Mixed year classes when your DC is one of the youngest

[PeterParkerSays]

We've just found out that DS's primary school will have mixed yr 1 / yr 2 classes from September. DS will be going into yr 1 then, but he's an August baby so is still only 4.

I've read on here about mixed year classes being more successful for the younger half of the class, who get stretched whilst the older half can coast, but DS is still learning to write and doesn't need stretching any more yet. I just don't see how he's going to cope in a class with September 07 children when he was born in August 09.

Positive stories of your DC being the younger ones in one of these classes please.

Does the school just have mixed 1/2 classes rather than a year 1, year 1/2 and a year 2 class?

At my DC's school, they have what I have described and children are put in the appropriate class according to ability so the higher performing year 1 children are put in with the lower -performing year 2 children (so not done on age) so there is little difference in their levels once in the class together.

However, I understand your concerns if all of the year 1/2 children are put together but I guess you have to trust the teachers to manage the situation.

Ds went into a year 2 heavy mixed year 1/2 class two days after his 5th birthday. He thrived, although he definitely found a lot of it challenging, though it was emotional rather than academic challenge for him. He had a brilliant very young teacher in her nqt year and she handled the almost 2 year age range exceptionally well, academically and more importantly for ds, socially. He is just finishing year two now and it has been really nice to see him spend a year being challenged just the right amount after being the very very youngest the first two years of school.

I don't mean to play down the difficulties, they do exist and vary depending on the child, school and wider group as to what they are but it can definitely go very well too.

There are only 3 mixed classes spooky no solely Yr 1 class.

We're in the same situation as you, except that the school has always been mixed years. Also that I have been a school governor there for many years (well before I was even pregnant with DC1). I have absolutely no issues with this, I can see only advantages. But then, I am also very well aware of our school statistics which clearly prove that JJA born children are absolutely not disadvantaged by the system at all, since on average, across the school, they perform better than average.

Sure, in year 1 he'll be the youngest in 2 years. In year 2 he will get the chance NOT to be the youngest in the class - which he'd never get in single-year classes.

I may be biased in this though, I was put up a year at school (Sep birthday) so was youngest in the year, and attended a mixed-year school. I thrived on it.

Tbh, I kind of feel sorry for the May birthdays now. There's so much focus on summerborns, and the school has to track them as a vulnerable group, that there's a danger that the next youngest might get overlooked. That's the problem with arbitrary cut-off dates.