Would you query this with school? Maths sets in yr 7

Sorry, realised I misread an earlier post! Ignore me

We have 31/32 in top sets. Pan does not apply in secondary sets.

It may be worth doing just half an hour or so of Hegartymaths at the weekend, so she is up to speed with the set where she should be. However, year 7 is a very tiring year, particularly the first term, so only if she wants to and is not too tired. It is just an idea and you know your child best.

You may find that there are more children than you realize needing to be in the 'top sets'. the top set is generally the top 30 of that cohort, the second set is the second 30, and so on, There won't be more than 30 in the top 30.

What have they done to the 11+?

Where I live, due to the farce of a new 11 plus test, there are now quite a number of children in secondary schools (not sure what a secondary modern is) that have always been 'grammar level' in primary.
You may find that there are more children than you realize needing to be in the 'top sets'.

That's good. I'm a teacher and actually really like it when parents get in touch. I am also absolutely 'that parent' about my child. Not unpleasantly so but I will always make an effort to meet teachers and ask them for a quick update outside of parents evenings.

Glad you had the conversation and actually the school approach sounds extremely reassuring.

Oh crap, didn't read the second page. We'll done for checking, always better to know for sure.

Nothing wrong with being 'that parent' in this instance, my dad was 'that parent' when I was wrongly put in the bottom set after moving schools and I'm so glad he spoke up as otherwise I'd have been stuck in a disruptive class learning nothing. Do ask to clarify as it may have been a mistake, if not then fair enough and she has a chance to move up if she works hard (I assume, does she?)

It is very likely that the students are in mixed ability sets at the moment, the school will test them themselves later on in the term and then reset them accordingly, rather than relying on the sats results. The set is called set 6, and will be after they reset them but will have very few of the current students left in it! With that Sats result she is very likely to end up in one of the top sets. I am sure you could get her to ask her maths teacher, or write a letter for her to give to her maths teacher to confirm this.

Some schools can be poor at setting, so definitely query it.

I was in the top Maths set throughout secondary school but wasn't really very good at all. I was a B grade student in years 1 and 2 then dropped to D in years 3 and 4 and ended up with a D grade O level. I was just floundering and really didn't have a clue in the O level years, no surprise really when there were A, B and C grade students in the same class being taught to a higher level than I could cope with.

Trouble with that school was that the year group was split into two and then each half had a top, middle and bottom set, so six sets in total, but two "top" sets so a much broader ability range. Would have been far better if the year wasn't split into two as they'd then have had a real top set at maybe A/B level and a lower top set for C/D level.

ihearttc I think schools generally are pretty poor at being able to discern mathematical potential.School maths generally does not require much mathematical insight and thinking.DS2 who got an offer to do maths at Cambridge was in the middle of 5 sets up to 6th form at a GS.They are now looking at different ways to discern mathematical talent and set kids better.DS1 also was in the bottom set , yet managed an A* at A level in both maths and physics

Good advice from noble. Of course query it. No reason to be shy.

Thank you-thats pretty much what I thought that they would just teach to the majority of pupils. He did ask apparently for harder stuff but was told that was all there was...I believe him as well cause there is no way he'd have been content just doing that all lesson.

They have a parents consultation at the beginning of October so will have a word then...Im by no means suggesting he is any kind of maths genius but he loves maths to the point where he went for extra maths lessons before school for fun (strange boy!) so Im really concerned he is just going to switch off entirely.

It's a secondary modern so highly unlikely to be stuffed with level 6 students!

ihearttc I'm sorry I can't really reassure you as we teach mixed ability for as short a time as possible in Y7 before setting because it's really hard to differentiate in maths as the brighter kids will be learning totally different topics to the less able. There are teachers who I've seen saying that they love teaching mixed ability, they seem to do it by using lots of open-ended investigations, but to be honest I don't know how they manage it. I'd be concerned that your DS is complaining that he's bored as they might manage by teaching to the middle. I did have a student in Y7 the other day who I caught reading a book under the table because he'd finished the work. He hadn't said that he'd finished and if he had I had a worksheet of extension questions he could have done, so be sure to tell your DS to say he has finished/ask for more work if he has. It's possible that they're still getting their heads around what their classes can do, but if this persists over the next few weeks it might be worth phoning to ask them how they extend the more able. If they teach mixed ability for two years they'll be well used to the question!

that is of course 99% not 999%

If your DD has gone to a senior school that has say 10 feeder primaries feeding into it then there will be 10 other top/2nd sets feeding it so there will be other children possibly scoring higher.

For example, a lady I know went in to complain ask why her DS was not in top set when he got 96% and level 5 on his SATS to find out that all the children in top set got 999% or 100% and a level 6. So it will be relative to the other children in the school year. It is worth asking though but be prepared to accept that they have set correctly especially as you are pleased with her English setting.

Noblegiraffe-may be you could my mind at rest as well.

DS1 got 111 in his Maths SATS yet his school don't set for maths at all in Y7 and Y8. He has just come home again completely fed up as he is bored in Maths lessons.

How do you differentiate within Maths lessons?

There is no harm in asking, I think you should do!
Either she has been put in the wrong set or the set numbering is random so the children 'don't know' (haha)
School is not a popularity contest, you need to do what you need to do for your child.

DD was put in the middle set on arrival at high school. I was a little concerned but let it play out. After two weeks they did baseline assessments on all the children and swiftly moved her up to the top set after. Maybe this is something like that and they are just doing their baseline tests and will review after? No harm in asking though. I'd email her form tutor and ask.

At DS's school they did take SATs, etc into account, but set far more score by the tests they ran over the first few weeks of year 7. Their logic was that a lot of kids forget stuff/ are crammed for SATs, etc so aren't secure. So maybe just double check with your DD before you wade in.

I think people who are "that parent" are people who are rude or aggressive or people who constantly badger them about every tiny thing, not people who enquire politely about stuff that needs to be asked.