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?!

I thought when they go to year 7 they do base line tests for sets. Maybe it was based on those results.

Maths at primary school is totally different from maths at secondary school and uses a completely different skill set. Primary maths is basically memorising times tables and applying very basic numerical manipulations. Secondary maths is about applying complex several step manipulations to data or numbers. It is more about logic than memorising things.
It is not uncommon to do well at primary maths sats and then really struggle with secondary maths or vice versa.

Definitely ask about this. As others have said, has she been mixed up with another child, or has a score been entered incorrectly making it seem like she performs below expected standards.

I don't know whether Sparx is the same for everyone or if it's adapted to their needs. So just wondering even if she is doing well on that it's because the settings are lower as they think she needs it? Hopefully a maths teacher can advise better on this.

Definitely ask. And do it today so it can be sorted / explained before half term.

I'd definitely ask for clarification OP. You have good reason to be surprised by the decision.

Sometimes for sets in an environment where children are coming together for the first time they can use aptitude tests, and these will test more vaguely than learned ability. It could be they used something like that, and DD didn't do quite as well as some others who might be very bright aptitude-wise but a bit lazy day to day. However, that would explain more a second or third set placement to me, rather than 5/6/

So I;+'d ask.

This was my thinking with regards to Sparx. As I said up thread my kids were expected to get 100% on Sparx every time as the Sparx questions were set at the level they were working at. Anything less than 100% was marked down as the homework not being done.

If she is getting 80-90% on Sparx homework that they would expect her to get 100% on as it has been set to ask questions that are achievable that is different to scoring 80-90% when it has been set to ask questions which are to stretch her ability.

I also think her asking the teacher how she did on a test and being told she did well doesn't really tell us anything as doing well is relative.

Definitely ask it could well be an admin error but it isn't always and sometimes year 7 parents (and kids) do get a shock once they hit secondary.

Definitely ask. I was put in the wrong set for me for English. They realised pretty quickly but couldn’t do anything to change it as the set they felt they should have put me in was full.

As long as you phrase it politely you are not being ‘that mum’.

If it's a huge secondary school - like my DD's is. They are basically battery farming and not educating individuals at all.

You need to speak up. At every single point. They do not look at each child they look at stats on paper.... education in this country is horrific.

Definitely query it, hopefully just an admin error that will be fixed. I had similar, was top set for everything then moved across the country and the new school put me in the bottom stream (so bottom for everything) which made no sense. My dad was having none of it and went to the school and told them there had been a mistake and I belonged in the top set, and they moved me (he can be very persuasive, he made the police apologise to my mum after she crashed into them and destroyed their car!)

Agree. This is why they often set on aptitude tests, not learned syllabus style tests, as they are seeking to predict how they will fare going forward when it is less about learned skills eg; times tables, and more about raw ability.

But even with a lower than expected score in those - if that's what it was - I would still be asking about a higher set to see how she gets on if she has always performed well in maths.

I think you should talk to them. Explain high SATs and homework. Ask if she can do a test?

One of the many problem with SATs is that schools 'teach to the test'. A lot of Y6 now is about how to do well in SATs, not learning about maths/English or whatever.

Do you know how your DD scored on the CAT test or whatever the school used at the beginning of Y7?

Not saying that your DD isn't good at maths btw. There is a lot of movement in secondary school sets, so I wouldn't worry too much yet.

What level SATS papers did she sit? There are different tiers.
Also, is it a sought after school - strong catchment area? If so there will be a lot of children with high SATS. Is it a selective private school? If so, sorry to say it but the SATS are very easy and almost pointless compared to the entrance exams of some of the academic sort.

I would query it (not argue) as she would have been set based on something tangible like a test. If so, you can’t do much as that is the fairest method. If she really is as strong as you think the teacher of that class will pick up on that quickly.

They did sit CATs but according to the school these haven’t been used for sets, it’s teachers assessment and overall picture of the child only.

The maths she has been doing this half term has been a combination of Year 6 revision and easier topics (BIDMAS, Factors, Multiples), which she has been finding easy so I’d be very surprised if she flunked the test.

Schools can make mistakes so check with them. And no they will not think you are a busybody FFS. My son's option choices were a world away from what he chose. We got a letter through the post saying he was given drama, business studies and geography. He chose statistics, computer science and history. Turns out something went wrong in the spreadsheet and it moved a row meaning from a certain point everyone got someone else's option choices sent to them.

It was rectified and we moved on. Contact school. If you can ring just say you wanted to check the set and talk to the maths teacher about what was happening in class. This is completely normal. Our school had a 48 hour turn around policy, so if you contacted them they would get back to you in that time frame.

I’m assuming that’s what they are basing it on btw, as the letter states CATs scores have not been considered but will be after Christmas.

This is what I would write.

Dear hod, (copy form tutor)
I was surprised to receive a letter saying DD is going to be in set 5 out of 6 for maths.

She scored 115 in her SATs and has, I thought, been doing well this term; she reports she finds the work easy, and thought she had done well in the recent test.

Please could you double check there has not been an admin error in recording her score or set allocation? If no error and she is struggling more than we realised, please could you send me a copy of her recent test so I can see it?

It would be helpful to have this resolved either way before half term.

Kind regards

Yes, you should advocate for her...

I used to be teacher, and I would definitely email the school, and make sure you quote his SATs score. It will be an administrative error and it needs correcting. No one at the school will mind at all, your husband is being a wimp, ignore him, he doesn't know how it all works.

Teachers have to do everything fast because they're so overworked, so there are often mistakes with marking, putting numbers into spreadsheets etc. Teachers would much prefer to be told so they can correct the mistake.

I’m in my 30s so this is going back 15 or so years but I was put in all the bottom sets because I shared a name with a few other girls in my year - same first name, same first few letters of 2nd name! I remember getting 100% on my “foundation” exam and 98% on my “general” in maths before the teachers queried it! Defo a mistake, can’t hurt to ask.

Sometimes you do have to fight for them.
One of our DSs was streamed as being capable of general science GCSEs but not the three separate, biol, chemistry and physics papers. We knew he was and complained loudly.
In the end he passed all three at grade 9.

Definitely question it. This happened to my DS, only we didn’t get a letter to be told it was happening and it took us a while to realise. He found it so hard, mainly because the more disruptive kids were in the bottom set.
We questioned it several times and were only listened to when we spoke to the head of year. It made a huge difference to him when he was moved to the correct set.

This is perfect.
Definitely do write an email to the school OP. They will absolutely not think you are a neurotic parent, and it won’t reflect on your DD (schools receive hundreds of emails from parents- they won’t single you out for being a ‘trouble maker’).

In a normal state comp, a pupil who scored what OP's daughter had scored would not be in the second to bottom set. That is not possible.

I would email but just be super polite and nice.

"Sorry to bother you"

"Please can you help me understand"

"Could you clarify"

"I'm confused "