School re organising primary school classes for year 2, not happy

[Bodley]

I just wondered if anyone had any advice. My son is in year 1 and has aspergers. I just received a letter from school, out of the blue, saying they had decided to re organise all the classes (there are 4) as they had decided there were issues related to learning styles, summer birthdays, special needs etc. It was put in the letter that they had thought about it carefully and weren't going to tell the children until the end of the year and they'd had a few sessions with their new classes. If we have any questions, we are to consult with school staff. I feel so upset by this. My little boy has high functioning autism and finds school hard enough as it is, but his class is lovely and he has special friends at school who seem to care for him and support him. I am so disappointed that the school did not think to at least meet with or consult the parents of special needs kids first, it feels like a bomb shell. I feel bewildered and wonder if I'm just over sensitive or what. Wonder if anyone has had any similar experiences.

I think this is something you need to be prepared for throughout his education. As he gets older , specialist staff, moving classrooms and sets will all become part of daily life. Could you meet with his teacher and at least request a number of his special friends among whom he may have one or two in his class at least.

I would go and speak to the class teacher. Explain that your DS may need some extra transition sessions and also the move explaining carefully and sensitively to him. She may be able to tell you some of his friends who he will be with - so he can keep at least those links.

Schools don't generally mix classes up unless they feel there is a need to do it. Whilst your DS's class is lovely there may well be issues in one or more of the others.

You may well find that friendship groups have been taken into account when deciding on the new classes

Quite often there can be an imbalance across a year group and in the long run the best decision is to balance the classes

Well I would definitely speak to his teacher/school and see of they can put some things in place to allay your fears a bit and support him.
It seems a little odd that they have sent a letter home, informed parents, and yet aren't telling the children.
Some parents will have already told their kids. They will tell all the rest.
This kind of things does happen, especially in larger primary schools. You do need to be prepared for it.

I'm surprised it isn't a given. Most schools have a reshuffle every year.

In fact, DD1 goes to special school and they shuffle the classes every year there, too.

This sort of decision is made by the Head and staff of the school - it's not usually something open to consultation with parents.

Ok, thanks, feel slightly less hysterical. I think one of the main concerns I have is that I wish, as a parent of a child with special needs, I would have been told by a staff member or at least with some offered opportunity to speak with an identified staff member, as transition is so hard anyway with kids with ASD. It feels a bit brutal. At least if I knew what the actual issues/reasons were? Hope I'm not rambling, just struggling with it a bit.

There will be transition procedures in place, with additional consideration given to those who need it. But that doesn't mean you, as a parent, would be informed ahead of any other parent about the intended shuffle.

I don't mean it should be open to consultation as in we should decide, just felt there could have been some kind of meeting everyone went to to ask questions, as am sure lots of parents will have similar concerns. As in re shuffling classes, I actually don't think I know anyone that that has happened to at primary school, so interesting to hear it does happen

But the issues/reasons may well be related to the personalities/needs of other children in the year group and the school will, quite righty, be unable to discuss those with you. So all they can say is what they have done, that there will be a shuffle and the children will find out in due course. My son has Asperger's and shuffles were often a source of disquiet but the staff knew him well, knew his needs and took these into account. The fact that they didn't consult me beforehand was not a problem, if I could trust them to take care of him all day I could trust them to think about his well being too!

Bodley ask for a meeting and ask the school what stratagies they are going to put in place to help your DS through this transition.

There are things they could and should be doing.

My DS goes to special school and they are bloody awful which is one of the reasons I am trying to get him moved.

DS has never quite recovered from a massive shift around 3 years ago. It was so badly handled but we are the ones left dealing with the aftermath.

They need to meet your DS's particular needs, not just lump him with all the other children.

The only questions parents might have, will be those that the Head has covered in the letter - the year-group has become unbalanced and needs 're-calibrating,' for want of a better term. They're not going to give any more specific details than that.

This happened to my ds - or rather his year was the first year they decided to mix up the two classes once they went into Year 3.

Parents were up in arms as the parents in the 'other' class were terrified their little darlings would be put with the naughty boys. It ended up with a year group meeting.

I decided to trust the school knew what they were doing & guess what - they did.

Now it's a standard thing that happens every year in Year 3

I have two children with ASD by the way.

The main thing is, of course, that as parents we are only really concerned about the effect on our own child. But the school has to consider the needs and interests of every single child in the year group. So any sort of consultation process isn't going to be particularly helpful.

Happens every year at our school. It just seems a bit strange that they have told you so early, and as a poster above has said the children will all know soon.
Our school normally asks the children to list 3 friends and they try to ensure hey are in a class with at least one of them.

I used to work somewhere that mixed the classes up every year. It was a school with a reasonably high turnover (due to the nearby university) and so it helped to balance the classes out.

Each child had to fill in a form stating which friends they would like to be in class with the following year, they were guaranteed to have at least one of them.

Sorry, don't mean to sound like pushy parent thinking the world revolves around me. I don't want to know specific reasons, think I just wanted reassurance and would have felt better had the school been proactive about letting me know first and reassuring me with 'this is what we're going to do'. Actually, another mum with special needs child mentioned something couple of days ago but I did not know what she meant, and it was in context of children with SEN being in same class to make special needs teaching easier for school. So, wonder why she had heard something and I had not.

If they did that, asked them to fill in form with fave friends, I'd be well chuffed!

Sorry, forgot to add that the needs of all children were considered very carefully - temperament, behaviour, special needs, bullying. I can't imagine a school that wouldn't but I guess they exsist.

My DCs went to a small primary with combined classes. Some years year groups had to be split. The HT hates doing it and always sends the letters out as late as possible because he knows, however careful they are, he'll never please everyone and he'll have mothers at his door.

Honestly OP school won't have done it without very good reason. Take a deep breath and see how it pans out before reacting.

My DD's primary school mixed up the classes every year and she really benefited but I understand the situation is different in your case.

Dd (10) has had a class shuffle every year. In the main it works extremely well - particularly when there is a clash of personalities - but as you are so concerned I would ask to speak to the teacher and explain your worries. A whole class/year group meeting sounds extreme tbh. I'm sure if you have been happy with the school so far, there is no reason that they won't continue in the same manner.