Page 4 | Confused by call from school

Welshmonster · 02/09/2025 22:14

scorpiogirly · 02/09/2025 18:56

The mixed classes that seem to be a thing in this school though and I'm not sure why they do it. For instance, in year one, half of her class was mixed with Yr 2. Year 2. Her class was mixed with year 1. And now 2 year 3 classes are mixed with year 4.

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Usually mixed classes are either to do with space or funding. They need classes to be full to 30 as otherwise you have a funding shortfall as you have to pay teachers for classes that aren’t full.

or there isn’t space in the building to have YR-6 as separate classes as you need 7 classroom

GreenScarfGirl · 02/09/2025 22:13

scorpiogirly · 02/09/2025 15:28

So my daughter who is 7 just went back today in year 3.

I get a call half an hour before I'm due to collect her to ask me if it is okay if the teacher who helps out takes my dd in the mornings in a group of about 10 to do maths. Apparently not that she's going to be taught anything different, just taught slower. What the hell does this mean? It's her first day back and they have never said anything like this before and she has always seemed fine with maths.

They also always tend to have mixed classes. When I questioned it, apparently it is nothing to do with ability. But strangely, they have split two year 3 classes and 2 year 4 classes and mixed them together. Whats the point of that?

Just call and ask, to help you understand.

My son was ok at maths, then had intervention classes where they took a handful of kids out. I didn’t know anything about it, until he mentioned it’s what had been happening so I asked the question and was told it’s to provide additional support so he doesn’t tail off / stays at his expected level.

When we spoke to him, he just wasn’t interested in it🙈 I don’t blame him tbh, but I know he will need it and we help him at home, and try and make it as fun as possible.

LilacFrances · 02/09/2025 22:05

I can see OP's point of view perfectly. It's strange that on the first day back after the holidays someone has spotted that your child needs additional help. You are wondering why nobody noticed or mentioned this to you last year. It's possible that this group will change as the year progresses. Some children will be withdrawn from it while others will be added to it. I think it would be reasonable to make an appointment to speak to the class teacher making it clear that you appreciate the additional help but also asking any questions which you have. Best wishes to your daughter for the year ahead.

ALJT · 02/09/2025 22:05

I’d see this as a positive personally, they are recognising she needs extra help and acting rather than just ignoring it. I imagine if they let her fall behind you’d not be happy either, as I know I wouldn’t be

Manthide · 02/09/2025 21:56

My dc went to 2 different primary schools and they both mixed children within years 1 and 2 and years 3 and 4 depending on ability so a year 1 class, a year 1/2 class and a year 2 class with maths and English being taught according to ability. It caused no end of issues for dd1 and dd2 as they were often put in the same sets and dd2 did better!

Justgorgeous · 02/09/2025 21:40

You are raging for absolutely no good reason. Honestly, please just see how the next few weeks go. Support your daughter and her school.

OhMaria2 · 02/09/2025 21:23

scorpiogirly · 02/09/2025 16:14

That's a good point.

The person who will be taking this group is the attendance officer. Usually on reception. On the phone stated they also teach too.

I'm raging about it, if she needs the help then I'm glad it's there for her. What I don't understand though is that this is the first I have heard of any problems with her maths, yet seemingly on the first day back, it's glaringly obvious. If I had known we could have worked on it over the holidays.

Your daughter could be Albert Einstein but if she's slow at her work or a bit of a dolly daydream then a small group is a very good thing. How are you raging about this. Calm down good grief. It's not day one, the teachers do handover meetings about the children, her old teacher obviously felt this would be beneficial.

Stowawaysue · 02/09/2025 21:22

SomeOfTheTrouble · 02/09/2025 21:17

No, but you implied in your initial post that it was somewhat negligent of the OP to have not done any work over the holidays.

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No
I was pointing out that the child would have been having maths alongside a number of children who will have been recapping on their maths during the holiday, which may explain why the OP’s child had been taken aside with 9 others to ensure topics had been fully grasped before moving on to the next task

NamechangeRugby · 02/09/2025 21:18

Is this a primary or private school?

I only ask, because if a prep, it could be because of dwindling numbers. I appreciate they are mixing classes (because of ability they say), but in our neck of the woods, split classes were the answer to fewer pupils, which was the beginning of the end as then everyone started to jump ship.

SomeOfTheTrouble · 02/09/2025 21:17

Stowawaysue · 02/09/2025 21:16

“Some of us”

i completely agree hence never saying “all”

No, but you implied in your initial post that it was somewhat negligent of the OP to have not done any work over the holidays.

Stowawaysue · 02/09/2025 21:16

“Some of us”

i completely agree hence never saying “all”

Stowawaysue · 02/09/2025 21:15

CaptainMyCaptain · 02/09/2025 21:14

I agree with you.

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Edit

Stowawaysue · 02/09/2025 21:14

SomeOfTheTrouble · 02/09/2025 21:12

No tizzy, just indulging in some light chat on a dull evening!

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Good to hear

CaptainMyCaptain · 02/09/2025 21:14

SomeOfTheTrouble · 02/09/2025 21:08

Massive apologies, I thought all comments on public forums were fair game to reply to 🤷🏻‍♀️
The reason I ‘got involved’ was because you were implying that the only reason she didn’t do school work with her kids in the holidays is because her kids were at primary school a long time ago, and that it’s something most people do now. I wanted to point out that some of us don’t do any work in the holidays with our children even now (didn’t even know it was a thing, holidays for primary school kids are for playing and relaxing) and they’re still doing brilliantly.

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I agree with you.

SomeOfTheTrouble · 02/09/2025 21:12

Stowawaysue · 02/09/2025 21:11

Well don’t get yourself in a tizzy then

apology accepted btw

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No tizzy, just indulging in some light chat on a dull evening!

Stowawaysue · 02/09/2025 21:11

SomeOfTheTrouble · 02/09/2025 21:08

Massive apologies, I thought all comments on public forums were fair game to reply to 🤷🏻‍♀️
The reason I ‘got involved’ was because you were implying that the only reason she didn’t do school work with her kids in the holidays is because her kids were at primary school a long time ago, and that it’s something most people do now. I wanted to point out that some of us don’t do any work in the holidays with our children even now (didn’t even know it was a thing, holidays for primary school kids are for playing and relaxing) and they’re still doing brilliantly.

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Well don’t get yourself in a tizzy then

apology accepted btw

SomeOfTheTrouble · 02/09/2025 21:08

Stowawaysue · 02/09/2025 20:55

So why did you get involved in an exchange between @CaptainMyCaptain and myself? Bizarre

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Massive apologies, I thought all comments on public forums were fair game to reply to 🤷🏻‍♀️
The reason I ‘got involved’ was because you were implying that the only reason she didn’t do school work with her kids in the holidays is because her kids were at primary school a long time ago, and that it’s something most people do now. I wanted to point out that some of us don’t do any work in the holidays with our children even now (didn’t even know it was a thing, holidays for primary school kids are for playing and relaxing) and they’re still doing brilliantly.

Hankunamatata · 02/09/2025 21:08

Might not be behind YET. She may have been identified as a slower learner in maths who needs things explained in a smaller group or needs more support as she is learning or she may have some anxiety around maths

Not sure why your raging.
Work steps up a gear in year 3
Surely this is a good thing

monkeysox · 02/09/2025 21:02

scorpiogirly · 02/09/2025 18:56

The mixed classes that seem to be a thing in this school though and I'm not sure why they do it. For instance, in year one, half of her class was mixed with Yr 2. Year 2. Her class was mixed with year 1. And now 2 year 3 classes are mixed with year 4.

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They do it because they cant afford to have 2 x small classes for a year group. Less teachers.

WimpoleHat · 02/09/2025 21:00

If it helps, my DD was in a similar position at your DD’s age. I had the email to say she was being put in a “small” (ie pretty obviously, an intervention) group. But it did wonders for her. There were a few things she hadn’t “got” and being in a smaller class, with some other kids who also hadn’t “got it”, really helped her. And then she did “get it” and moved on and was moved out of that class. And 8 years later, she’s just got a very strong grade 9 in GCSE Maths. Sometimes a bit of early intervention can really work wonders. I would try and see it as a positive thing.

Stowawaysue · 02/09/2025 20:55

SomeOfTheTrouble · 02/09/2025 20:36

Eh? I said I have never done any school work with my children in the holidays. My children are 13, 11 and 6. 11 year old has just taken her SATs and got Greater Depth in all subjects. As did my eldest, 2 years ago.

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So why did you get involved in an exchange between @CaptainMyCaptain and myself? Bizarre

Fetaface · 02/09/2025 20:52

modgepodge · 02/09/2025 20:20

Yes, you’re right that what the OP is talking about is probably preteach/gap filling and actually for some children that is enough to keep them up with the rest of the class.

My issue with the approach is more for very capable students. I was a maths teacher in a private school for many years and having prepared for the 11+, many pupils were working at greater depth y6 level by year 5. They just don’t need to sit through explanations when they can complete the class work in 10 minutes without any explanation. Thankfully as it was a private school I was free to teach in a way that worked for them and not make them sit through stuff they already knew.

I’m now a supply teacher and in almost every maths lesson, there’s a set of children who can finish the work with no explanation, and they are rarely given anything more difficult to do. Perhaps that’s just because their teacher didn’t leave them an extension on the day I was in, but from speaking to them it generally seems that they read a book or help the others when finished, rather than learning anything new. Meanwhile, there’s a set of children who have such significant gaps in their learning that the objective is not achievable and they’d be better off consolidating place value, or basic addition and subtraction, than attempting to add and subtract fractions, for example.

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They dont need to sit through that, again adaptive teaching.

That is a problem with the schools then in your area. Maybe they dont have maths clusters or decent advisors helping them if they arent doing the curriculum properly and letting kids finish mid lesson.

CaptainMyCaptain · 02/09/2025 20:47

SomeOfTheTrouble · 02/09/2025 20:36

Eh? I said I have never done any school work with my children in the holidays. My children are 13, 11 and 6. 11 year old has just taken her SATs and got Greater Depth in all subjects. As did my eldest, 2 years ago.

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That was me. I'm a retired teacher and didn't make my child do school work in the holidays and home work wasnt even a thing in primary schools then. She's fine, an adult in a graduate profession.

SomeOfTheTrouble · 02/09/2025 20:36

Stowawaysue · 02/09/2025 20:25

About you >35 years ago not doing any work at all with your 7 year old over the summer holiday and you being a school teacher.

your dd same age as me and not a chance my parents would have done any work with me either

now however, that we know the research indicates children really do take a step backwards during the long break, many parents do do a little bit of work over the summer hols.
Not much but A bit of maths and spellings

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Eh? I said I have never done any school work with my children in the holidays. My children are 13, 11 and 6. 11 year old has just taken her SATs and got Greater Depth in all subjects. As did my eldest, 2 years ago.

Vitriolinsanity · 02/09/2025 20:35

Most people would be happy the school are being so supportive of her needs. Her ability may not be the issue, but working in a smaller group may boost her confidence in participation and continuing to find maths fun. Her age group often wibble and when that happens it’s common to say maths isn’t my thing, when actually getting past that wibble will counteract that.