Multiple sets of twins in reception class

[Dixy30]

Hello
Bit of an odd one this.
My child's no1 school place choice for a class of 30 children will definitely include 4 sets of twins (all have older siblings at school) plus 2 other ages have applied!

It is a one form entry school so 30 places, with one teacher and one TA. Of the 8 guaranteed places, 6 are boys and all born may- August.

Any idea what the LA will do as surely will require additional support for these children as twins and boys esp are sometimes known to be a bit behind?

Such an unusual situation!

Boys are a bit behind? I'll have you know DS aged 2.1 knows the alphabet out of order, can count 1-12, can recognise his name, pee in the toilet in a perfect arc from the doorway and recite the 'I Had a Dream' speech perfectly.*

• slight exaggeration on all that, but FFS OP

Why would the LA do anything? Goodness, sounds like an epidemic that needs be contained.
You are talking about boys (I still believe that pretending they are generally "a bit behind" is a load of bollocks), twins (I kow some very, very bright twins...also boys, come to think of it) and summer born children (deary me, their parents really should have planned their children better....also nonsense, and depends on the individual child,...one of my most able pupils is a summer-born boy). Your child's class isn't going to have 12 children with identified complex learning needs, global delay or massive amounts of support. Relax a little...

None of the twins my DCs have shared a class with have been remotely behind.

I'm not sure how you jump from "sometimes known to be a bit behind" (I can see that as twins are premature more often than singletons they may well have a statistically slightly higher chance of being "behind") to "surely will require additional support" (i.e. you'e decided that these particular twins are definitely going to be so far behind that they are outside the range of what a teacher can deal with without additional support) -- there's a huge logical gap there.

In 17 years of teaching, I've taught a fair few sets of twins. Of all of them, only one ( a girl who had been born very premature) was in need of extra support.

There sounds like no problem in the class you describe.

What an ignorant, insulting post.

The OP should be ashamed.

My twins have always been at the top of the class - not that their levels are anyone else's business. I would be appalled to think anyone would seriously think they might disadvantage other children in their class just because they happened to share a womb

All of this speculation on twins - do you know where your child sits in terms of intelligence and learning abilities op? Or will you find that out when they actually start school like the rest of us?

How will you cope if the twins are more advanced than your child, and it's your child that could be holding everyone back?

I must be completely feckless, as these sorts of thoughts didn't occur to me at all before DS started reception. My only concern was that he would be happy and safe in a supportive environment that would give him all round skills and developmental opportunities. I didn't really think about vetting the other kids in the class for suitability.

Twins,especially boys are behind.News to me.

How bloody insulting,prejudiced and completely wrong.

I have twin boys as does my sister.All 4 boys are extremely able.1 of mine is G&T and both were free readers at the end of rec.

My boys had another set of twins in their class equally as able.

I've taught several sets of twins as a teacher and never encountered a single set behind.

As a mother of both twins and boys I can assure you that your worries are absurd!
My eldest ds is very academic. My dt's were fullterm and normal birth weights. They have hit every milestone thus far and are not behind in any way.
I have never heard that twins are normally behind - is this based on anything in particular?

One of the weirdest threads I've seen in a long while.

Will you feel karma is biting you on your bum this time next year when at least some of those twins/May-August born boys are ahead of your child as far as reading levels/ numeracy ability is concerned ?

Wind your neck in before you say something very silly sounding in RL.

My brother and I are summer-born twins. We used to suck our teachers DRY. Nobody else in the class got an education at all!

There are 4 sets of twins in my DD1's YR1 class. Apart from a few raised eyebrows when we realised, no issues at all. 1 set of identical girls, 1 set of non-identical girl, a girl/boy pair and non-identical boys. The only problem we've had is telling the 2 girls apart, they are absolutely identical and like to play tricks...

Reading between the lines, sounds like you're worried you won't get a place in your first choice school.

I'm a twin and everso clever BTW.

Totally agree with posters regarding massive incorrect assumptions about EYFS ratios, twins and boys. Teacher and a TA is above legal requirements. Schools are used to children with a huge variety of needs. Even if there was an identified need for additional support it would be the school's decision not the LA.

Is this really what you are worried about OP or is there another agenda?

I am a twin, and was in a class with 3 other sets (prob rarer when I went to school than now); and I don't think any of us needed special help or assistance with anything since all 8 of us finished primary school in the top 2 groups.

I think the twin thing is a red herring, if anything you should be asking the school about how they support children who need more help if you're worried about it, so all children(including your dd) have the appropriate help, if necessary, to get a good standard of education.

My daughter has 9 sets of twins in her school year, most of them are quite clever afaik, and certainly none of them need extra help

What an odd OP. I would only be concerned that so many extra siblings reduced our chance of getting in!

OP hasn't been back

We have 4 sets of twins in our nursery class - they are miles ahead of some of the others. All the kids who have been in FT nursery also are ahead in the social aspects simply due to the fact that they have been in FT nursery for ages etc there are somd bright summer borns and some very quiet autumn children... nothing to do with gender, sibling status or birthday.

1. A young degree student recently tested my twins as part of a study to find out if singletons were, as sometimes reported, ahead of twins at school.

Her research found 'absolutely no difference' between twins and singletons in language development or general intelligence. And this despite the fact that the twins were generally pre-term and with lower birthweight (associated with delayed development). Increasingly studies show that twins seem to 'catch up' with their singeltons around the age of 5-6 (she says).

1. My twins (April born) never needed to catch up - they have always been amongst the most able in the class.

How very dare you!! My twins are fucking geniuses!

Surely a joke? Or else op is in for a rude awakening when pfb starts school. Please link op to the evidence that says twins, boys or boy twin eworse in school. There are b total of 6 twins in my dds reception class. 4 of the 6 are at the top end of the class includes boys.

Do make sure you don't tell these bizarre ideas to anyone else and I hope your child is a genius.

What are you worried about exactly.. There must be something for you to post?