Year 7 (who is very good at maths) has been put in the bottom sets.

[ReevesJeeves]

My DD has always been very good at Maths. In Year 6, she achieved Greater Depth in her Maths SATS (achieving 115/120). Since joining Year 7, she has been in a mixed ability Maths Set. In the work that has been sent home from Secondary and that is set on Sparx, she is getting 80% - 90% correct, independently.

We have just had a letter home today, advising that Maths will be set after half term, and my DD will be in Set 5 of 6! The letter also explains that she has been assessed as finding Maths challenging and not to worry about sets, every child will be assisted individually. AIBU to think the school doesn’t know my DD at all, and to send an email querying how they came to this decision? I fail to see how she can now be finding maths challenging and in Set 5 of 6, having achieved 115/120 in her SATS only months ago. Maths has always been a subject she has excelled in, right down to her KS1 Times Tables test where she scored 100%. BTW this is not a selective school or grammar, it’s mainstream state, so it’s not as though the department will be awash with Maths geniuses (in the least offensive way). I also don’t want to appear as a trouble maker or someone the school will be fed up with, but I think this needs to be questioned to find out what has gone wrong so to speak.

My husband thinks I shouldn’t say anything as the school will just think I’m a neurotic mum, I disagree and I think it needs to be dealt with and questions asked pronto - something has clearly gone drastically wrong either with the teachers assessment of DD or in the way DD is presenting herself in class?!

Presumably if she was in the wrong class it would quickly come to light after they’ve been streamed, but I don’t think it would do any harm to just ask - I suppose they may have made a mistake.

It sounds as if there is some kind of mistake, so you would be reasonable to contact the school immediately and query what has happened.

I’d ask the question, not least to see if she might need any extra support at home. Have they done some tests that she didn’t do too well in? I wouldn’t worry too much as I am sure she’ll find her way into the right set as they get to know her properly.

Yes, definitely raise it. Does she share a name with another girl in the year? Perhaps there has been some kind of muddle.

If the other students are doing better then they should be in higher sets?

What has DD said?

Yes you are right this sounds like an administrative cock up
I would send a factual email clarifying this is correct as your daughter had previously scored x y z. And if it is the case that she is now performing at bottom you would like a meeting to discuss wjay has happened for such a sudden change in progress.

There's nothing wrong with asking school about this at all. I don't understand your husband.

You don't have to be difficult. It's just a conversation to find out why your child is seemingly doing much worse at maths.

Either it's a mistake or there's an issue. I would find out.

I will say my child has autism (aspergers). Very good at maths but had absolute meltdowns over shitty Sparx. It absolutely sucks. I put my foot down and refused to let him do it in the end. It was causing utter misery and stress. He now likes maths again and is doing really well without doing any bloody sparx homework.

Raise it - they can explain and it may turn out to be an error.

You’re not a trouble maker.

I think I would ask to speak with someone about this...it could just be an error...and if not, a good opportunity to find out if there are any issues.

Does she have a name similar to another child and they put the children in the wrong sets? It happened at the last school I worked at two boys had the same name so it was an admin error.

I would contact form tutor and point out she got a very high score in her SATS so you're confused how she has suddenly gone from top in maths to almost the bottom in just 7 weeks. The school should have her SATS scores and most schools also do their own testing.

Definitely query it. You can do so
politely. Someone has most likely made a mistake somewhere! I’m in a mainstream secondary: kids who get 111plus are in top set. Sometimes even 109up in a weaker year.

I would definitely query it - mistakes are easy to make with so many new kids to manage.

Alternatively did they do CAT tests in school or internal tests at all? Maybe your daughter struggled on the day?

Nothing to be lost by asking/checking imo. In a genuinely concerned way not in a my child is too good for set 5.

There is no harm in asking them for an explanation and to check it is correct. I know when my sons were at secondary they were expected to get 100% on Sparx every time. Anything less than 100% was classed as not completing the homework. If they have similar expectations and she is achieving 80% they would consider her to be struggling.

Sounds like a mistake. Last year my son’s end of year report said be was ‘below’ in Geography despite consistently getting 80%+ in his assessments all year. Turns out the teacher had recorded the wrong mark next to his name instead of the person above him in the register!
These things happen so best to check.

Yeah check. I would.

I’d definitely check and say you were surprised as dd is always strong at maths and scored x in sats and her homework. Could they just double check she is in correct group.

Just to be clear, are you sure this is a setting situation? Dd started private in the bottom set which turned out to be not actually set at all, mixed until the teachers got a good grasp. DD was stuck next to kids who didn't know tables and clearly didn't enjoy maths who tried to talk all lesson and distract each other. It was actually a complete nightmare because I really feel she lost a year of learning maths and was struggling by Y8 because the "cool" kids who were disruptive picked on her for trying to pay attention. We sadly had no option as the school had made a point of not setting until Y8. We moved her school shortly after that and now she is set for a 7 at GCSE.

FWIW I do think you should say something if you are completely sure they are actual sets and not just numbers allocated to the groups. I do think it looks like maybe there has been a mistake somewhere.

Yes the same private school we were at was always mixing kids up in reports - there were only about 30 kids in the year! Shocking really.

As a Head of a core subject Department I say you need to raise this.

Ask for her paper so you can check it was marked fairly.

Ask the Head of Maths to check her mark was not wrongly inputted on the internal spreadsheet.

Ask what the range of marks is in each set.

I highly suspect it’s an admin error.

Don’t bother going via the form tutor OP, it’s nothing to do with them and will just delay you getting an answer.

Go straight to Head of Maths, it’s their job.

I wouldnt let this go on too long as the upper groups work faster as well as cpveri g harder content so it gets harder to move the longer it goes on. A factual email with copies of previous reports, sat results etc and write it from a placeof curiosity and concern

It is definitely a setting situation.

The letter explains that they have been assessed and placed into maths sets starting after half term, with my DD being in Set 5 of 6. The letter then goes on to say that Sets 4-6 shouldn’t be considered as bottom, but for students who find maths challenging and would benefit from extra support.

My son was set a flight path due to a combination of his SATs results and tests the school did themselves at the beginning of year 7. As a result he is in set 1 and 2 in core subjects. I understood if he suddenly dropped out of his flight path that would be considered as a failing on the sschools behalf. I would absolutely write to the school in your position.

This happened to me 45 years ago for French...I scored 77% in the test and was in the bottom set! As I wasn't interested (then) in french I didn't say anything...but maths is completely different. I would contact the head of year to query it asap

Mistakes happen

As others have said definitely query it in case there’s been a mistake, everything you’ve shared here suggests it’s possible there has been.