Confused by call from school

[scorpiogirly]

So my daughter who is 7 just went back today in year 3.

I get a call half an hour before I'm due to collect her to ask me if it is okay if the teacher who helps out takes my dd in the mornings in a group of about 10 to do maths. Apparently not that she's going to be taught anything different, just taught slower. What the hell does this mean? It's her first day back and they have never said anything like this before and she has always seemed fine with maths.

They also always tend to have mixed classes. When I questioned it, apparently it is nothing to do with ability. But strangely, they have split two year 3 classes and 2 year 4 classes and mixed them together. Whats the point of that?

. I teach some students who absolutely have the ability but really have to work harder to achieve it than others

If your "ability" requires harder work to achieve results than someone else's its fairly obviously lower ability

I agree with a pp when schools refuse to acknowledge variation in ability its very infantilising and also leads to misguided expectations and disappointment.

Schools take pupils out like this because trying to get 30 kids to go at the same pace results in slower children learning nothing (because they simply can't keep up at all), when at a slower pace, they would learn much more. It is a good thing, it maximises the outcome for the child but don't kid yourself it will "close a gap" or enable catch up with children going at a faster pace, it typically won't.

Ah then I’m not surprised

Not surprised at what? That I wasn't aware things had changed? Fair enough. It made planning take forever.

I don’t think you need to be so dramatic about it.

Lots of kids will have extra support and the parents never even known.
Even the seating plan is designed to support the pupils.

They feel that your DD would benefit from these extra sessions, either because the majority of the class are a bit higher than her or because she works better in a smaller group.

Lots of kids get lost because the confident and quicker processing ones answer the questions and finish fast, which can make others feel like a failure.

Its a bit like dyslexia.
Often dyslexic people are just as strong readers (or can be if given the tools) but they need longer to process it. But there’s nothing worse than them sitting in the class surrounded by non dyslexic people who can rattle words off really quickly.

It’s likely this was picked up in year 2 and they just want to start off on the right foot.

About them not doing extra work with their kids over the summer?

Yes, you’re right that what the OP is talking about is probably preteach/gap filling and actually for some children that is enough to keep them up with the rest of the class.

My issue with the approach is more for very capable students. I was a maths teacher in a private school for many years and having prepared for the 11+, many pupils were working at greater depth y6 level by year 5. They just don’t need to sit through explanations when they can complete the class work in 10 minutes without any explanation. Thankfully as it was a private school I was free to teach in a way that worked for them and not make them sit through stuff they already knew.

I’m now a supply teacher and in almost every maths lesson, there’s a set of children who can finish the work with no explanation, and they are rarely given anything more difficult to do. Perhaps that’s just because their teacher didn’t leave them an extension on the day I was in, but from speaking to them it generally seems that they read a book or help the others when finished, rather than learning anything new. Meanwhile, there’s a set of children who have such significant gaps in their learning that the objective is not achievable and they’d be better off consolidating place value, or basic addition and subtraction, than attempting to add and subtract fractions, for example.

It doesn't take a genius to work out your daughter is slow at maths. Instead of raging you should be grateful she is going to get extra support. Perhaps think about you can give her extra support at home as well. It may be useful to obtain a copy of the curriculum for her level.

About you >35 years ago not doing any work at all with your 7 year old over the summer holiday and you being a school teacher.

your dd same age as me and not a chance my parents would have done any work with me either

now however, that we know the research indicates children really do take a step backwards during the long break, many parents do do a little bit of work over the summer hols.
Not much but A bit of maths and spellings

I wasn’t even responding to you!! It was to @CaptainMyCaptain

What level was she working to on her last school report?

I managed 9A*s 4 As at GCSE and got As in the two A levels I took in year 11. I also have a ridiculously slow processing speed. I was flagged for dyslexia (which I don't have) - I'm just a plodder and need more time to understand what I am reading and to take it all in. I struggled with maths up until secondary school because of this. Slow processing does not equal low ability or low potential. If my child was being offered support tailored to her learning style I'd be over the moon. If probably ask the teacher for more info about why it was needed and whether they have any concerns.

Most people would be happy the school are being so supportive of her needs. Her ability may not be the issue, but working in a smaller group may boost her confidence in participation and continuing to find maths fun. Her age group often wibble and when that happens it’s common to say maths isn’t my thing, when actually getting past that wibble will counteract that.

Eh? I said I have never done any school work with my children in the holidays. My children are 13, 11 and 6. 11 year old has just taken her SATs and got Greater Depth in all subjects. As did my eldest, 2 years ago.

That was me. I'm a retired teacher and didn't make my child do school work in the holidays and home work wasnt even a thing in primary schools then. She's fine, an adult in a graduate profession.

They dont need to sit through that, again adaptive teaching.

That is a problem with the schools then in your area. Maybe they dont have maths clusters or decent advisors helping them if they arent doing the curriculum properly and letting kids finish mid lesson.

So why did you get involved in an exchange between @CaptainMyCaptain and myself? Bizarre

If it helps, my DD was in a similar position at your DD’s age. I had the email to say she was being put in a “small” (ie pretty obviously, an intervention) group. But it did wonders for her. There were a few things she hadn’t “got” and being in a smaller class, with some other kids who also hadn’t “got it”, really helped her. And then she did “get it” and moved on and was moved out of that class. And 8 years later, she’s just got a very strong grade 9 in GCSE Maths. Sometimes a bit of early intervention can really work wonders. I would try and see it as a positive thing.

They do it because they cant afford to have 2 x small classes for a year group. Less teachers.

Might not be behind YET. She may have been identified as a slower learner in maths who needs things explained in a smaller group or needs more support as she is learning or she may have some anxiety around maths

Not sure why your raging.
Work steps up a gear in year 3
Surely this is a good thing

Massive apologies, I thought all comments on public forums were fair game to reply to 🤷🏻‍♀️
The reason I ‘got involved’ was because you were implying that the only reason she didn’t do school work with her kids in the holidays is because her kids were at primary school a long time ago, and that it’s something most people do now. I wanted to point out that some of us don’t do any work in the holidays with our children even now (didn’t even know it was a thing, holidays for primary school kids are for playing and relaxing) and they’re still doing brilliantly.

Well don’t get yourself in a tizzy then

apology accepted btw

No tizzy, just indulging in some light chat on a dull evening!

I agree with you.

Good to hear

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