Should I be worried?

They've got funding issues.

It actually infuriates me that late bloomers are doomed to taking a foundation paper because they haven't been taught parts of the curriculum necessary for the higher paper. Even if someone notices that a student is in fact very capable and bright when they start GCSE years, it's almost impossible to catch up in the state schools system.

I disagree with this statement. In as much as it has not been my experience in my DDs' comp, so I wonder whether it is just that some schools aren't very good?

At DDs school the decision Higher v Foundation was made late on for the middle achievers for Science and MFLs (final decision after y11 mocks).
Yes, for maths not everyone was taught everything, but realistically a set 10 child cannot go at the pace needed to cover (or even grasp) the Higher topics.
My DD started in set 7/10 in y7 and by the time she was in y10 was in set 4, then set 3 in y11. So in y7 you might have thought she would end up doing Foundation, but as she progressed she moved up the sets.

When DD was in years 7 and 8 and still in mixed ability sets she found that the lower achievers were the most disruptive, and it affected everyone in the class. I'm not a teacher, so I am sceptical about mixed ability working for some subjects like maths.

The OP's posts clearly illustrate how underfunded education is these days.

Interestingly at my DC school there are mixed ability sets and then lower or higher sets. The mixed ability sets always get the better teachers. I'd say a more sensible idea would be mixed ability sets and then focus groups for the higher or lower achievers.

Mixed ability sets are much more logical and it is only the stupid, damaged English system that has led us to think streaming normal and indeed right!

It actually infuriates me that late bloomers are doomed to taking a foundation paper because they haven't been taught parts of the curriculum necessary for the higher paper. Even if someone notices that a student is in fact very capable and bright when they start GCSE years, it's almost impossible to catch up in the state schools system.

What is sad is that the children are put into the boxes very young and taught a different curriculum for a very long time.

Awful English system of education that is obviously not working!

No matter what spin the school put on it about possible outcomes etc, given the current financial funding cuts being imposed on schools, it will be a money saving exercise. It may be the only way the school can give all pupils access to a specialist teacher in that subject and hence tick the right box should Ofsted come to visit.

A few years ago Ofsted however were very critical of a local secondary school which did not stream by ability early enough after pupils started the school. The cynic in me thinks that Ofsted will be put under pressure not to criticise schools where such measures are now taken for cost saving purposes.

I too would be looking for another school (as a teacher or as a parent), especially if your school doesn't realise how difficult it will be to teach a mixed ability maths or science class.

Hi, OP, I haven't read the whole thread, but could sense your concern from your first post. I'm a teacher in a secondary school; I teach English and we have switched from setting to not setting at IGCSE. The reason we did it was because the class sizes of the upper sets were growing enormous, as the number of students was increasing but no new teachers were hired. Not setting meant that all class sizes were equal.

In my opinion, this has been a positive move and has meant that weaker students are "pulled up" by stronger peers AND the teacher is able to differentiate to stretch the stronger students because of the slightly reduced class size compared to previous top sets.

Do mixed classes achieve the same number of passes at GCSE? Does setting improves grades?
As far as I know, (I would not consider myself an expert on this, but have researched the topic in the recent past), setting has not been proven to improve grades. However, this is always going to be difficult to pin down as every cohort of students is different, as is every teacher, and there are other influential factors too.

I would suggest that you meet with the Director of Studies or similar in your child's school and discuss how differentiation for stronger students will be delivered.

OP, I feel for you with this problem. So each child, in say Maths, gets access to one lesson a week with a trained maths teacher but in a class of 40? This is surely the quickest way for a school to lose specialist staff through stress and overwork. No child will get the appropriate attention and it will not be the teacher's fault. The GCSE reductions alone are disgraceful. This school clearly has major problems which can only get worse. You say you are on waiting lists and that you can't afford private school but there are many indies who give very generous scholarships/bursaries in any entry year. Is it worth approaching a couple of indies just to ask?

I'd definitely be looking to move my kids. The mixed-ability classes probably are better for lower-ability kids, but no way do they benefit high achievers. And a class of 40 is crazy.

My school did this back when I was in comp and it was absolutely terrible. I teach now and if I was still in secondary I'd leave a school that ditched setting.

Gosh, it sounds like there are a number of issues at that school! I'm surprised they're allowed to enter so few for GCSEs; that the classes are so large and that core subjects are taught by non-specialists!

Mixed ability teaching could work well if behaviour at the school is really good and there are strong systems in place to maintain it, as well as TAs to support the class.

I think you are right to try your best to find an alternative school for your children.

My eldest two were taught in mixed ability groups to year 10. It was ne ear an issue really and they both got excellent academic results. The only issue was finding peers that were like themselves - they had to work harder to find friends who had same aspirations.

I thought it was commonly accepted that mixed ability teaching does tend to benefit those of lower/average ability, but not the more able? I'm sure someone will set me straight!

Lack of specialists is also a concern. I would be seriously looking for an alternative, sorry.

Teacher here, worked in both. The idea of the high achievers pulling up lower achievers is a fallacy. It is a way, as a PP has mentioned, of sorting support. Whatever my child's needs or abilities I would be worried as none can be met. Learning is almost impossible to personalise and gifted kids get bored. Those who are quiet just slowly begin to underperform.
Nightmare.

I find a lot of schools are going mixed. I teach MFL and we have been told we cannot set in September. This is ok, but we have some amazing linguists top end and some children who struggle with spelling their own names or writing sentences in English with capital letters and full stops. With reduced funding we just don't have TA support and I worry about successfully supporting that bottom end while still stretching the top.

Students will now attend all classes with their form group and no longer be split based on academic attainment levels.

If students are to be taught in their form group why will there be 40 students in each class?

Blimey, I know it's hard to recruit maths and science teachers but the idea of students having to be in classes of 40 to have an actual geography teacher once a week... that's really not great :(

Mixed ability is said to be a good idea, but deffo not in maths, as Noble says.

But I would be very concerned about all those BTECs (is that even possible or good for the school's results?) and the big classes, lack of teachers.

Have you had all this confirmed by the school op? I would be looking for a new school. How old are DC?

If your DC are bright is there the possibility of a scholarship to a private school or at least some help with fees?

I'd definitely get a tutor for maths as that's likely to be a disaster from the start. The less hierarchical subjects like English could be less urgent.

Are they definitely going total mixed ability for maths? Not a top set, bottom set and mixed in the middle? (which I've heard of before, which wouldn't be so awful).

I believe that the best performing comp in Hants, Thornden, does a lot of mixed ability teaching. (Not everything, so I suspect not maths). So it clearly can work.
However the large class sizes, lack of GCSE options sounds terrible. I would be moving heaven and earth to find a different school I think.