Sets

I can understand your concerns and angry. Your DC was high achieving in primary school, but now has slipped down a bit, and is placed into 2nd set. The trouble is you was not aware it, as you were mislead that the class was not setted, so only confirmed recently that it is set by ability. Your DC feels sad about the 2nd set as well.

I think on the school side, you should do as previous post said, contact head of year to get to know the true picture, and ask how DC can move up a set? Can DC move up a set next term if she get good result? Or she has to wait a whole year to move up? Or the set is fixed by now? But try to be calm, there is a possibility that they won't move your DC, every school has their own ways to organize this. It may be hard for them to adjust it according to parent's request.

On the other hand, you should encourage your DC to still work hard even with a lower set. Normally,there shouldn't be a big difference between set 2 and set 1 . Only set 2 is slow paced a bit. By the end , all the contents will be covered. If you can offer some extra help for DC that would be better.

And no matter how important you think about the set, please don't show it to DC. The most important thing is for DC to get good result. You should let her think the set is not that important, and encourage her to put effort in studying no matter which set is she in.

I’m sorry you felt anyone was questioning your parenting. On the strength of what you have now said, I think you should make an appointment to see her head of year and say what you’ve said here and see what they say. You need to make sure you know what level she’s working at now (in all subjects) and what her predicted grades are. Once you have that information, you can decide what to do next.

A couple of things OP.
Your DC is now in Year 9. how they did at primary school is not necessarily a particularly good guide to how they are doing now.

My DS did well in KS2 SATS in English, but tbh I think this was partly due of a lot of activity aimed in making the DC do well in tests! If he gets a Grade 5 at GCSE (he's currently Year 11) he will be pleased. That doesn't mean he's underperformed at secondary school but more that he's not a natural English student and has found it progressively harder to maintain his (overinflated imo) standard as he's gone along.

on the flip side, my DD underperformed in maths at primary school scoring a mediocre score in SATS. At the start of Year 9, she's in the top maths set and, if she keeps up her current standard, on track to get a high maths GCSE grade.

Second point is that you need to understand the basis for school predictions. School is obliged to base progress on KS2 SATS so if their targets are solely based on these, they may be irrelevant to how your child is actually doing.

A school should put a student in a set that is appropriate to the level they are currently working at, and that is appropriate to their needs e.g. sets often overlap as some children do better as the top of a lower set rather than middle of a higher set.
If your DC is getting some high grades and some middle, I'm not sure what else you expect them to do? Sounds like they are doing very well.

I agree with PP that you do seem very focused on the set and not actually how your child is doing. We are only 1 week into term - I'm not even sure you can gauge this yet!

OP. If your child came in with high SATs, then it will not be in the school's best interests to let them underperform. (Often underperformers are highlighted on spreadsheets so the teachers / HOD can see who they are.

English is very hard to 'measure progress' especially in KS3, aa a child might be great at creative writing one term, and then hopeless as poetry analysis the next.

As Bert said though it is hard to advise without more detail on SATs results, and current levels / expected grades etc.

I was honestly trying to help. But fair enough.

“Although did last year hence my concerns. Hope that makes sense.”

Honestly? No it doesn’t really. It sounds as if your main concern is the number of the set she’s in. She’s doing well and has good predicted grades but you just don’t like that she’s not in Set 1. And i’m pretty sure that’s not the problem, but I’m finding it impossible to work out what the real problem is. Can you give a bit more information?

Fair enough- although considering how many school parents there are on here i’m not sure if you need to be so very cautious. It’s very difficult to offer any help or any suggestions without more information.

It's almost impossible to predict grades in English language. Success GCSE wise is down to culture of reading, debate and discussion at home as much as what is being explicitly taught in English lessons. The grade boundaries shift each year so I wouldn't get hung up on outcomes. The social aspect is tricky but being in the (perceived) top set might not solve that. I'd go for a chat with the Head if Year before the Head of Subject.

So he has good predicted grades and he is doing well? Is that right?

“Very impressed with work this year.“

No grades, scores or predictions?

It might depend on CATS tests and their final target grade. Maybe their target is not as high as their friends?
You do need to go back to Head or Department and get more clarity.
Try to focus on their progress rather than what friends are doing. If they are doing well in current set then it might not be best for them to move just because friends have.

What did his report say at the end of last year?

It probably has more to do with timetabling of classes than there being “sets”.
How big a school is it?

Not sure how the school is letting DS down when he's getting as good marks as friends in other (I'm not going to say "top" as I'm not sure you actually know this) sets.

Agree with others that schools change the way they organise all their classes all the time, so your DC may well have had a mix of mixed ability, partially setted, fully setted ... Are you sure even now that he is in a low set? The school may have several sets at the same or overlapping levels.

I would stop focusing on the set though - the crucial thing is working out what DC has to work on to improve.