would you do/ say anything?

[Laura0806]

Im not very good at going in and talking to teachers and they have only been back at school a fortnight .... but my 8 year old is upset. They have all just been set for English in his year 3/4 class and he is a year 4 and has been put in the middle set. Last week when they were given tasks they were of graded difficulty and he was told he could only do the work set for the middle group. Now at the end of year 3 he finished on a 4c and was in the top group of a mixed year3/4 ( so top when he was the youngest, now as the oldest in the middle). I can only think its a mistake as a 4c is a good level at the end of year 3 and they haven't been reassessed. Im not particularly bothered about sets but I am bothered that hes only allowed to do work hes done hundreds of times before last year. Do I wait a few weeks and see if his teacher changes it? She is new to the school and an NQT

It could be that he's misunderstood it (one of dd1's friends the teacher started by saying "You're going to be the best set to be in" to which she took that she was top set. Told everyone else who believed her, so there were some surprised faces at parents' evening when people found their dc was/was not in the top set when they'd been told by their child otherwise)
Or that there are a lot of very good year 3s (unlikely but possible)
Or that they haven't been properly assessed yet, and this is a preliminary grouping with no actual reference to ability, but they only have enough sheets for one group to have each level (happened to dd1 in maths)
Or he's been confused with someone with a similar name (happened when I was at school)
Or could they be setting across years 3-6?

I think I'd approach it along the lines of, "just wanted to check ds has got this right. I'm a little bit confused why he thinks he's in the middle group having been in the top last year, I wouldn't have expected him to drop."
Then if you're happy with the response I would say "If he finishes the middle level work, then it will be fine for him to work on the higher group work won't it. He's very keen to do that."

Just go in and say what you've said here. It does sound a bit odd especially as he is also one of the older ones now. I don't think teachers mind parents who take an interest as long as you don't go in stamping and demanding immediate change. Asking for an explanation is fine though. Is there a parents' evening before Oct half term? If you really don't want to go in you could raise it then.

Thank you, there is a parents eve at half term. Hes def got it right as hes been asked to do 3 things, the top set 5 and the lower set 1 all week. Hes just a bit upset about it. I wonder about the name thing..... all Ive said so far is just do your best and hopefully it wlll get rectified. I did consider that there may be some good year 3s but I wouldn't imagine that many to be above a 4c

If parents' evening is not until half term I think I'd raise it this week. I agree even the top year 3 are unlikely to be at that level.

It could be a regional thing though. My dn is above average but isn't in her top set as they live in an affluent area and lots of the children get extra tuition.

Agree with the others, I'd raise it this week. It could all be a misunderstanding.

I was told in Infant school that my sons attainment was below average for that school, but would have put him in top sets in others.

I would want to know: can he get all his tasks done in the time allowed? Does he have time to do more?

I would personally be questioning a teacher differentiating by the number of tasks. As: some children can take a long time to do 1 task, as they take great care over presentation, accuracy and thoroughness. Some children can whizz through 5 tasks, but produce scruffy and shoddy work. Just doing 5 times as much is not good differentiation.