Literally couldn’t make it up! Any advice appreciated.

[LivingInTheTrumanShow]

DD not happy at current school - is an Estyn Outstanding out of catchment. Children are just miserable but the results are obviously great.

Decided DD happiness is worth more than anything so rang our catchment school agreed they had a place in reception. Great! Put the in year transfer request in, accepted the place.

Turn up at new school DD has been put in the reception/nursery class! Asked why this was and was told that the reception class was full!

What’s worse is the reception students in the nursery/reception class are summer born or less able!

My DD is a winter baby and very very forward, is reading and doing KS1 maths already. Is there anything I can do now? I spoke to the head who was adamant the reception class is already full, it was filled in September!

I want to move schools again asap AIBU?? or do I see how it goes and have faith that her class teacher will differentiate effectively?

but now I’m worried about the academic aspect

🙄 Leave the child where she is.

I’m worried about the academic aspect.

She's FOUR!

OP, Please print this thread and keep it somewhere safe. Read it in 10 years and laugh/cry/cringe at yourself

How the fuck do you know if certain children are less able? As for your assumption on summer born children you sound like a complete idiot.

Please chill. Your child is happy. Its ks1 she will not be behind anyone or be held back.

Shes 4!!!! Academic side? Jesus.

Leave her alone. She’s obviously happy.

How do you know the other children are “less able”????? So demeaning

For a pushy parent you are a bit disorganised.

Less fucking able ?! Here have my very first mn expletive and also my first

Sorry, is this a wind up?

@whyarentiskinnyet

Do people seriously believe this is true? I've never read such nonsense.

Quite!

OP = please calm down about academics for a 5 year old.

In most european countries children start formal learning WHEN THEY ARE SEVEN. Im just shouting there so you can see how ludicrous it is to worry about what maths and reading she is doing and whether she is a few months older than her peers at this age

She should be learning through play like children are around the world at this age - it's only our ludicrous system that introduces this ridiculous set of worries. If she is reading and good at maths then let her do that in her free time- she is learning to play and socialise and will be reading at her own pace.

Please don't move her again she will be absolutely fine. My daughter is youngest in year and one of the brightest by the way! Ahead of learning goals throughout school - but also socially totally backwards with lots of problems so really you can't tell where a child will be by their month age.

Also there is no such thing as academically less able in receptin or indeed in year one. so give your head a wobble.

Here's the thing. The single most important benefit of primary school is the opportunity to learn how to socialise. (Yes, kids also learn how to learn, and they learn actual stuff too.) Your child cannot do that if you keep moving them (and switching schools is very stressful for kids, btw. Imagine starting a new job every few weeks.). Let your child settle in - it takes some a lot longer than others - instead of making massive knee-jerk decisions that won't help the situation.

Don't worry about the academics OP. It's really too early and teachers know how to differentiate. They are trained to do it. I've been told it's no more than 30mins a day formal learning on the carpet and the rest learning through play now anyway. I doubt they do anything significantly different with them across the two classes for those 30 mins.

@phishy thanks for that it gave me a giggle!

You need to calm right down.

You have a resilient child: she has been whisked from one school to another and comes out smiling.

Which was what you wanted.

My summer born child didn’t even start Reception until after Christmas, and is heading for a first (based on exams last year and course marks this) in a STEM subject from Imperial.

Calm down. Your angstyness already drive you to send her to an out of catchment school just because it was outstanding, and you could have put her off school for life.

Being happy at school and parental support (look at the difference between support and hysteria) are great ingredients for academic success.

What’s worse is the reception students in the nursery/reception class are summer born or less able!

Just come off the phone to my summer born eldest child, who has four A*s at A level under their belt and is currently studying an extremely demanding course at one of the UK's top universities. They also learned loads in Nursery and Reception, mainly due to a supportive, happy environment and some really lovely, dedicated teachers.

Give her time to settle and she will probably flourish. And if the school has mixed classes, they may well re-jig things as the children get older in any case.

OP,
I understand your concern. I’ve been there. What I discovered is that the most important thing in a young child starting school is that they develop a love of learning. They won’t develop that if they are miserable, so you were absolutely right to move her to a school she loves. That was a good decision, the right decision imho.

Now, just trust in yourself and leave her in this school. Focus on her getting that love for learning. She will develop interests of her own in robots, or space/planets, or dinosaurs, or architecture, or animals, or history, or art. Your role is to then encourage her, take her to library and let her read about anything she is interested in. The first years are about learning how to learn...how to read, write, maths. Later on it will be reading, writing and maths being used to learn.

Most I would do is in the spring, ask the school about how they do the class assignments for next year and what you can expect for your child. They can’t really tell you much now, give them time to get to know your DD and her capabilities.

This has to be your first. Buoy need to calm down and let her settle into a school. She probably would have been happy in the first one she was in tbh if you’d given it time.

First parents evening, I remember asking my PFB’s reception teacher how much time she spends on 1-2-1 with my daughter a day? she looked at me like I was batshit. My DH discretely squeezed my knee under the little table whilst trying not to piss himself laughing.

What’s worse is the reception students in the nursery/reception class are summer born or less able!

When you drop your very able child off tomorrow morning, take a long hard look at all her little class friends who have helped make her feel happy and welcome at a new school and then go home and reevaluate what you have written.

Ps, I’m still not convinced this is real!

Academically she will be fine OP.
There may be other challenges though.

I'm amazed at OP's detective skills.

Estyn has judged School 1 "outstanding" ( without noticing or assessing the atmosphere of misery).

Two months into first school, she knows that all the children are miserable; and on first day at new school she knows half the class are "less able".