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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

dd started a new school today. She is a year ahead of the maths curriculum, what should I do?

45 replies

NineNine · 04/09/2018 16:42

DD has just started year 5 in a small, one form entry school. She has come from a very large school with multiple classes per year. I guess this meant they could stream the subjects and dd was put in the group doing the curriculum for the year ahead.

I had no idea about this until she came out of school today and told me they had started on a topic she learnt last year. She's sure it wasn't just a recap, and says she was definitely doing year 5 maths when she was in year 4 last year, (and had done year 4 in the previous year).

What would be reasonable to expect from the school about this? They must be used to some children needing to be stretched, but having covered the entire syllabus already? I don't want her to be bored repeating stuff, or isolated away from her friends while she does separate work. What would the right balance be?

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Lemonsnlime · 04/09/2018 16:47

It could be that the teacher is doing revision and consolidation of last years learning before moving on. Common practice at this time of year x

PatriciaHolm · 04/09/2018 16:50

I would give it a week or so, at which point I would assume/hope the teacher will realise. If not, a gentle word at that point. She's unlikely to be the only one who needs more advanced work.

Childrenofthesun · 04/09/2018 16:52

You can't make any assumptions after one lesson. Teacher could just bhave been assessing what they could always do. The same topics are taught in most years - eg most schools will start with place value across all year groups in the Autumn term. Once the teacher knows what they can do, there should be challenge through reasoning, problem-solving, recognising and explaining in different contexts etc.

Childrenofthesun · 04/09/2018 16:53

already do

NineNine · 04/09/2018 16:54

I've just interrogated dd again . She said the teacher definitely introduced it as a new topic, said something like 'last year you did this -, but now we're going to start doing this -'.

Should I wait til a message comes home then? Would a teacher bring it up or just get on with giving extra work?

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NineNine · 04/09/2018 16:55

oops, that wasn't supposed to be crossed out

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NineNine · 04/09/2018 16:59

Yes, the topic was place value. She said the teacher was introducing thousands, tens of thousands and hundred thousands, for the first time, whereas dd has covered all that, plus tenths and hundredths, already.

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PhilomenaButterfly · 04/09/2018 16:59

I'd mention it to the teacher.

A few years ago DD was going into a new year, she read her reading book in 5 minutes. In her reading record I wrote "DD read this in 5 minutes, could she have something more difficult please?" She came home with a Roald Dahl book. 😀

NineNine · 04/09/2018 17:00

Don't want to make a dick of myself talking to the teacher if it's just a recap

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viques · 04/09/2018 17:03

Many schools have a curriculum map on their websites which show the areas in maths and English that each year group will be learning. Maybe have a look to see if there is anything on there . It is also quite common to revisit topics and cover them in greater depth or using more efficient methods of calculation.

At this time of year most teachers will be making their own assessments of all the children in the class and adjusting their groupings accordingly. I would not make a judgement after one lesson reported back by your daughter.

Owletterocks · 04/09/2018 17:03

I would give it a couple of weeks, if you go in on day 2 saying she needs to be stretched more the teacher will probably think you are mad! Give the teacher time to get to know your dd and her abilities

WindDoesNotBreakTheBendyTree · 04/09/2018 17:11

First day?
I would wait a little
A decent teacher will spot ability and differentiate learning across the class.

BrieAndChilli · 04/09/2018 17:12

The school will have no idea (communication between schools is crap, her file may not even have been sent over yet!!) if your daughters level. Give it a few weeks. They will continually assess them and then give them work to their level once they have found their baseline. For all they know your daughter is good at this one tiny part of maths and rubbish at the rest! They need to see some consistency of higher learning across the subject over several lessons before they can set he appropriate work.

NineNine · 04/09/2018 17:20

Thanks for the tip about the curriculum maps. I've just had a quick look through them with dd and it does seem she has covered most of the year 5 curriculum.

I think it's different to having a more able child in the class. I don't want her teacher to just think she's picking it up really quickly. Is it not worth giving her a heads up that she's actually learnt it all already?

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NineNine · 04/09/2018 17:22

I admit going in on day 2 is probably a bit much, but wait a few weeks? Surely dd will get bored?

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TwoOddSocks · 04/09/2018 17:27

Yes, the topic was place value. She said the teacher was introducing thousands, tens of thousands and hundred thousands, for the first time, whereas dd has covered all that, plus tenths and hundredths, already.

I would go in and discuss it! Surely lots of children in Y5 must be very familiar with that already even if they haven't been explicitly taught it!

MaisyPops · 04/09/2018 17:29

I would give it a week or so.
A week is normally how long it takes me to work out where my top/middle/lower studnets are. By end of week 2 I've probably got enough to start meaningfully pushing.
It might be that having flown through the work, the teacher realises she needs stretching more.

If no challenging work starts appearing then give the teacher a call. A quick 'I'm not sure if you're aware that DC was streamed in her last school and her group covered the following topics. Could you aim to push her a bit more?' is more than reasonable.

If a parent called up on day or 2 i'd be a bit 'ok... I've just met the class. Give me a minute to actually get to know your child'. But after a little bit then I'd much rather a parent called me for a chat than didn't.

NineNine · 04/09/2018 17:32

Thanks MaisyPops

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Wholymoley · 04/09/2018 17:37

Same thing happened to my Dd. She was at a very good Primary School and we had to move, she was two years ahead. They did nothing to help her and she literally wandered round the new school for two years (told me years later) because she was so bored.
Maybe they can give her some extra work or something if you mention it.

DunesOfSand · 04/09/2018 17:40

That is exactly what my Y5 is doing this week!
He says they only did to 1000s in Y4 - but has happily been talking about adding millions, and multiplying hundreds and thousands to 10,000 and 100,000 at home. He has done tenths and hundredths previously.
DS2, in Y3 us doing place value to 1000.

I'd stay quiet for a week or 2. Have you got any introduction to the teacher events? I can go meet the teacher next week, for example,

Quartz2208 · 04/09/2018 17:41

Im surprised the school she was at did that as going ahead in the curriculum is not suppose to happen

Dadsbigsausages · 04/09/2018 17:41

The teacher will soon notice and send her up a class for maths. My son and a few others in his class have been going to the year up for maths or phonics/English since reception.

Give it a week and speak with the teacher, I'm sure they will group children across the year groups together depending on ability not form.

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Norestformrz · 04/09/2018 18:06

I teach Y1 and my class will be starting with Place Value tomorrow as will the Y2, the Y3, the Y4, the Y5 and Y6 classes. Same topic but different work and expectations.

PandaPieForTea · 04/09/2018 18:10

The teacher will soon notice and send her up a class for maths.

I wouldn’t count on it - not all schools do this. I’d expect my DD to be taught with a mastery approach and be extended and challenged within the curriculum for the year rather than moved up.

Sunshine818 · 04/09/2018 19:02

Give it a week or two and then mention it.

Similar happened with our DS. He was at a big 4 form entry school and was covering curriculum for the year above in maths and English. We relocated and kids went into a village 1 form entry school. His new teacher recognised his ability pretty quickly and put him in the top group. Fast forward a few months after not being challenged enough we've now got a complacent child on our hands because he still wasn't being challenged enough. We've got his focus back now but it wasn't an easy feat!

Don't let that happen to your DD, say something once she's settled and her teacher has got to know her 😁

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