Secondary School that doesn't set: any experience?

I think it's bad for a child to never come across a piece of work that they struggle with - it's an important to learn the skill of perseverance. Sometimes kids who have breezed through everything they've done at school can be floored the first time they can't do something immediately without effort - it really affects their confidence. Mmzz does your ds do anything he finds difficult?

Its true, the moment that they can break free is coming up. Its all about doign your best so you keep your options open. (That's what I have been sayign to DS1 so much recently that I'm getting sick of the sound of my voice).
Its hard to teach 15 year olds to understand what an opportunity this is, so that they want to try their best but without stressing them out about what if they don't do as well as they should?

I'd be planning my DS's escape now and using that as a motivator for him to do his utmost at GCSEs.

Not for GCSE, but there are other places to do A levels. Maybe a selective school??

DH and I are trying to make a rational decision about how to advise DS. The current school is good, its just the one department that is awful. Even then I suspect, some parents are very happy with it. (Although I know the HoD's arrogance and intransigence has wound up some other families too)

Do you have other options?

@EmpressoftheMundane thank you. It is really nice of you to care.

I'm desperate to get DS into another school for A levels, because I don't think they are all like this. The school, on the other hand, don't seem to have even considered that DS will leave next year. There's an assumption that, of course he'll want to stay on for more of the same at A level.

mmzz I really feel for your son. It's cruel to treat a child that way. I wish him all the best.

We battled through the loss of love of learnign stuff too. I asked the maths teacher to help, even if it was just a 5 minute chat with DS. Basically anything. he did nothing.

However, the GCSE enrichment seems to be sorting that out. After the first session, DS came away smiling. As we travelled home, he told me that it was strange because he's not used to being in a room with a teacher who thinks that DS being able to understand stuff quickly is a good thing.

I don't know how many other ways to put this, @Justhope 's post really hit a nerve because it added insult to injury.

@Orangeplastic I agree about rewarding hard work, not coasting but see my earlier post about not being given the chance to work hard because the teacher won't set extension work... So, DS has no opportunity to work hard in lessons, and therefore he has no chance of doing something that is considered admirable.

mmzz Dc1 is in the same situation except that he is now very resentful and is avoiding engaging with anything school related. He does the minimum he is supposed to do. And he has lost his love of learning.

We haven't had the stuff with the award. Butbthen awards he has received have been so generic and for so surprising reaaons that he doesn't take any notice of them anymore. Because they never feel they are 'real' rewards for making a real difference.

It was a merit on the UKMT pink kangaroo (maths). He did have to work for it because the questions are quite different from anything in the GCSE. It needs some past paper practice.
First he got a gold certificate and that's what the form teacher passed out in form time. Then he got through to the pink kangaroo and got a merit which meant he was in the top 25% of the 6000 or so who do the merit
So, DS came somewhere in the top 2000 out of 1.2 million students in last years years 10 and 11. This time the maths teacher passed over the certificate himself but only when he was clearing out of his desk for the summer holidays. It was the day before the end of term, and he stopped DS in the corridor and gave it to him there.

You can just feel how warmly the school greets academic achievement beyond the league table stuff, can't you?

Mmzz what was the award for? According to my dcs some kids score very highly without working very had at all - I wouldn’t reward kids for having natural talent - better to reward hard word and all abilities should be working hard.

Not at ds's comp. Not only did he receive no acknowledgement of his A Level results (same as your dd's RoseO ), he didn't receive an invitation to the Celebrating Success results evening .

Mind you, when the parents' information evening about universities featured the university coordinator standing up and telling everyone that The University of the South West is exactly the same as Oxbridge. it said a lot about their views.

I can honestly say that ds received a big fat zero of support. Russell Room?! Golden group?! In a way that is good encouragement, but could backfire if those pupils feel that there are a whole pile of expectations on their shoulders.

@Orangeplastic and @Rose0 that's really good. Who knows, maybe Ds's (leafy comprehensive, outstanding) school does the same and i haven't heard about it as I haven't had a child go through the sixth form. All i know is what happens up to the Christmas term in year 11, and there's no sign of it so far.

Don't get me wrong - there are awards for academic attainment, but they go to someone in the middle of the top set, not the highest achievers. Last year, the "best in school" maths award went to someone who got 25% less than DS on the exams.

Rose That is definitely the case at our leafy comp - the oxbridge and medical candidates get lots of support and encouragement and it is shouted from the rooftops through the newsletter and Twitter!

That's got to be a rare (and very sad) case mmzz - I do think it depends on school. My DD was the first person to get into Oxbridge from her school/ first person to get even one (let alone 4) A at A level and they shouted from the rooftops about her achievements. She, and the other students who got an A in a GCSE or 5 or more As were all specifically mentioned on the website and really praised for their achievements, and those on track for As and A*s were put in a "golden group" from year 9-11 which meant they had sessions on dealing with stress, and throughout sixth form a "Russell room" was created for those applying to Russell group unis. They were given much more help with their uni application than a lot of DD's friends who were just aiming for ordinary universities or going into apprenticeships or the normal working world. So while they weren't the focus of many of the lessons (because they didn't need to be), they were given plenty of other support and praise.

The clever ones are groomed, encouraged and given lots of opportunities

That is so absolutely untrue, its not even in the right ballpark!
@JustHope, there was a poster upthread (it may have been you) who described boredom and repetition of things your DS could easily do as a result of being in the wrong set, all the while feeling slightly depressed combined with sheer frustration that time that could be spent learning something useful is being wasted.
I think that was you. But my Ds feels exactly the same way. He believes his teacher finds him a nuisance because he can do the work of the set very easily. he has been learning to manage the boredom for years. He knows the teacher isn't setting work for people like him and he knows the teacher doesn't want to set work for the likes pf him.

The only difference? DS is in the top set and finds the work far, far too easy. So, he's been putting up with this for years. Its got so bad, that he has enrolled himself in a GCSE enrichment course that the school have no knowledge of, and he goes there in his own time, then does the homework without telling anyone.

Only this morning he was remembering how last year, when he achieved something that is quite hard to achieve, the form teacher was given the job of distributing the certificate. No fuss, no ceremony, just here's your bit of paper, no go and sit back down at your desk. Then five minutes later, she made an announcement to the class that there was to be a series of awards evening dedicated to those who had done well at sports, music and art. If you are academically good, they don't want to even notice..

My kids have never had any extra support given to them - ever! Are they the ignored top end of middle?

I see plenty of opportunities for the gifted and talented - every week in the school newsletter we see the different events and courses they are invited to and the photos with smiling faces at the events.

Well, that's claptrap. For a start there aren't any "B"s or otherwise now. And there certainly isn't a binary divide.

From my perspective comprehensive schools throw most resources at the less able in order to bring them up over the line.

And what on earth are the grooming, encouragement and opportunities of which you speak?!

Ah yes, natural setting . Got you! Otherwise known as elitism... MFL dept at my school drive me mad grooming some students and making others feel thick. they are horrified when anyone with an indicator of less than B chooses their subject!

Ahhh so here is the crux of the matter. We all know that it’s all about performance and league tables, so the best option for teachers is to have the best and brightest in their class. As I’ve said previously, schools are now divided into two categories, clever and thick. Anyone predicted less than a B at the end of Y9 falls in the thick category. The clever ones are groomed, encouraged and given lots of opportunities while the rest are not always pushed in the same way. As long as they get the magic C grade that’s sufficient

Odd not is! This iPad autocorrect is driving me nuts!

@ladyincement that's a really is options group! Either massively philosophical or physical skills!

Ah yes, natural setting . Got you! Otherwise known as elitism... MFL dept at my school drive me mad grooming some students and making others feel thick. they are horrified when anyone with an indicator of less than B chooses their subject!

Yes, dd says the biggest ability spread is in Music. There's a girl with Grade 8s in three instruments and someone else who said, "What's a crotchet?" in the last lesson. But dd reports that it doesn't seem to matter too much as everyone gets on with their own thing - eg composing - in those lessons.

I remember ds picked RE because it was the only thing he could do in the options group, a couple of the others being PE (he would have got a U) and Cookery (is there worse than a U?!).