What can the school actually do? Class behaviour

[mrsjackbauer87]

My Y5 has just come home so down because of the behaviour in his class.

25 in the class, 5 with obvious, high needs SEN, possibly another couple with SEN or just challenging behaviour. 2 of these children spend most classroom time screaming/singing/making noise. Obviously this is disruptive and the majority of the class seem to have leapt onto this and are low level misbehaving.

My DS is on a table with 4 other children who are all trying to work among the chaos. Almost everyday DS either has a headache or is just low from spending the day surrounded by noise. He's not the most academic but he is also complaining that the work is too easy and that he and his table complete their work quickly and spend the rest of the time bored.

Just the one teacher and one TA. I need to speak with the teacher because its really affecting DS, but I don't know what they can actually do. I don't just want to complain at them, I know they are doing their best but I owe it to DS not to ignore how much it's affecting him.

Has anyone got any ideas on how to approach this in a positive way with the school? I don't want to move him as I have 2 other children in the school, both are happy.

Has it always been this way, assuming he is with the same cohort for the last number of years? Is the TA specifically involved with the students with SEN? I'm in Ireland so unsure of a TA role. It could be the teacher is out of their depth and needs support or it could be just a really tricky class. However, either way, it needs to be improved and I would certainly get in touch if ds is that upset. My DN had this around the same age and it was behavioural rather than SN, teamed with a very inexperienced and ineffective teacher (across the board). The following year, things were so much better.

I don't want to move him as I have 2 other children in the school, both are happy.

I had 3 DDs in 3 different schools at one point - this is because I saw them as individuals and wanted the best for each of them.

There has been a bit of movement in the last year or so with a few children moving and new children joining. All the new children seem to have SEN. The school is small (not tiny) and to me doesn't have a strong SEN provision.

Actually that thread was about my Y5's elder brother being horrible to him. That's actually calmed down quite a bit, tha ks for your concern...not really sure how it's relevant?

If it's the actual noise that is bothering him, get him some ear defenders to wear while he is doing his independent work.

If it's the visual chaos, you could talk to the teacher about him being at the front or at a side, maybe even facing a wall to cut down what he has going on in his eye line.

If it's waiting while the teacher is trying to subdue the chaos, maybe talk about a strategy to help that like being able to doodle in a tiny notebook.

If it's just the general air of feckless doom, there might not be much you can do.

It's a logistics question though, isn't it? While I would love to pick primary school based on each child it is difficult to make it work. Before this year, his class was diffult but not to the extent that it is now so it's only really become a bigger issue now and I'm wondering if there is anything that can be done that's not quite so drastic as moving him, although that looks where it's headed unfortunately.

11yo is Year 6. They're 9 and 10 years old in Y5.

No it's not. Year 5 is 9-10 year olds. Year 6 is 10-11 year olds. Not sure why you're trying to catch the OP out (badly)

@Littlegreene82 children are 9 turning 10 in Y5

You’re coming across as a bit mean here. Children turn 10 in year 5, so most will be 9 when they start in September. My grandson will only be 9 in the August of Year 5 whereas my granddaughter will be 10 the week after she starts year 5.

OP, speak to the teacher and suggest that your DS has access to ongoing tasks that he could do when he’s completed the work in the lesson. I do this with some of my more able children, things like maths investigations, researching for a topic they like or just reading a favourite book in the book corner with headphones on. That way the teacher won’t be worrying about what to give him when he finishes!

As I say there has been a real turn around at home, I have no idea why but the older kids are now best of friends. Its not really relevant.

The class behaviour has really taken a downturn this year, not saying I was amazing before but nothing like this year (we're only about 6 weeks in) so I was looking for advice before I take a more drastic step. Thankfully there is no violence in the class, just behaviour and noise issues.

@WASZPy thanks for the suggestions, very helpful. Ear defenders are a good shout...not sure DS will be up for it but hopefully I could convince him.

I have this too so following for advice. I'm in Scotland so the year groups are different but my DD never reported such major issues in P4, and now she's P5 there are constant tales of class disruption. I'm wondering how much is the kids just getting older, so louder and more boisterous in their behaviour and how much is class management by the teacher.
It really is getting to her.

My DC was in a class like this last year. He has also recently been diagnosed with ASD so I think it had a particularly big impact on him. I hadn't realised the extent of just how bad it was until they shuffled the classes around this year and he had a new teacher. He clearly feels so much calmer and happier in school now. I would never allow him to be in a situation like that again, so in your situation I'd move schools

It's definitely worth speaking to the teacher about it as they might be able to organise a separate room for some of the rowdier individuals to go and work in separately for parts of the lesson with the TA.

We used to use these (we called them pop-outs but other schools may have other terminology) for the children who needed more concentrated one-on-one support and the teacher could focus on teaching the whole class while the support staff (usually me or another member of SLT, but sometimes the class TA) could work with the ones who needed more help.

They might already have a special room where children can go for quiet time (a sensory room or similar) which your DS or some of the loud children could spend some time during the day as well.