Question for the teachers please!

[penelopequiche]

I wonder if anyone could help please? If you were going to reorganise the classes in a year group for the following academic year when would you do this and what sort of things would you take into consideration? Thanks in advance x

So many variables here! Primary or secondary? Which subject?

I've been involved in this in secondary - it's done in the last half term of the year. We taught mixed ability so we curated the classes to have a genuine mix - not just academic ability but good speakers/group leaders etc. We'd split up obvious bad combinations (or find the least worst!) and sometimes (but not by any means always) keep friends together IF they would be very much disadvantaged by being split. Quiet students who didn't have many friends etc. It was very detailed and took a long time.

I have also worked in places where the computer just jumbled them up for us and we didn't know who would be in the class until basically the first day of term! Which isn't necessarily terrible tbh.

Secondary, June or July. Using data for the whole academic year from assessments they have done if using it for ability setting. A meeting with teachers if it was a behaviour split.

Primary advice although it transfers.

SEN
PP
EAL
CP
Gender
Ability
Friendship group
Difficult relationship with peers
Difficult parents

All of those things! We start in June and it takes weeks to nail down. We get everyone to check check and check again.

Wow, thanks all so very much for taking time out of what must be very busy days to respond. Your comments are really very helpful. My DS is struggling with bullying and I want to make a few representations although I understand that they may not necessarily be able to be taken into account. I was wondering when was best to talk to his school and what I might say . Thanks again so much 🙏🙏🙏

Is it primary or secondary? If secondary, try going to the year pastoral team first. They can pass on requests for keep always and these are usually listened to (whereas random requests from parents not so much).

Keepaways not keep always!

Do keep in mind that it's not always about the group he would be coming out of, but whether there is a space for him in another group. In my experience, parents forget that sometimes for Child A to move into a group, some other child has to move out and that also needs to be the right move for them.

Thank you both good advice