Aibu to complain to ds's school?

[TellMeALittle]

My ds had a lesson yesterday where he has been moved to a different set.

It's his first GCSE year in this subject and the set move isn't the problem as such, as both sets are academically on par with each other.

However, he is one of four that have been moved, due to the other set having a high number of extremely disruptive pupils, so they've moved four out and replaced with four well behaved pupils to even things out.

I asked him whether this was the only reason, and clarified with him whether this was the reason he was given, which he said it was.

He is really unhappy with the move. He has only had one class in the new set and said it was awful. That the teacher really struggled to teach anything due to the behaviour of the class and low level, constant disruptions. Another point that I'm also unhappy about is that the topic the new set are covering is one he has done in a previous term with his old set.

My ds is fairly confident and was praised by his subject teacher at parents evening at partaking in class discussions. He tells me he wouldn't dare do this in this new set, as he'd be torn to shreds outside the class for being a nerd.

So would ibu to contact the school? I realise that classes can struggle with disruptive pupils and the school don't have it easy with dealing with this. But I can only view this as detrimental to my ds in this instance.

Wwyd?

I wouldn't be happy about this at all. Not sure what the school should do about it but if the new set is duplicating work your son has already done, then I would have a problem. I would definitely contact the school about it.

I would contact the school. Stay calm and reasonable and state the facts you have above explaining exactly why you feel this move is a disservice to your well behaved son.

Ugh. I was always the good child made to sit with my bullies to "even things out". I can't believe adults can be so insensitive to children at that age, when friendship groups are so important. I would definitely be taking this up with the school and doing everything in my power to get him moved back.

Thanks for the replies.

I've just called the school and I'm waiting for a call back.

I've just had a call from the school, and they said if my ds is really that unhappy then they will move him back to the old set.

They would rather that he gave it some time though, to decide, as they were hoping that moving 4 well behaved students would be a good influence on the class.

BabyMurloc, I used your term of disservice, which I feel summed it up nicely, so thanks for that.

They were also concerned about the repeat of the topic matter, and agreed that this is unacceptable, so will be checking this.

Thanks again, feeling happier now and they'll be talking to my ds today to reassure him.

I think it would be fine to reshuffle and totally mix the class. Changing 4 each way sounds wrong.

Glad you feel better, OP. Your son might be willing to give it some time now he knows he can go back if he really wants to but, if not, meh. It's not your problem and the school should have better methods of dealing with disruptive behaviour than this.

I got moved into the boys class for GCSE science. They had split us into two classes, one predominantly girls, and one boys but (funnily enough) found that the boys class was awful to try and teach so 3-4 of us girls got swapped in to 'calm the boys down'... I don't remember ever complaint about it at the time but I should have done. I did relatively well in science in the end, due to weekly private tutoring sessions, which I also was having for maths.

I would move him back. I know four of the disruptive pupils have now been moved into that set, but it's possible that the teacher in his old set has better control, so will handle them better. Plus the fact he has already covered that topic is a valid one

The well behaved pupils rarely have any effect on the poorly behaved ones. What were the school thinking of? Don't they know kids? What planet are they from?

Well done for contacting the school, OP! I was one of the quiet and well behaved kids made to sit with the nasty ones. Hated it so much and really affected my ability to make friends.

Keep the momentum going now that it is with you. Don't buy the "give it time" line. It rarely works.

Get them to swap him back straight away. Send an email in saying that you have thought about this at length since the telephone conversation, and that you would prefer him to be returned to his original set without further delay. You don't want him having to play catch-up with the work because he was in a badly behaved set.