Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Education

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

Original poster

he's been back one day and i'm worried already.....

15 replies

alexsmum · 06/09/2006 16:47

ds's school divide the children up into ability groups and they do their maths and english etc with their group and then everything else as a class.
ds is quite bright and has always been in the top group. His report last term siad he was achieving beyond the expected level in reading , writing and science, and at the expected level for maths.
he has come home today and said he's not in the same group as before -so effectively has been dropped a group.Not only that, but is in with the two boys in the class that he wasn't allowed to sit with last year because they wind each other up.
am really worried now-have i not done enough with him? have the other kids in his group jumped ahead of him? is he going to end up in trouble all the time becausehe is with his two pals?
what should i do?

OP posts:
grumpyfrumpy · 06/09/2006 16:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
alexsmum · 06/09/2006 16:54

from what he has said though, his group from last year is exactly the same except that he's not in it.can't believe he's fallen so far behind the others.

OP posts:
lorina · 06/09/2006 16:58

Dont worry so much!
How old is he ?

DD was in top set for everything in yr8 .Great report at end of year 8. Went back in yr and had been droppped a set for maths.

Sometimes its better for them not to feel pressured into keeping in the highest set. Perhaps this is the best way for him to get the good marks that will get him 'promoted' again later.

If there is a real problem with the other boys then his new teacher will be on to that pretty quickly I would think.

lorina · 06/09/2006 16:59

went back in yr 9 , I meant to say

Original poster
alexsmum · 06/09/2006 17:07

he's 6 and just gone into year2.
sounds silly but i am really worried.

OP posts:
Hallgerda · 06/09/2006 17:16

Go and talk to the teacher. As others have said, it may not be a problem, but you know it'll be eating away at you until you find out what's going on and why. Just approach the matter in a reasonably neutral way (i.e. ask for information) unless you find out you have something to be annoyed about.

swifts · 06/09/2006 23:17

My ds also went back today - into Year 8 - and has been dropped a set down from the top group in maths. He seemed to be fine at the end of last year, getting an A1 in his final assessment although this included a slightly disappointing end of year exam result where he made quite a few silly mistakes. I'm not sure whether to query this move with the school although ds seems fine about it - in fact I detected some relief.. Dh, who is a teacher, trusts the school's judgement and feels that ds may do as well, if not better, in this set. I'm less relaxed about it and wonder if we should be speaking up more on ds' behalf. (A friend with a ds at a different school was on the phone at the beginning of term to make sure he was in the top set as there was some doubt whether he would get in or not - should we have done the same??)

Do you have a parents' evening coming up where you can raise this with his teacher? I think this is what we'll do - it also gives a few weeks to see how the move pans out.

brimfull · 06/09/2006 23:24

swifts.I can't believe your friend phoned the school to make sure her ds was put into the top sets.Surely the point of sets is that the child is working at a level suitable for them.It's not a competition and the teachers are the best people to decide what set a child should be in.

swifts · 06/09/2006 23:54

Ggirl, I couldn't believe it either! Although in his school (different one to my ds) there's a big gap between the top set and the others - it's not good academically so I think that makes the parents particularly anxious that their child should be with a group that might be able to get on with learning something. I agree that the teachers do know best (as I said dh is one!) but when I hear stories of parents putting pressure on them I do wonder if those of us who stay quiet do end up getting a worse deal for our ds/dd..... Having said that, her phone call may not have influenced the school's decision at all. I certainly don't want to get into seeing any of this as a competition.

Hallgerda · 07/09/2006 07:38

ggirl, in an ideal world the teachers would stick to their guns and not be influenced by the parents who ring in to ensure their child goes in the top set. Then the parents wouldn't ring in, and those of us with qualms about doing so would not fear we were doing our own children down.

throckenholt · 07/09/2006 07:54

there is no way from one day that the teacher can decide he has "fallen way behind the others" - it is just the preliminary devision of the class - it is bound to evolve as the term progresses.

Is it the same teacher as last year ?

Anyway - have a word with the teacher - just say you noticed he had been moved groups and you wondered why. Also mention that the boys he is now with were a bit of a bad combination last year - in case the teacher is unaware of the dynamics.

Original poster
alexsmum · 07/09/2006 12:55

no different teacher.
told dh about this last year and he is unhappy about it too-more because putting the three boys together may mean ds's works suffers. i wonder if there will be a parents evening soon? have to talk to her i think.

OP posts:
lorina · 07/09/2006 13:16

Alexmum as you have slept on it and are still very concerned then make an appointment to see his teacher. You dont have to wait until parents evening.

She will definitely have a strategy for dealing with the children that are a disruptive influence.

Original poster
alexsmum · 07/09/2006 19:11

spoke to the teacher.just had a little chat and asked if she was aware of the dynamic between them and she said yes, and that ds was being moved back into his old group on monday.
The groups this week were temporary while she assessed them and he will be back with his old grioup! yay! she also said he tried very hard to be sensible which i was so pleased about and that he was a delight to have in the class! what a lovely thing to say!

OP posts:
Hallgerda · 07/09/2006 20:42

That's really good news, alexsmum

New posts on this thread. Refresh page