Advice for requesting a class change please?

[BoysBoysBoysAndMe]

I found out yesterday ds1 will be going into a mixed class of reception and y1 next year. Ds1 will be going into yr1.

Only 3 other children from his class are going in with him. I am assuming a couple of the other reception class will be going in as well-but I don't know for sure.

My main issue is this-ds1 has some hearing loss which will hopefully be rectified after his grommets are fitted(waiting for an appointment). In his report we received last fri it said that ds1 is below average in communication, language and literacy, personal, social and emotional development.

I personally feel this is partly due to his hearing loss and partly due to him being a quiet and sensitive child-which the school put in his report.

My issue is mainly that he has been separated completely from his small peer group. He enjoys the company of his chosen friends and is uncomfortable around people he isn't familiar with, and lacks confidence. He is effectively on his own in a new class. Although he knows the three boys with him, he doesn't play or interact with them at all.

I'm worried that separating him from his close peers, and being in a noisy reception class, will have a negative effect on his confidence, and have an impact on the below average issues the school have raised.

I have a meeting with the head tomorrow and not sure how to request/argue for ds1 to be put in with his peers in the full yr1 class.

Any help/advice?

Please?

Hi, I casually requested a class change last year, and didn't get it. My child has had a tough year in y1, and I requested at summer half term that she should be moved next year to be with her friends. I waited and waited and waited, and finally the new classes were announced last week, and she will be with her friends this year, about which I am really relieved, as I did not want to have to face another interview with the head. I recommend writing bullet points of the argument you made on here, and having the note to hand. I'm sure someone smarter than me will come along shortly and give you some more advice, but I think you are definitely doing the right thing to make the request formally. Good luck

I don't blame your for your concerns, and my instinct would be to argue the same point if it were my dd1, but, I wonder if ds1 wouldn't find it more empowering and confidence building to be a big boy working at the top of the mixed class rather than falling behind in Y1? It's a close call, and I don't know ds1, but it might be worth doing as many outside school activities with his friends to keep those relationships strong, and then when the grommets are fitted, hopefully ds1 should be able to rejoin his peers in Y1. As for reception children being noisy, there's not much difference in Y1, it's Y2 when they start sitting down in my experience. Good luck, and don't be afraid to state your case.

Whilst I can understand your reasons for wanting a change, I am also sure that the school have their reasons for making the split as they have.
I think you need to go and make your case but I think you also need to accept that this is a day to day management decision by the head teacher and that they are unlikely to accede to your request because it will be the tip of a very large iceberg of such requests if they change classes for one pupil.

Thanks for the replies.

He's joining some clubs over the summer to try and help boost his confidence and get him familiar with being amongst people he is unfamiliar with.

I dont know the reason why he has been put in this class. I'm only speculating that it's because he is below average in some areas-I don't know the reason yet for definite yet.

I also don't know the numbers for the classes. There are only 19 in his class in reception. There are two reception classes roughly the same amount in the second. I'm hoping that the y1 class isn't full. But again I won't know until tomorrow.

And I did consider that he may improve in confidence if he's one of the oldest in class, but I can't understand why-with him being as sensitive and quiet as he is- that none of his friends have been put with him. I don't see how that can help him.

How did the meeting go? I hope it went well for you, and you got some more information . all the best.

Thanks twonk

Meeting the Head again this afternoon for an answer. Apparantly ds is a little behind with his reading and numeracy which is why he's been put in this smaller class-for more 121 tuition.

I understand why they did this and appreciate they are there to teach ds.

But I was furious that I wasn't told how much he was behind prior to the meeting, and had I not had the meeting with the head on wed I still wouldn't have known.

I've requested and received a program for ds to work on over the hols to hopefully prepare him a little more for y1 and advance him on a bit to more like where his peers are.

Head wanted to have a meeting with ds teacher to get her pov, and ds new teacher which is the head of eyfs to see if there was an alternative we could all agree on.

So we'll see later!!

His class has been changed!!!!!

I'm so pleased. I was given a little work yesterday an ill be given some more work for him to do over the summer to try and improve in some areas.

Sometimes it is worth speaking to the head!!!

Well done boys it can't have been an easy meeting. I always feel like the way you argue your case can kill it or make it happen, so I get really nervous. However, sometimes the possibility is open or closed and whatever and however you say it, will change nothing! I'm so glad you've got the change you wanted. Have a great holiday.