middle school) so they can get more kids from waiting lists in and fiull the class.

They get an amount per child now don't they? Just wondering if they are moving the kids up to get more kids, and therefore more money, in. Interesting really.

Our classes have just been mixed and I am going to 'suck it and see' my DD is an advanced learner but the Y3, going into Y4, has been split and a teacher has gone (on maternity, not replaced).
The higher learners have gone in with Y4/5/6. Apparently a lot fo small village schools do it these days. We will have to wait and see if it makes a difference.

this happened to me in my small village school over 30 years ago - 5 of us who were at the top of our year went in with the oldest 2 years. Certainly didn't do any of us any harm, and because its a small school we still played with our peers every day.

picnmix

I would question the amount of chilldren in the class they are moving as it does seem quite a few.

Are all the classes in the school mixed classes, my DD is going to enter a year 3/4 class in sept, she is a summer baby so will be just 7 mixed with a class which in theory could have kiddies of age 9 in. The school that she attends mixes most classes and they work it out on a variety of differant reasons. If your little one is leaving reception and entering year 1 in sept i would not think it unusual that the year 1 class is mixed with year 2. I would have a chat with their teachers just to clarify and it would put your mind at rest.

mancbird

balletshoes wrote: »

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this happened to me in my small village school over 30 years ago - 5 of us who were at the top of our year went in with the oldest 2 years. Certainly didn't do any of us any harm, and because its a small school we still played with our peers every day.

I skipped year 2 (last year of infants) and went into year 3. As I was then in the juniors I didn't have the opportunity to play with my peers. Playtime was at a different time in a different playground and infants finished school half an hour earlier than the juniors. At 3pm I would be sent home (with the infants) whilst the rest of my class stayed on to 3.30pm. You can imagine how well that went down with the other kids in my class!

Gingham_R

shirlgirl2004 wrote: »

I don't think walking at 9 months and reading at 3 makes a child gifted.

I agree that they're bored stiff when they start school, but I would say that a child 'hitting all their milestones early' IS gifted.

milliebear00001

chelle230 wrote: »

as soon as break arrives he heads off to find the year 4/5.

it's brilliant for them to be able to socialise with older children, they can make the decisions then on who to play with.

Your son is lucky that he is mature enough to be able to get along with children who are so much older. However, he is also lucky that those children accept him. I hope it continues to be the case. The OP though, needs to be aware that often these relationships will not be quite so rosy. I have seen older children 'rejecting' younger ones in their class because they perceive them as different and not 'part of' their group. Sometimes, they 'mother' them, or treat them differently because of their age - the relationship isn't seen as 'equal'.

Sometimes, these children end up rejected by their own cohort (who they just don't spend enough time with to forge strong relationships) and by the class they are part of. They miss out on birthday party invites, sleepovers, gossip, playground games etc etc. For these children, real social and emotional problems can arise.

shirlgirl2004

Gingham_R wrote: »

I agree that they're bored stiff when they start school, but I would say that a child 'hitting all their milestones early' IS gifted.

OK we'll agree to differ. My son reached all his milestones early. He isn't gifted though.

Spendless

shirlgirl2004 wrote: »

I don't think walking at 9 months and reading at 3 makes a child gifted. It does however make them bored stiff when they go into reception and most of the class are learning phonics. This is why IMO school doesn't workfor children that are ahead in their learning. My DD was in a private school with 40 students and 5 teachers. Even with those ratios you don't get an individual education it is still a 1:8 ratio.

It *can be* an indicator. I have wondered about my DS's 'oddities' for years. About 3 weeks ago on this very board I stumbled on the reason why. And the people who say 'it doesn't go away' are right. Believe me, I sometimes wish there was an off button.

OP- I wondered the same as someone else, are you sure it's not a mixed year, where the younger children who are more able are put in the mixed group. I ask because my kids infant school did the same. My friend's son went into it. It was a mixed yr1/2 class and was purely down to numbers. (there was a big yr 1 year and a small yr 2) My friend's yr 1 son with a late May birthday was put in it, because he had acheived a lot during his reception year. To this day my friend says her son 'skipped yr 1' He didn't he went into a yr1/2 class cos at that point he was more advanced and the school was running a mixed class due to class sizes.