Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Education

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

Original poster

Update on the child promotion thread. We're seething

71 replies

northender · 03/10/2006 20:24

OK today ds has come home from school having spent the whole day in with Yr1 (meeting is not until tomorrow). He now thinks Reception is "boring".
I now know who the other children are and none of them are friends that he's talked about, in fact one is a boy who I've heard from ds and other parents is a bit of a bully. So much for social relationships being considered.
Any opinions would be welcome as dh and I are seething and have to face this meeting tomorrow morning with other parents who we suspect will be in favour of it.

OP posts:
SherlockLGJ · 03/10/2006 20:32

I have no opinion, but I would ask them if Yr2 is a SATS year.

Because if it is imo he would be far too young emotionally for that sort of pressure.

southeastastralplain · 03/10/2006 20:34

how old is he again? (sorry missed 1st thread)

Gillian76 · 03/10/2006 20:38

Definitely would be seeting if I were you.

How dare they do this without consulting you first.

I would say NO!

Gillian76 · 03/10/2006 20:38

seething of course

cazzybabs · 03/10/2006 20:44

I teach in year 1 and i asked them today if they liked year 1 - they all said no the work in too hard and I have tried really really really hard to integrate it gently. The work is not too hard to them - the perception they have of it is interesting. Once one says it that is what they all think!

Thus, your ds comment about reception being boring - that is what someone else must have said!

singersgirl · 03/10/2006 20:49

And in fact my DS2, who is a very young Y1 (5 at end of August) says Y1 is boring and Reception is much more fun. I can see his point. He has to do Numeracy and Literacy every morning and has much less play time. He would love to be back in Reception, even though he is by no means struggling.

Yours is a really tricky situation, Northender - if you refuse to move your boy, they'll have to take the sixth most capable and mature child from Reception in his place and now your son's been to Y1 he might feel he's mssing out.

Good luck with the meeting.

willow2 · 03/10/2006 20:50

How old is your DS? IS he one of the oldest kids in the year?

Age aside, IMO reception is a vital year. Aside from settling a child into the school routine, it's a time to capture a child's imagination and enthuse them with a desire to learn that will set them up for life.

Year 1 is infinitely more structured and I would not think it advisable for any child to go straight into it - no matter how much brighter or older than the other kids he or she might be. Over-stretch them at this point and, in doing so, make them feel inferior (and don't for a minute think that they don't know who's the best reader/writer etc in the class - because they do) and I would imagine you risk "losing" them for good.

Original poster
northender · 03/10/2006 21:07

willow, he is the oldest in the year (born Sep 2) but this has been done supposedly on ability and social skills not age. I was feeling nervous about the meeting but prepared to give them a chance. Now I feel so angry that we have been manipulated into a situation where it's very difficult to say no.
Whatever happens, a very strongly worded letter about all of this is going to the Head, the governors and the Local Authority. The handling of it has been appalling.

OP posts:
cowmod · 03/10/2006 21:08

my kdis dont use the word boring

Original poster
northender · 03/10/2006 21:12

Never bored or use a more sophisticated word?

OP posts:
cowmod · 03/10/2006 22:21

just they dont really say it
ds1 is endlessly interested in things
ds2 is a great sport man so never relaly is a t a loss for hitng s ot do

singersgirl · 03/10/2006 22:22

DS1 has never said "boring" but DS2 has started using it. More specifically, he says that school is boring and is made of toilets (whereas of course only part of it is made of toilets...)
But that's a digression.

I would be very angry too, Northender - as you've said before, they must have known before term started that they were over their limit in Reception. And as Willow says, even if your son is very bright, going into a class of children who have already completed Reception could make him feel less confident.

WereWABBITT · 03/10/2006 22:32

Northener - just flipped through your original thread and I was really encouraged that you got so much support to keep him in REC

I'm mad with you that they've given your ds this 'taster' session before the scheduled meeting... so unfair, now you're going to have to work so much harder to get what you think is right for him.

No real suggestions for you, just support for what you think is right for your ds

Ellbell · 03/10/2006 22:41

Northender... I think you are right to be seething. And I agree with others who say that it doesn't 'ring true' for your ds to be saying that Reception is 'boring' after a day in Year 1. My dd1 (who is also endlessly interested in stuff...) also said that Year 1 was 'really hard' at the beginning.

Interestingly was at a meeting at our infant school (where I'm a parent governor) yesterday talking about admissions. Won't bore you with the whole situation, as it's not really relevant, except that because of the way they admit children to the school they end up in the summer term with over 60 children in Reception (!!). Someone asked whether some of the older ones in this group (this would be in April 2007 and we'd be talking about children who'll be 6 in September or October 2007) could be moved into Year 1 for the summer term and the Head said that this wasn't possible because the syllabus for Foundation Stage is totally different from that for Year 1... Sorry - haven't read your other thread, but have you spoken to the LEA about this. Could be that the school is trying to manipulate their numbers, and the LEA might have something to say about it.

Sounds very odd to me. Good luck for your meeting tomorrow.

tiptoes · 04/10/2006 09:49

Just seen this northender.

I have to say it sounds so similar to the situation I was in with DS.
As others have said I would imagine your DS has ben influenced using the word boring,how could he tell that from just one day!!
It is so unfair on you as you have now the added presure of your DS thinking year 1 is where he should be.They did a similar thing with my DS only leaving him behind and all his peers visiting their new class and DS could'nt understand why he had been left behind.

I can really understand your anger as I felt exactly the same.Now you know that the other children are not friends of your DS it blows the social theroy out of the window.In my DS's case it was the fact that all the chidren had SN's.

Don't be downhearted that the other parents may be in favour of this and you and your DH are'nt.
I was in that same situation and to e honest I feel some of the other parents were'nt bothered ethier way and like me it is good that you are willing to fight for your DS's social wellbeing.
You should be applauded for that,not made to feel like you are beibg a nuisance.
You know your Ds best and it is so important to get it right at this early stage of their education.
Sounds to me it's more about sizes of classes and their mess up with this than what's best for the children.
Sorry I could rant on forever about this as I really feel it is so wrong.

You say the meeting with other parents.
Are you all going in together?As we had a seperate meeting with the head without the other parents present.

Good luck today,stay strong and I found it helped to have any concerns written down to refer to as once in the meeting as I would have forgotton what I had wanted to say.

Original poster
northender · 04/10/2006 10:29

Thanks tiptoes. We've just come back from the meeting, it was all parents together although there were only 3 sets of parents there. It was an information giving exercise not a consultation. Why this has happened is that in previous years they have had an extra infant class: Yr1 and rec mixed. When they looked at numbers last year they knew they had 5 places in the class so they went ahead and used the extra classroom space to open a preschool (this numbers situation is not going to happen again as their set intake number as of next year is 30). Presumably the preschool income generates so that is why it was given priority and they knew they could shunt 5 kids into yr1.
They will stay in the class ahead until Yr3 which they will repeat and rejoin their original class.`

OP posts:
Original poster
northender · 04/10/2006 10:35

My issue with his use of the word boring was not that he understands it or even truly knows the meaning but that after one day he is seeing Yr1 as better than reception.
The other parents there had similar concerns but feel it's a done deal. Apart from an extremely strongly worded letter to lots of people about the handling of the whole thing I feel fairly helpless and don't think we feel able to dig our heels in really.

Hope this makes sense.

OP posts:
SharpAndSpikeyOHara · 04/10/2006 10:37

I posted on your original thread, I have no useful advice what-so-ever as I think I'd be unable to contain my anger!!! I would be even more against them going as the school have 'assumed' it's all going ahead before even speaking to you.

nettie · 04/10/2006 10:41

Which curriculum will they be following? At our school the y1 children that have stayed with the reception children still follow the y1 curriculum and are treated as y1's e.g they go to assemble, have playtimes and lunchtimes together. Your posts seem to suggest your ds is being expected to do y1 work, which would be wrong. do they have extra support in their, ours have a tutor every morning. The school should be showing the measures they have put in place to make sure your ds and the others still have contact with and recognize the fact that they are reception children.

nettie · 04/10/2006 10:45

Don't think you will change anything, its all to do with class sizes and yearly intakes. Complain to everybody governors, LEA, local MP. I would keep on at the school until I was sure my ds was getting the support he needs.

LIZS · 04/10/2006 10:52

Ask what happens in Year 2 - will he be with Year 3 kids (who have will have moved onto KS 2),is there a distinction between infants and juniors ? Then if they are altogether again in Year 3 will he have to redo the work. Will it always be the same 5 who are "promoted" ? What if a child doesn't cope, what if one of the "non-promoted" children leaves - will one of the others be "demoted" to the peer group ? How will the children be helped to adjust either way.

The communication of this has been poor and underhand. Their ostensible selection procedure doesn't stand up to scrutiny and they have effectively already done it without consultation. The staff have known the school faced this situation since last term but have done nothing to pave the way and prepare all Reception parents/children for this possibility (although they'd inevitably have had parental pressure and willing "volunteers" who would think their children perfectly capable of it !). There are alternative solutions , they just cost money ! Will there be Governors and someone from the LEA at the meeting.

Good luck, I think you are perfectly in order to seethe !

LIZS · 04/10/2006 10:54

Sorry just realised you've already been Is it a done deal now ?

QueenPeaHead · 04/10/2006 10:57

northerner, why don't you just refuse? how can it be in the best interests of your ds to put him up for 3 years and then make him repeat year 3? I'd refuse point blank if I were you. Doesn't matter if you get a reputation as a stroppy parent, it isn't your job to make life easier for them at your ds's expense. Tell them that.

foxinsocks · 04/10/2006 10:58

great, so because they are allowed over 30 in a class in key stage 2 (think that is correct), he will just seemlessly move back into the class from yr 3 onwards?

Surely he will be bored out of his mind repeating yr3?

foxinsocks · 04/10/2006 11:01

I think you should speak to the LEA. They shouldn't have admitted over 30 children and they should have told you in advance if he wasn't to be in reception.

I also can't see how any parent could be in favour of it!