Malory, LIZS, tiptoes and others from our original thread re: ds being "promoted". Need help with wording of letter to Head and governors.

[northender]

OK the situation is ds is doing yr1 Mon-Thurs and Rec on Fridays. As we suspected he is not happy and keeps asking if he can go back to Reception. We weren't presented any options other than acceptance of this. The LEA are not interested unless we've been through the Head and Governors first. We want to write a letter asking for ds to be put back to Reception but we also want to complain about the appalling way the whole thing has been handled. Don't know whether this should be in the same letter or separate ones. Can't speak for the other 4 sets of parents, one is very unhappy the others seem indifferent.

Hope this all makes sense, I've made reams of notes of what I want to include but don't really know where to start. Any help appreciated!

[northender]

Assuming of course that "Oi you bastard, reinstate ds to reception or I'll kick your head in" is not an appropriate intro for the letter!

[northender]

In the original thread, LIZS suggested that this post of mine could be used as the basis of a letter. Not sure how to put in that we want ds to be put back into reception.

"My problems with this are that they've known since June that this was going to be the intake but this was never mentioned as a way of handling it.
To just send a letter announcing it after they've been at school for 3 weeks making friends and settling themselves without any prior warning or discussion is not right.
It's presented in the letter as a done deal not as a choice for us.
I do think that ds could probably cope academically and may respond better to the more structured nature of Yr 1 but he would find it very difficult going into a class where friendships and alliances were already formed and that is too big an issue to ignore. At this stage we are more concerned about his emotional and social wellbeing than what he's doing academically. "

[noonar]

so you were told put him in yr 1 or leave the school?

[LIZS]

hello !!

Think I'd go along the lines of ...

We are writing to express our continued concern regarding the proposal to include our son in the newly combined Reception/Year 1 class [if that is what it is ]. It has already had an unsettling effect on him and we feel strongly that having spent several weeks making friends among his Reception peers and becoming comfortable there , that is the class which would suit him best. Whilst "ds could probably cope academically and may respond better to the more structured nature of Yr 1 ","he would find it very difficult going into a class where friendships and alliances were already formed and that is too big an issue to ignore. At this stage we are more concerned about his emotional and social wellbeing than what he's doing academically".

We believe that the situation of an excessive Reception intake would have been known in June " but this [proposal] was never mentioned as a way of handling it.
To just send a letter announcing it after they've been at school for 3 weeks making friends and settling themselves without any prior warning or discussion is not right.
It's presented in the letter as a done deal not as a choice for us. " There should be alternative ways of handling the issue without affecting individual children in this way. We would like reassurance that all such alternatives have been explored fully.

For our son, ds, it does not seem to be appropriate solution and indeed he is already asking to return to his former class. We would therefore request that he remains in a Reception only class with immediate effect.

Yours etc etc

feel free to elaborate/change .... !!!

[northender]

noonar-no, it was we are putting your ds into Yr1 which has 5 spaces, like it or lump it. Possibly the only alternative is to change schools. Another possibility is that he is brought back to Rec and another child is "promoted" some parents seem to be flattered!

LIZS that is just what I needed. I will edit that to our circumstances and then resubmit it for checking of course. Can't thank you enough. A week ago our attitude was that it seemed really mean to pull ds out of this just to land another child in the situation but now I don't care tbh and just want what's best for him.

[northender]

This is our latest draft, any comments welcome! We're going to hand it in tomorrow.

"We are writing to express our continued concern regarding the ?promotion? of ds to the Year 1 class along with 4 of his Reception classmates. It has already had an unsettling effect on him and we feel strongly that having spent several weeks making friends among his Reception peers and becoming comfortable there, that that is the class that would suit him best. Whilst ds could probably cope academically and may even respond better academically to the more structured nature of Yr 1, he is finding it very difficult going into a class where friendships and alliances are already formed and that is too big an issue to ignore. At this stage we are more concerned about his emotional and social wellbeing than what he is doing academically.

The size of the intake was known in June, but this proposal was never mentioned to any of the parents as a way of handling it. To merely send a letter announcing it, after the children have been at school for 3 weeks, making friends and settling themselves, without any prior warning, discussion or consultation is not right.
It was presented in the letter as a ?done deal?, ie not as a choice for us. Although we were invited to a meeting to discuss this, we were surprised and disappointed to find that the changes had already been made prior to the meeting. Our disquiet at this was exacerbated by the fact that the original proposal had changed radically from one where the children would spend mornings in Yr 1 and afternoons in Reception, to one where whole days Monday to Thursday (inclusive) are spent in Yr 1, with only Fridays in Reception. There should be alternative ways of handling the issue without affecting individual children in this way. We would like reassurance that all such alternatives have been explored fully.

The deciding factor in our choice of St Peter?s was that the school would best meet his emotional needs and social development. However, these needs are not being met fully at the moment and he has become very unsettled. He feels all his friends are in the reception class and that he has not made friends among the Year 1 children which is perfectly understandable.

To summarise, for ds, it does not seem to be the appropriate solution and indeed, he is already asking daily to return to his former class. We would therefore request that he returns to the Reception class with immediate effect."

[LIZS]

Excellent

[peegeeweegeeWITCH]

I followed the original thread with interest, and have just found this. Did you send the letter? What did the school say? I hope they move your ds back to reception...

Excellent letter by the way..

[SherlockLGJ]

Excellent lettter.