Year 7 allocation form concern

[twig1234]

Hello, I am after advice for either reassurance or for help if I need to take further. My Son has been given his form allocation and we were asked to specify a friend to hope to be with and to complete a section of child to be kept separate from. My Son has been given the form with the child we wished to be separate from and no other friend.

Normally I would be very positive and say 'you'll make lots of new friends' etc but this child has made my Sons life a living nightmare in years 4,5 and outside of school in year 6.

The school will not change allocation. The primary school teacher wasn't aware of the problems that are on school record as they were split last year and she's new to the school. The secondary go on what primary tell them.
My Son is now frightened to attend this new school.

I'm trying so hard to be positive but how can I when the bullying issues are going to start up again. Do I continue to try to get them to change form? Have I got any hope. Thanks

[WannabeJolie]

Can you speak to the head teachers of both your primary and secondary? Your poor son. He shouldn’t be put in a form with his old school bully.

[Springquartet]

I would continue to challenge this, as it seems like an error. If the issues are on the school record, it doesn't matter whether the current teacher is aware, as they would be available for the head to see. Have you raised it with them and asked them to contact the secondary school?

[Ostanovka]

Don't drop it, definitely pursue it with both schools but continue to be positive to your son.

[Onestepup]

They've made a mistake and need to sort it out. What's the point in asking for preferences if they're going to do the exact opposite?

[twig1234]

Thank you everyone
I've raised it with both schools. I have been told by the secondary school that they cannot do anything. I guess 180 children have received their allocation so they cannot then take away another child's form as wouldn't be fair.

I'm desperately hoping that a child may move area and a space will come up in another form. Primary have said they are very sorry but I don't think secondary school will budge for them either.

I'm going to ask for a face to face meeting at the school to discuss my serious concerns. I'll remain positive about everything in front of my Son but behind it all I'm truly gutted for him.

Thanks everyone

[DaphneduM]

Definitely raise this promptly with the school. I don't know how many forms there are for intake in Year 7 at your son's secondary, but allocating pupils to the various forms, taking into account preferences is a logistical challenge. I would imagine that somehow this has just got missed and an error was made. Please don't worry - I'm sure if you have a word it can be sorted very easily at this stage. This was an occasional occurrence at our school and things were deliberately kept fluid in the first few weeks of terms to accommodate any sensitive issues. Reassure your son that you are on the case!!!

[DaphneduM]

'term' - sorry

[DaphneduM]

My post crossed with yours - I'm very surprised that the school is being so inflexible. I certainly wouldn't let it lie - a face to face meeting is a good idea. I would aim to see the overall Headteacher rather than Head of Year 7. From experience I would say that often dynamics amongst pupils completely change when they are at a different school and it may be that this will completely defuse the situation as both the child concerned and your son make new friends in a different environment. Having said that, I completely understand your concerns and do hope you get a reasonable response from the school.

[Oblomov20]

This is so poor. What's worse is from your post you've already spoken to secondary and they won't change it. That's what is shocking. I am staggered, presumably they have their reasons, I just can't grasp what they are!

Please complain. Please don't let this go.

[UmbrellaHat]

This is shocking. If this is the wa they behave with incoming Y7 I their pastoral must be shocking (of totally disorganised. If the head remains intransigent contact the LEA.

[Apple1971]

I’d push to speak to the head of year 7, or if no luck as to speak to head of pastoral care.

I’m a secondary teacher. We move pupils around well into the year if needed. Arrange a face to face meeting and be persistent. Good luck

[Ionacat]

Firstly ask to speak/meet the head of year 7 with the head of pastoral care and outline your concerns. Ask your primary head to put something in writing outlining situation and explaining why this got missed and send it directly to the head of year 7 and head of pastoral care. They may not budge for the primary, but this shows that a mistake has been made and you aren’t just demanding he is with his friends.
If they still refuse to move your son, then ask what they are going to do about it and the extent of the issue - how many classes will they be in together? How will they ensure that the issues won’t arise and your son and this other lad will be kept apart?

I don’t know the situation but in some schools you are in form for 15 minutes in the morning only and then you’re taught in different groups. The reality is that even in a year group of 180 they could end up in sets together and working out to manage this now, would be better than later.

The problem is you get lots of requests to move forms and mostly due to friendship reasons, e.g. so and so wants to be with their best mate which you simply can’t accommodate. But forms in most schools do move around and depending on how they organise their sets it may not be as much of an issue as you think.

[twig1234]

Thanks so much for all of your replies. My plan is to ask for f2f meeting with head of year. Also req primary put in writing concerns and events that occurred at school.

Unfortunately this school teach all subjects apart from maths in form for the whole of year 7 so there is no respite in the day or ability to move groups for different subjects. Also with current situation they may keep the form as a bubble group so this may limit and interaction with his friends in other forms. But that's not certain.

I will try my hardest to move him.

[MrsScrubbingbrush]

It is possible to change forms.

In Yr7 DD1 was being bullied, just nasty snide comments but it was almost daily. It got to the stage where she started self harming so we had a meeting with her Head or Year.

We took in examples of the comments and a note from DD saying she just wanted to be moved to a different form to be with her friends. It meant she had to change from Spanish to French as a MFL but the school said it wouldn't be a problem. DD had already studied French at primary school anyway.

The school moved her the next week and she's been much happier ever since.

The step from primary to secondary can be daunting enough for them without being with somebody bullying you.

I hope you manage to get your DS moved.

[Witchend]

Some schools are more open than others to changing forms. Two schools in our area, one of the reasons we chose the one we did (not a major reason but it fed into it) is that they will change forms if a child wants to with a reasonable reason-and friends being in a different form is considered a reasonable reason.
The other school wouldn't change even with a serious bullying issue.

[Georgielovespie]

On a positive note, secondary school discipline (if enforced) is much harsher than primary school.

They literally go from missing part or all of a play time in year 6 to negatives in their planners and detention or if it is very bad isolation. So there is none of this turning up in your trainers because you have outgrown your school shoes and still being able to attend class.

Please make sure your son is aware that there is a bullying policy, lots of schools have them in their planners and you can stop the bullying. Even his word against another child's word (which we have experienced) it stopped dead.

I agree with speaking to head of year and pastoral, how did they get this so wrong when you filled out the forms?

[noblegiraffe]

Keep following it up and use the school complaints procedure which will be on their website to escalate if necessary.

If they have a process to separate children where there are issues and it has been ignored the problem is at their end not yours and so should be fixed in your favour. Mention safeguarding and the risk to your child.

[cauliflowersqueeze]

They are bound to have some kids drop out before September. Ask for him to change to their form and a new child given his form.

[twig1234]

I'm certainly hoping there may be some movement out or they have similar issue in a different form and can do a swap. The primary teacher put down for his friend to be with him too so I know there is no other underlying issue I'm aware of resulting in this (hope this makes sense).

Everyone's response I am grateful for and gives me the extra push to not accept this for my child.

[TeaAndHobnob]

They can change forms, they just don't want to for whatever reason. I think it's poor of them but perhaps there's been miscommunication somewhere.

I would ring the school and ask for the contact details for the head of pastoral and the head of year 7 and email them.

We're not even at the end of term yet so for them to try and block a move for next academic year is nonsensical (I work in a secondary and moving kids in y7 to another form happens a couple of times a year).

Yes it will be awkward for them to sort out at this stage once they've told the kids who they will be with next year but they should have done their jobs properly in the first place.

You informed them as requested and then they failed to take it into account and then refused to do anything about their mistake. Unacceptable.

[SunflowerProsecco]

Keep pushing OP. The school CAN change forms at this stage.

[notlonguntilchristmas]

We had similar problems and the school refused to make the change. We didn't want to make waves so went along with it - which was a mistake. Actually it was an early warning that the pastoral care at the 'outstanding' school was, in fact, cr*p. We are looking to move schools next year.