Being moved up a year in English and Maths

[RosemaryandThyme]

Hello,
At collection time today my Year one DS's teacher called me aside and asked what I would think of DS moving to year three for English and Maths in september. effectivley he'd skip the year two work.

I didn't know how to respond, how could he make that sort of leap ?

He's been with the year ones all this year and hasn't worked with the year two's.
Is it possible that a child could just know / be able to work things out without being shown?

I'd tell them no. He should be kept in his year group and they should be able to adjust his work accordingly. What's going to happen when he's in year 6? He'll be a very bored boy for 12 months.

My son absorbs information and could work out a lot of things without being shown. He's in year 7 now and is only just being stretched. His tutor believes he's still underperforming.

Has he been in a top group for maths and English? If so he may very well have covered the Year 2 work already.

Having said that, I'd be a bit wary of the move and would prefer for him to have suitable differentiated work within the setting of his own age group. It just depends on whether from the school's point of view this is possible or not - if your DS is the only very able child in his year or one of a very very few, then having them as a group in their own year will not work resources wise and it would work better for the school if they joined a suitable group in Yr3.

It also depends on whether the school uses mixed age ability groups in general - my DD2's school does, but only from Yr3 onwards when they are a little older. She has been doing maths in a mixed Yr3/4 top group and is fine with it, likes it that the group is a bit bigger so not a target for bullies (my DD1 was bullied in Yr 3 and 4 for being 'clever' because her ability group was only 4 kids nd they all got picked on). For English the top group is bigger so it can stay within the year group.

Hope that helps a little.

A lot depends on the school.

DS1 was moved into Yr 2 for literacy and maths when he was in Yr 1. This has continued, he is now in Yr 3 and works with Yr 4 in a lot of subjects.

However it is a small village school with mixed year group classes, so it isn't a big deal. I have been assured that when he gets to Year 6 he will still be stretched, but then I suppose only time will tell!

Thank you so much for your replies - I hadn't given a thought to how he'd be by year six but I do recall a parent asking similar at our an open day and the reply was that work would be sent down from the secondary school... no idea how effective this would be in practice, will definatley raise with staff.
He has been in the top group this year for english and maths - I really haven't paid enough attention to what he's actually been doing though so perhaps he could have covered some of the year two work, I'll ask as I would be much more reassured if this were the case.
His teacher did say he would be the only one from his class moving up then said that she may be able to differentiate enough for him for English but not so for maths.
It is good to hear that other parents have children who seem to work things out / make mental connections, without formally being sat down and taught.

Why on earth does work have to be sent down from a secondary? A good school should be able to provide work to suit a child's needs within their own peer group.

Re work being sent from secondary, I suppose it would depend on the cohorts at the school as to whether there was a need to have secondary maths available in schools.

We are in a similar situation. Our school only teaches maths up to a certain level, and my DC teacher has recognised her abilities and is also seeking work from the local high school because they dont have enough materials available within school to support her needs. The teacher has also recognised that she is just coasting and needs to be remotivated into learning advanced maths.

Why?

It's easy enough for a Y6 (or lower) teacher to use KS3 curriculum material (freely available) to plan for a child's needs.

I have several children in my math set working at KS3 level and the work is very easy to access, as mrz says, the material is available online and just requires planning into everyday teaching, just as I do with the differentiated KS2 material. I teach topset maths in a small primary which is generally for yr's 5/6 but I do have several yr 4's who are already working at a high level-one year 4 is already a 5A. The idea is to keep extending and broadening his understanding-not to ask someone else to teach him!

Dd1 is working 2 years ahead but still stays in her year group, she's just given different/harder work, she did work with the year 2's when in year 1 but thats because it was a mixed class (due to tiny school).

Seconding Mrz and spanieleyes - we are 3-tier and DD1 was doing Yr 5/6 work in Yr 4 - there was no trouble at all fitting this into the curriculum for her group and the teachers were well capable of managing it.

Agreeing with the others, a school should be able to differentiate the work for an able child within their year group. And there is so much more to the NC than just literacy and numeracy. FWIW my DD2 was identified as G&T early in year one and the school were great at stretching her - but in a year 1 classroom - friendships are sooo important at that age!! Come year 2 and she is still at the top in her class but I personally would not consider moving her away from her (mostly lovely) peers.

Gosh its so good to hear from others, its hard because he's my oldest and I have no experiance at all of primary schools, and am easily imtimidated by the staff.
I do have some sympathy for his teacher, the impression I get is that when they are taught something, (this week "ou" words in spelling, singing three times table), he grasps the concept quickly,speeds through the peices of work (advising his classmates how they can improve theirs...) and blurts out extra things (ie this is how we use ou to spell round.. Well miss we could spell rebound, sound and ground too... yes dear but lets stick to the spelling list.. but we could bound around and around , get it Miss, get it... yes yes lets stick to the spellings for this week shall we.)
I can see how this would be really anoying for the teacher, (she did actually say yesturday "he is too big for his boots" - I was surprised she was so bold but sort of see what she means.
DH just thinks the teacher doesn't like him (sad face)

at let's keep to the spelling lists!

I love children who can offer ideas!

I agree mrz, dd1 is loved by the teachers, she's always offering ideas and always has her hand up, teachers are always commenting on how lovely she is to teach.

I think a teacher who says 'he's too big for his boots' has crossed a line... Bright, sparky, keen children should not be discouraged in this way.

Ha ha Rosemary DS2 is a bit like that. He drove his Reception teacher mad by going off on tangents all of the time, albeit quite constructive tangents! I work in Early Years too and was a bit at her getting that annoyed with him as at the time it was being drummed into us that we had to incorporate the children's ideas into the curriculum planning. However his Yr1/2 teacher has been much better and although she doesn't always follow his strange tangents she certainly acknowledges them. As a result he is far happier.