Composite classes

[Soapysuds64]

Dd is 7, eldest in her P2 class (January birthday, deferred). She has recently been assessed as dysgraphic, has excellent reading, comprehension, numeracy is very good....but very poor writing skills. Thinking ahead to next year, I suspect there will be composite classes, possibly a P2/3 or P3/4, maybe both. Obviously, I don't know how they would select which child would go in which group, although it is generally done on 'educational grounds and friendship groups'. Dd has lots of friends but none are close, so that shouldn't make a difference.

Do you think a composite class with older children (P3/4) would suit her better, or a composite with younger children (P2/3)?

At our school composite classes are done entirely on age. Apparently it stops parents arguing about which class their dc should have been put in. It does sometimes mean one child being split from a friendship group.

Jinty that's a bit crap.Schools should group children in the way which is best for the children not best for the parents!

We're having a composite for the first time in years and apparently guidance is that it is done purely by age. Only exception is children with special needs who they wouldn't put in a composite unless it was totally unavoidable. You may not get a choice but I'd base it on her emotional maturity rather than age.

I think if she's the oldest in her class then she would be better off with the older class if you have any choice. But grouping by age is very much the norm anyway, so it is less likely that you will get a say in it. My experience is that the school will often then be flexible about which actual groups a child is in, and she might be taught with a group in the other class for some subjects anyway if they are at a more suitable level for her.

Definitely not by age here, supposedly by reading group and friendship group, although that doesn't always seem to be the case. As she has dysgraphia, would that be a special need that should keep her out of a composite class?

As a composite class has a maximum of 25 children, you might find that she would do better in a composite than a single year class. Are the teachers used to composite classes? I think that's a big factor in whether they work well or not - if it's the teacher's first experience of it, then it may take time for them to get used to the different way of working. But if it is quite usual for your school then it can actually work very well. DS was in composite classes all through primary, because he was in small schools where there were no single age classes at all. The teachers all reckoned that the limit of 25 children more than compensated for the wider range of levels, since so much of the work is done in groups anyway.

Ds2's school always do composites by age. I've found it useful as he's youngest in his class so gets more chance of being with similar ages when in composite class.
The smaller class size also helps.

In our school mixed age classs are not done by age, but by which class would best suit each child based on academic/social and emotional needs. So when we had FS2/1 and 1/2 our oldest year 1 actually remained with FS2 as that is what best suited her needs.....