Year 9 DD in the same class for all her lessons

[Sharpandshineyteeth]

Since September DD has been in her class group for every lesson. No sets at all. She was in high sets and says maths and English as a class group is ridiculously easy.

She said they were talking about this continuing “until COVID ends in the spring?!?”.

I think I need to raise this with them but realistically they aren’t going to change on my saying so.

Many schools have done this to reduce movement of students round the school and also the number of close contacts especially in KS3.

I would assume the work should be differentiated though. Have they done any assessments yet to check levels?

How are the school organising the year group bubbles? While schools have all had the same guidance they have all adjusted it differently depending on the individual school layouts.

Some are keeping the students in year group and not moving around school building. This reduces contact with other students and staff. While not academically ideal it'll be a decision your school has decided to take. It may not be permanent, they may just have wanted to assess students to see where they where all at after being at home. It's best just to ask the school what there approach is and if your child needs more work you could ask for it.

We don’t set any year groups in my school, works really well. Maybe the teacher isn’t used To teaching a mixed ability class as isn’t offering different tasks for different abilities. You could politely raise this.

Sorry, the no setting was pre Covid as well, so we are used to teaching mixed ability classes

Sets are only possible by making class sizes uneven - so you have a large group of the most academic children, and a small group of those needing the most support. You can't run a large group of those needing the most support, their needs will not begin to be met. So, instead of say 2 classes of 30, one of 25 and one of 15, they are making 4 classes of 25 to allow more room in the classes and in particular to mean that children have reduced contacts, as they aren't in a different set for maths and another for English, mixing with more contacts along the way. I think you could focus on more differentiation but not sets.

The school’s risk assessment and return to school plan maybe on their website, so you could read that before contacting the school

We're doing this.

We've had no training and quite frankly as a teacher I know it's shit. I'm trying my best to differentiate effectively. Some topics are easier than others.

If you do raise it, please be polite and understanding.

Many schools don't set at all. There is a lot of debate over whether it is helpful or not.

I am contacting her class teacher today. DD didn’t want to go to school again today. She said it’s so boring and that’s just not like her.

I ask class teacher whether she can make other teachers aware that my DD needs some more extension work or something. I’ll be polite and understanding and work with them as best as I can.

Hope it went well when speaking to the school.

It is really tricky to get mixed ability right with so little notice. Teacher workload now is also really high so they are probably maxed out. Not that it makes it ok for your dd to be bored all day, just want you to see from a different pov.