Anyone else upset about class allocations for next year?

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

Come and share the rage with my.

My 9yo son who is going into Year 6 in September has been allocated a lovely teacher for next year, but out of a group of 6 very firm friends, he is the only one to be in a separate class to all the others.

He is devestated and burst into tears as soon as I picked him up. I'm gutted for him and I want to know why they would upset my gorgeous little boy like that

Chat with the teacher about it. This happened to my ds for this year- he cried. However the teacher in retrospect had made the right decision and he has had a good year and played with his friends at playtime. He has also made some new friends.

Really? i am the ' best get on with it mother type' . He is year 6 not reception.

I am going to ask why because I would like to understand the thinking behind the descisons. If I understood the descision so I could give ds some small consolation then I would feel much more able to just get on with it.

He doesn't want the teacher he has been allocated (unlike me) because she is the stricter out of the two he could have had.

I do understand we just have to live with it, but I'm moaning on here because dh isn't home yet and I obviously don't want to show ds that I'm upset as that would make it worse for him.

It seems weird to mix them up for Y6 when they are about to leave school anyway...how long have they been in the same class?

A similar thing happened at ds1's school. I was glad, it was (mainly) to his benefit even though he is not with his 'best friends' (who have been no good for his self esteem). A few other parents were very, very upset and there has been some mixing up to accomodate them. I think if it was just overlooked that they are close friends they may change things round for him. Does your ds have any character/ behaviour issues that stand out? Is he very dominant/ or not dominant in the friendship group? Does he tend to be the clown in the group and distract the other boys? Etc etc.

(Sorry in ds1's case they are going into Y2, so a mix now makes sense, but not in Y6).

It could be that he is TOO close to the other boys in his friendship group and is becoming too reliant upon them, one of the aims of year 6 is to encourage the children ( and he isn't a "little boy" any more ) to become much more self reliant and independent. Perhaps this is the reason behind the decision. Of course you can ask the teacher, but you might just get the " it is in the best interest of ALL the children" response-which doesn't tell you much!

It could be that he's too close, but I doubt that's the reason (if there is one). Otherwise they would have mixed all of them up. They haven't all been in the same class since Y2, but there has always been at least two in one class.

I don't know of any character or behaviour issues that stand out, and there is a big range of academic ability between all the boys do I don't think it's that either. That's kind of why I want to ask, in case I'm missing something.

If there isn't a reason for it, which I would be prepared to understand, then I think it's quite a mean descison to take just for the sake of it.

Do raise this with the school. It's utterly unfair that he's on his own without any of his friends. Same thing happened to me in what would now be Y5 and I spent a very miserable year that didn't help me or my work at all and totally wrecked my confidence.

DD was moved like that for start of y2 & it turned out to be the best thing ever for her. In spite of our many joint reservations.

Yes definitely ask why because you can tell DS...he might be feeling picked on poor kid.

I wouldn't care one whit about being separated from his friends - it's far, far, far more important that he gets a good teacher.

No way would I be complaining if I liked his teacher.

Normally there is a reason and definitely worth investigating further. I'd be very surprised if there isn't a good reason - they won't have done it just to upset your son.

I doubt the school is being mean for the sake of it, OP.

One of the worst parts of the year, imo. As a teacher, you'll be flamed whatever you do.

I had parents swear at me at parent's evening over just this issue last year. A nightmare.

I like the other teacher too though!

Thanks for all of the replies.

I do feel for your son but hopefully he'll still see his friends at playtime and do they work across classes as well?

We've had similar, a very tight group set of friends has been split in half (amongst general class mixing up) for this year, going into year 5. There are dynamics in the year which do, I think, justify it but if it's only your son being moved then I'd definitely be asking questions otherwise he's understandably going to feel singled out!

He will see his friends at lunch and break and they are being lovely to him.

I know teachers will get flamed either way, but I think they should be able to justify the decisions they make if they are going to upset children. If they cant offer a good reason why, then it seems they haven't thought about it properly and they should have done.

I work in school, so I do understand how it all works behind the scenes. That's what makes me think that there must either be a reason I don't know of or they haven't done a good enough job when thinking of the allocations.

They do work across classes for maths, English and Science, which adds to my thinking that there can't be an academic reason for it.

I would definitely ask. One of my DDs kept getting the girls no-one else wanted to share with on school holidays (I was cross the second time, as she was given a choice of two girls she wasn't especially friends with, because she was seen as accommodating).
In my younger DDs case, I just got confirmation today that she won't be with the one teacher I (and quite a lot of the year group) have requested not to have next year. In my DDs case, there are extremely strong reasons.

My DCs school shuffle the classes every year.

OP why would you think it could be just 'a mean decision'? Do you have such a low opinion of teachers professionally and personally? Honestly, though it may surprise you we do actually like and care for the children in our classes and think very carefully before we mix classes or move children.

But OP it might just be a numbers game. They have to be split somehow, possibly your DS was simply unlucky.

It happens

I don't really think its a mean descision, I suppose I'm just upset at seeing my child upset for what (at the moment) feels like no good reason. I've calmed down a bit since I first posted

I feel like I don't have anything at all to say to make him feel better. If he'd got one friend I'd be able to remind him that he will have one friend. If he'd got the teacher he liked best I woud have been able to use that to help make him feel better. But I have nothing.

If they have thought carefully about it then that's fine, they can just explain their thinking to me and I will accept it if it sounds reasonable. But if it's just about numbers or 'just because' which is what I'm expecting to be told, then I'm not prepared to accept that.

I'm glad some people would also want an explanation and I'm not the only one who would ask in this situation.

I'm really not a complaining type parent, I would never have complained about the fairly useless teacher ds was allocated this time last year and I support the school in every other way