Can year 2 pupil go into year 3 for ability?

[icklepicklesmum]

My daughter is currently in a year 1/2 class and has achieved the grade she needs to achieve by the end of year 2 already.

Next year she is going into an all year 2 class as our school does not have a year 2/3 split class.

This means she is going into a class where the remainder of the children are basically anything up to a year behind her.

Is is possible for a year 2 pupil to go into a year 3 class based on ability?

This year the teacher has worked with us to ensure she doesnt get bored which is what happens when the work gets too easy. Each time she has said she is bored or the work is too hard she has made it harder. She has ended up getting better grades than most of the year 2 pupils in the class.

If any teachers can help with this or if any of you have experienced this I would appreciated your help.

I plan on seeing the class teacher to discuss our concerns so it would be good to hear some of your experiences beforehand.

Thanks very much

@rabbitstew
it was a typo originally, but quite appropriate: as my first post on here was about a matter where I was worried about having my head in the sand/ hiding in my carapace too effeectively...

I don't think the hurtful comments were worth it (they almost never are). I think I was trying to say that people mean well and feel strongly, but abutting several worldviews generally makes the differences between them stand out rather a lot.

It may also be illuminating to point out that with my fantastic outside education/ rather average in-school education:

(1) I am now a very successful scientist at one of the top 3 universities in the world.

(2) I am hideously disorganised and learnt this habit by being able to coast right through school and undergrad and PhD and postdoc... the first reality check was the first 6 months as a lecturer. I only survive in my job because i have a secretary.

(3) I am now mostly much happier and more relaxed than my peers, but...

(4) this has come after about 20 years of deep deep unhappiness where I learned all sorts of social insights while burning every bridge while I crossed it and p*ssing people off mightily in all directions.

I had my post deletd too- first time in a decade!!!!!

And first time I ever saw anyones post deletd for responsing to such a comment- goodness.

Ah well.

I am shocked by the aggression towards icklepicklesmum by many of the posters on here. She is looking for the best solution for her DD, just like any good parent, and she is looking into the option of moving up a year as she feels it might help. Why do so many people find it necessary to criticise her so sharply? All teachers do NOT do a good job of differentiating. While moving up may not always be a good answer, it can be.

ps not all parents can teach their children French, woodwork or botany, or afford to pay someone else to do it for them outside of school hours, particularly if they never received the education they desired for themselves. I view primary school as a place where social and emotional development are the strong priority, because my educational and family background are such that I can afford to see things that way. In other words, coming from a background of highly educated parents, a house stuffed full of books and opportunities to develop interests in sport, music, acting, etc, if so desired (generally, so far, he does not desire!), my ds doesn't need school for learning to read, write and do sums as much as some other children do. It's therefore easy for me to view school in that way. Also, my ds's weaknesses are on the social, physical and emotional side, so I can see how little academic ability can benefit someone who suffers in other areas.

I think I was failing to differentiate sensibly between the value of being stretched academically and the value of parallel social development.

Academic stretching is what the OP was looking for - I was giving an example of how it can be done with zero help from the school (and no differentiating by teachers), and how the outcome can be successful. I was taught all that stuff by a rather average parent who had access to a local library (though who did know in advance how to do woodwork).

Social stretching is something I would value and will give to my kids. I didn't get it, was miserable for years, and it's worth noting that despite all the whoopty-doo academic brilliance, I only started to become successful in my academic sphere once I started to develop social insight.

pps I have no particular taste for rabbit stew, loved my pet rabbit dearly and buried him fully intact when he died of old age.

You know what EP

until she was so rude I might have agreed, execetpting ehr comment about SN kids get what they need which frankly is a joke

But later comments IMVHO were earned

One thing I've been wondering about...

what happened to the Y3 teacher who didn't turn up to the meeting? Presumably this meeting was after school. Presumably Y3 teacher has a family and might've had to rush off to something. Apologies may have been negated by it being an emergency.

Something that I've quite liked observing in the smallish town where I now live is that people see their kids' teachers outside school often enough to view them as fellow humans.

It's not always easy to do that, but when you do get the opportunity, it really helps

tortoisehellOstrich - or even simply that no one told her that she was expected at the meeting, so she had gone off home/ was in the loo/ was gossiping in somewhere with another teacher?

Whichever way you look at it though, it doesn't sound like the school is good on any level, so you can see why the OP might be concerned.

Thanks claire70 you may indeed be right I assumed (probably wrongly) that the OP meant 2 out of the Y1 children in the mixed class

I can't find what NC level her daughter is working at (haven't looked closely I admit) but even if she is a level 2b it isn't out of the ordinary.

OP said that "in my daughters school they have this thing where they have a guideline of 2B for the end of year 2 and that is what they aim for" so I presumed that she meant that her daughter was working at level 2B as she had said earlier that "has achieved the grade she needs to achieve by the end of year 2 already".

Thank you domesticsluttery in which case I don't think there is any justification in a request to miss Y2 and go into Y3 early.

I think the comment you've quoted domesticsluttery was the OP saying that the school was happy as long as pupils got a 2b i.e. once that level was reached the child was ignored while the teacher concentrated on those who still weren't there - that's how I read it earlier.
I don't think she told us what level her dd is at.

I know she didn't tell us what level she was on, but as I say I assumed (possibly incorrectly, and we will probably never know) that as she said that she had reached the level that was expected at the end of Year 2 and that the school expected them to reach 2B at the end of Year 2 that that was the level she was at.

I hold my hands up and admit to not understanding NC levels as all of mine are still in the Foundation Phase in Wales (they are in Reception, Yr 1 and Yr 2) and we don't have SATS etc. So level 2B makes no sense to me anyway. But I had assumed from what the OP said that it was where her DD was.

domesticsluttery I'm quite happy with your assumption (I hadn't read that particular post) my point is if the OP is basing her argument for fast tracking into Y3 on her daughter achieving 2B at the end of Y1 I don't think she has grounds for such a request

Well mine is pushing a level 3 and the thought of her skipping Yr2 has not crossed my mind, for 1 I know that the school would not even consider it for a second as they are very good at differentiating between abilities and 2 I would not want to take her away from her friends.

but lovecheese your 2 reasons aren't applicable in the OP's case:-

1. her school is very poor at differentiating (at least I think she said this)
2. her friends are in the soon-to-be y3 anyway as it was a mixed class

When I think about it, if the OP's daughter made it to 2b against the backdrop of a very poor teacher then she is either v. bright or she's being schooled at home.

Personally i think the Op should change school because she clearly has no faith in the current school, particularly not in the Y2 teacher.

By claire70 Thu 15-Jul-10 21:19:07

When I think about it, if the OP's daughter made it to 2b against the backdrop of a very poor teacher then she is either v. bright or she's being schooled at home.

or current teacher who OP appears to like has done a good job

or current teacher has assessed wrongly

and once again 2B isn't unusual

its not unusual elsewhere, but by the sound of it, it is in the OP's school, which would set the probability against the teacher being good at home job.

Thankfully you didn't post anything about mis-assessment yesterday, or there would have been mayhem!

Is this still going on?

Just wait until she gets to year 8. The OP will want her to take her options and start GCSES 2 years early.

I never discuss levels of other students with parents. No way.

If OP is unhappy then she should find a new school. She doesn't trust them so it won't likely suit her ever

No it sounds as if the current teacher will say anything this parent wants to hear.

Sorry but the more times I read the OP the more it rings false...

"This year the teacher has worked with us to ensure she doesnt get bored which is what happens when the work gets too easy. Each time she has said she is bored or the work is too hard she has made it harder. She has ended up getting better grades than most of the year 2 pupils in the class."

I would be very concerned about this teacher

I agree mrsz. I do understand.
I just think she'd be happier elsewhere. She thinks that as a school governer that age knows the ins and outs of the place but teaching isn't kick that. Our board has no clue how I run my classroom. She needs to save everyone including herself a litbof hassle and just change schools now while her dd is still very young.