AIBU to think primary schools should not audition children for choirs?

How have things been since you posted OP?

Nobody knows what was said,how many were actually needed. A few days of not having anyone to play will be forgotten in a years timex

Being effectively selected as 'one of the few worst' is totally different from 'you weren't the best', and would be much harder to shrug off.

Its also the fact that the whole situating is having a massive knock on to her entire experience of school and will do for some time to come is significant.

Its not an after school thing that she can just forget about not being involved in.

Would have made a lot more sense for the school to say all Y5 and 6 and none of Y4, then no one specifically gets left out.

If the tv company had a problem with that, the school should be advocating for their pupils welfare and explaining why leaving out just a few isn't going to happen.

She sent one to the school and when they didn't reply her Dd's class teacher suggested she e mail the choir teachers.

But she has sent a few emails.

OP hasn't been argumentative.

When the lists of participants are published it should also say 'There will be no further discussion', parents should be ignored if they're so argumentative on their child's behalf. It seems that parents have the stupid idea that they are able to dictate to the schools, they should not have such easy access, and certainly not to individual teachers, if they perceive a 'problem' they should make an appointment, just like they do to see other professionals.

@MimiGC , I read it as OP's DD is in a choir and that choir won at the Eisteddfod yr Urdd, not that she won there.
I also read it as all of year 6 are in the choir, and the remainder from year 5 and 4.

@PlaygroundSusie , why can't they still practice with the choir as understudies or something? Choir practisce is not fun, it's repetitive and if you'd been practising for weeks on end, being left out of the actual event would be pretty bad.

I think that the OP's account is not the whole story.

If your daughter has won at the Eisteddfod , but didn’t make the school choir, the standard at the school must be phenomenally high (which is unusual). Either that or something else is at play.

You'll get nothing but criticism from some people on here OP.
It's no bloody wonder there's a mental health crisis, schools can be brutal and damaging places. Parents are cottoning on to this and home schooling is reportedly on the rise.
I feel for your DD. How cruel.
My DS was refused a place in the school choir because he's a boy and boys "just mess about".
Luckily they got a new music teacher who welcomed and encouraged lads and he sings in a band now.

it not a small handful, we dont know how many year 5s got chosen and about half of year 4 got to go.
Nobody knows what the children were told. OP is upset because her dd is upset, nobody knows how long the practise is going on for, when the actually event is, why they chose the children they chose,

Even if the TV company has a super strict cap on numbers, I still think the school handled this badly. There's only a very small handful of kids who missed out, by the sounds of things - why can't they still practice with the choir as understudies or something?

At the very least, the school should've had the brains to realise that a tiny number of choir kids wouldn't be picked for the TV production, and that there were bound to be some sadness and hurt feelings. The music teachers (or whoever's in charge) should have given those kids feedback, acknowledged the situation sucks, helped them work through their disappointment, maybe found a way to get them involved in some other capacity etc. Rather than just effectively saying "Sorry, but we've ranked you as being the bottom 20 percent of singers in your year, so no TV concert for you!" and leaving them twisting in the wind.

Came back to find out if OP ever heard back from the choir teacher? Any update OP?

Maybe they tried. OP doesn't even know how many Year 5's are doing it so it's really hard to say.

Of course it's likely the organiser picked a random round number - the school in the position of excluding three could have negotiated. Often these things are more flexible than one thinks.

@Ilovelifeverymuch It isn't for 9 months. Most likely it will be recorded in May/June based on typical Christmas shows. Especially since it involves schools.

This same choir won their event at Eisteddfod last year.

It isn't just for Year 4, it also includes Year 5 and Year 6. It sounds like they want more Year 6's because they didn't have to audition so I'm assuming that is what the TV show wanted which is out of the schools control.

They didn't leave out only 3. Presumably some year 5s were not picked too.
I do feel sad for the op's dd, but I'm sure the school haven't set out to upset anyone, and i think picking all the year 6s (who won't have anothwr chance) and auditions for the remaining spots sounds fair and reasonable.
I hope the op does not make s bigger thing of this than it needs to be. Little disappointments occur in life and havingbthe resilience to deal with setbacks is so important.

I suspect there was a limit placed by the organiser and the whole choir could not take part.

Honestly, I think it is horrible to see your child upset but if she wasn’t included in a selective process, I think you have to take it on the chin and try to support her through. Definitely speak to school re the issue re not having anyone to be with at lunch etc, but you can’t expect everyone to be prevented from doing something because your dd isn’t chosen. It’s not reasonable, though I understand the impulse to protect your child.

The other aspect I wonder if you have overlooked- how many in year 5 were chosen? Perhaps it was a case of “all of year 6 and 20 from year 4 and 5”- rather than a specific proportion from both year 4 and 5. I.e. the entire group from year 4 & 5 were treated as one, rather than 2 separate groups? Which would change the proportion of those chosen vs not included, so perhaps that might explain it. So instead of only 3 out if 15 interested children not being picked it could be more like 10 out of 30 or 15 out of 35 or even 20 out of 40 (as op says her dd’s year is unusually small, suggesting other years are larger).

I don't know how many students are involved and I haven't read all posts but having a cap of 37 when there are 40 kids in a class is nonsense.

Having a cap of eg 10 kids in a group of 40 is very different from 37 out of 40 and those numbers are made up just to make my point.

Then when you add the fact that it looks like the kids selected will have to practice during break or is it lunch for the next 9 months, how does that make sense? So only 3 kids will be left to spend each lunch break together while the rest practice for the next 9 months?

It's petty and inconsiderate to audition all the choir and leave three out. I'm not sure how teachers could do that.

It’s a one off. It’s completely reasonable for them to pick the best singers. It’s a shame for the OP’s DD but that’s life.

Not everyone wants to do it though and it sounds like a tiny school. The school will also have to follow what the TV show wants so since they didn't even audition the Year 6's who want to do it, that may be because the TV show largely wants older children.

People keep acting like it is all down to the school where they are likely following instructions from the TV show as to what age, how many etc they want.

equal number from each year would have surely been the fairest way? Then if it happens the next year you ensure you pick people who haven’t done it before. That way hopefully everyone gets a go