Year 1 child been put into Year 2 classes - and I didn't know!

[hardhatdonned]

I knew my DC (5) is extremely clever but had it confirmed at parents evening when the class teacher said that DC has been going to the Year 2 classes for extra tuition and lessons to meet DC's ability, and in many instances DC is exceeding these lessons.

I asked the teacher what I could to do help DC and all they could do was wax lyrical about how fantastic a student they were and to just 'keep doing what you're doing' now im not doing anything besides providing books for DC and sitting with them and answering any questions they have as they read through it.

Should I be doing more?

Never mind that should I have been told that DC was learning at year ahead of themselves before parents evening?!

[ragged]

I'm with Rabbitstew on phase teaching, what OP said is pretty normal at our school and some local schools, especially if the school is on ReadWriteInc phonics scheme. Most classes are mixed years, and they often stream (changing around in mixed 1-3 year groups for English and maths). I mean lovely your DD is doing well, OP, but it's not that unusual.

[Miggsie]

Do be warned that this happened to my friend, but then they ran out of classes to move her up into and she ended up doing the final year at the school twice and she was bored witless!

DD is also 2 years ahead and is bored in year 2, even with extension classes so we are moving her to a school with a senior side so she can carry on mixing with the older children.

[hardhatdonned]

Oooh interesting comments and thoughts, thanks! :o

[RoadArt]

"It's great that dc is doing so well but I'd be pretty annoyed about having the trips to yr2 without your knowledge/permission"

A lot of schools have children working in different parts of the school and a lot of schools dont inform parents. The school is accommodating the needs of the child and I would be surprised if a lot of schools told parents every single thing they do.

Why would be pretty annoyed? (Not a criticism, just surprised at your comment)

I personally would be glad to hear if my children were working in higher years to accommodate their abilities rather than having to sit through the boring easy work their own teacher covers.

[KatCan]

This happened to my DD, too, and being a March birthday which puts her just a few weeks past the cut-off for the previous year (Scotland) she has now been advanced a year. I don't think the school would have done this, though, if her birthday had been later (she is only 5 weeks younger than the next youngest 'proper' p3 in her class).

Loads of people are against this, but I must say, from a friendships point of view its been really good for her - she has developed really strong friendships and I just can't imagine her now playing with her original school peers. As for the future, well, if only we had a crystal ball...!

[lovecheese]

This happened to my DD2 aswell, she started to go up to yr2 with another child for literacy lessons, but stayed within her own class for the rest of the lessons = stretched, but not missing out on being with peers of her own age which is crucial when they are so young. Oh and yes I was told.

[madwomanintheattic]

it's quite common - particularly around that age group, and doesn't usually mean that they will try to move classes. ime, it means the school are using their resources to meet everyone's needs. our last primary school used to send children from yr r and yr 1 up to yr 2 for particular aspects of the curriculum. and our current school has deliberately timetabled the years so that it is possible throughout the entire primary age range.

fab that you have such a good school!

[rabbitstew]

Our school does phase teaching - where, eg, Years 1 and 2 learn the same topics and the 4 teachers covering the classes in those two years co-ordinate their planning and teaching. Because the four teachers are constantly working and planning together and sharing information about the children and to what levels they are working, this enables them to divide the children into groups for maths and phonics across the whole of years 1 and 2, resulting in year 1 children and year 2 children being able to work together in accordance with their ability for maths and phonics lessons, but stay within their proper classes and year groups for the majority of the time. It is thus not an odd or unprecedented thing for some very bright year 1 children to go to a year 2 classroom for specific lessons (or stay in a year 1 classroom with year 2 children coming to them, so as to make the setting marginally less unsubtle) - it's part of the normal functioning of phase teaching. Maybe, therefore, if this is your dc's school's approach, this is not considered an exceptional (as in unprecedented or unplanned for) case, but a result of the normal functioning of phase teaching methods, and therefore not something which requires special notice to the parents about. How it all works in the long term, I don't know, as my dss' school hasn't been doing it for long, but certainly at their school, it's more than one child moving around between the different groups - a lot of the children have a different teacher for, eg, maths, than they do for the rest of the time.

[Wafflenose]

This happened to us too. My daughter is in Reception, but after Christmas started going to Phonics lessons with the more able Year 1s and some of the Year 2s, in another classroom. The first I knew of it was when another parent said "ds told me K is so clever she goes up to a different class", to which I answered "does she?!" It would have been nice to have been told, but she had been reading with Year 1s for ages and perhaps her teacher assumed I'd realised about the phonics thing? She has now been joined there by a friend the same age and seems to be ok, hopefully your child is too.

[hardhatdonned]

Oh and my primary concerns at parents evening have never been academic attainment but are purely the emotional and social side of things as DC is extremely young and immature in these areas. Perhaps being with the Y2's would help this??

[hardhatdonned]

Thanks, i thought i was being a bit over protective about it all. I'm loving that the school is catering to DC's needs but can't get my head round the going into Year 2 for extra lessons. Although the school learns the same topics at the same times but the comprehension levels are taylored to the year groups so DC won't miss out too much from their peers in terms of they can all talk about writing a story about the same thing for instance.

I just never heard of things being done this way before. It's all new to me this bright child thing!

[FreudianSlippery]

It's great that dc is doing so well but I'd be pretty annoyed about having the trips to yr2 without your knowledge/permission!

[PrincessScrumpy]

That's great news but be careful if they try to put him up a year. Kids can be ready intellectually but not emotionally and changes classes can affect friendships - even all the way to secondary - when mates are celebrating their 18th your son will be 16/17. I know it's way off, but need to keep it in mind.

You are probably naturally meeting ds's needs as to you his abilities are normal so just do what you are doing - clearly it's working. School should definitely tell you these things.