Moving up a year for classes Y1 ,Y2

[Thatcrazymummy]

My Son has just finished foundation
During the head teacher approached me and said he was doing very well and they were going to move him up to do academic classes
Of course I was very happy to know he was doing well and this continued till the rest of the year - I thought this was normal
It’s only when it became a topic of discussion that I realised that my Son was the only child to be doing this in the whole year ? I spoke to some other parents from other schools who said they hadn’t heard of this

Is it normal practice to put children who are doing well up in the next year to do classes ?

Does it just fizzle out ?

( I’m not complaining - I’m just interested to know if someone has a similar experience )

Also what happens if this continues and the bridge between primary and secondary ?

Thank you again

[GreenTulips]

My DD went into higher classes for guided reading and maths

Rest of the time spent in her own class

Other children caught up and she rejoined her own class for those lessons

[m0therofdragons]

I'd be really concerned re social impact on the dc but it does happen. I'd need a serious conversation with staff and a settling in plan. Might be a little late though.

[GreenTulips]

Why would it have social impact to move to a different room for 1 or 2 lessons a day?

[Cherubfish]

My DS did this in Y5 (went up to Y6 for some lessons). It wasn't great actually because he then just had to repeat the same stuff a year later. I think ideally they stay with their peers and the teacher finds ways to stretch them within the class.

[HeadsDownThumbsUpEveryone]

As a teacher I think its terrible practice to move a child up regardless of their year but especially a F2 child moving into YR1/YR2. A good teacher should be able to differentiate for all the children in their class and as foundation is play based I would argue it that should make it much easier to stretch an able child during their free choice time.

It does happen in some schools but I would be wary of working in a school which thought the best course of action was to single out 1 child and move them into a group with children potentially 3 years older than themselves.

[PandaPieForTea]

My DD was one of about 4 in reception who went into year 1 for English lessons when she had come off the end of the phonics scheme they used. They didn’t send them up for anything else. I think that makes sense as it is something that has an endpoint. Year R were split into groups reflecting where they were on the scheme, but a few of them were beyond the top group.

I don’t think it would make sense for other subjects as I’d expect the teacher to differentiate and use a mastery approach such that it wasn’t necessary.

My DD was then in a mixed year 1/2 class and then a straight year 2 class. I’d say that the straight year 2 has been better for her as she was trying to keep up with the year 2s in the mixed group, but had a knowledge gap that made it difficult. Actually following the syllabus for her year group and being extended has improved her resilience and confidence.

[sirfredfredgeorge]

It makes little sense, if the kid is more able than average, just going at the same pace as the average but missing out some stuff and hoping they work it out doesn't really achieve anything.

If they're not more able, but have just covered more stuff (due to teaching out side or whatever) then it still makes more sense to use that time to teach other different stuff rather than simply keep them ploughing the same path and keeping them "ahead".

[Tomorrowillbeachicken]

For a true outlier it can be the only option. Ds did this for rwi, went into yr2 top rwi group)but then was taken back down when year two did their sats exams. It sucks and ds then got bored and in trouble as was daydreaming.
If your child picks things up fast though it may not be best option as eventually they’ll just outpace those groups too.

[Thatcrazymummy]

It’s a real dilemma of wanting to encourage them in what they love and not conforming to what’s expected in school

[Lisaquin01]

My DD is about to go into year 3 and is a high achiever
During year R and 1 she went into the year above for Phonics but in year 2 she has stayed in the class for all subjects completing extension tasks were needed.

[IceCreamFace]

I think I'd be concerned if this was happening out of the blue - had they not brought anything up before this? My DS is probably going to be going up to higher classes for maths but he really is a few years ahead (could do the Y2 SATS maths test easily at the beginning of Y1) and I was aware of this for some time. In terms of reading and literacy there are quite a few in his class who are reading well above their age (Ds is two year above his actual age and not the best in the class) but are managed fine within the current class. Have they done a full assessment on him to ensure that he has a solid grounding in all the curriculum for the year before moving him up?

Why are they not able to stretch him and offer him extension within the curriculum for the year. The danger of acceleration is that just moving him up a yea won't work because if he learns at a faster pace he will soon overtake the year above and by y4/5 will have finished the syllabus for primary.