Bottom set blues - advice please

[shebird]

DD in year 4 has been placed in the bottom set for literacy again this year. She has sobbed all the way home from school and for the last hour saying how she will have to do easy work and learn nothing just like last year. She is a good reader but her writing is a weak point and she has been working hard on this and it has improved a lot.

She feels very embarrassed that her set are very much singled out as being bottom group. When the teacher is explaining a task to the whole class DD says she is already planning how she will do it in her head and then she is told 'no Miss TA's group you just do this easier task'. She is so disappointed and frustrated and really feels that she is missing out. Also when she has finished the easy task she has asked to try something harder but has been told that she is not permitted to even try more difficult work that the other groups are doing.

Sorry for the long rant but I am so upset for my DD who is bright and keen to learn that she should be made to feel so different from the rest of the class. She started the year with such enthusiasm and I would hate to think that she loses the belief in herself that she is capable of more.

I would appreciate some advice on how to approach the teacher about this.

TIA

Is she really being told she can't try the other tasks? I'd be asking exactly what their policy is. Differentiation by task is one thing but every child should have the opportunity to stretch and challenge themselves. I teach secondary English and would never stop a child trying a harder task than I'd set - to be honest most literacy tasks should be able to at least be attempted by the vast majority of the class anyway as they tend to be self-differentiating (some will use more complex sentences, a wider range of punctuation etc).

No answers but feel your pain. DD is year 4 and bottom set of maths. She's not 9 FFS, too much pressure. She hates it and feels stigmatised and demotivated.

Speak to the teacher by all means but IME it doesn't change much. The problem is the target focussed cirriculum, IMHO.

I can only go by what she is telling me Brian but I am aware that kids do not always tell the full story. She also says that it is the TAs who work with their set that often stop them from doing something more challenging

She also finds it frustrating that some of the work in her set is done as a group task with a TA rather than individual work that the rest of the class is doing.

As an older person, I can tell you that there have always been bottom and top sets in primary school. We worked from completely different books and sat on different tables in the dark ages too. No targets or leagues tables but we were still put into sets!

However, I do think a word with the teacher may help you understand what she will be expected to do this term and why she is working with the children she is. In lots of schools the "bottom" set get lots of extra attention and it may be that working with the TA helps her achieve more than working with quicker children. Always frustrated is not pleasant but sitting with ones who are racing ahead of you is not good either. See if the teacher can give you ideas for help at home and reassurance that she can move table if she improves. Usually sets/tables can be fluid.

The teacher should be overseeing the TA and checking on the progress of the whole class. Not just the other sets. Ask what work the teacher has seen your DD complete.

I understand why she might be on the bottom table and the advantages of working at a slower pace with extra support. However, DD is is a very proud person and like most kids she wants to be part of the group not singled out and made to feel stupid. I am sure the setting is done with best of intentions but if my DD is sad, frustrated and demotivated then this clearly is not working for her.

I hope this doesn't sound dumb - but couldn't you ask her teacher for a plan of things you/her can work on to improve and get her up to the level/standards where she could get moved up?

Worth a try,

I am hoping to see the teacher tomorrow to get a clear picture of where she needs to improve so we can support her at home. Is it worth mentioning how upset DD is at

...being so segregated in her work Sorry.....sausage fingers!

I am glad you are having a word with the teacher. Work is only usually differentiated if a child really has no chance of coping at the pace of the rest of the class. It is supposed to benefit the child, however, your child is clearly not benefiting and feels that it is holding her back. If she is planning how to do the work in her head, then she is should certainly be encouraged to get some of it onto paper.

I hope the teacher can help she is new and so I am wary of starting on the wrong foot. I just want her to be aware that DD is keen to learn and improve and at the moment her confidence and enthusiasm are being destroyed by the current situation.

I am sure the teacher will be fine, sometimes our children need us to articulate for them. The TA/ teacher dynamic can vary hugely from class to class, so it is worth making sure it is the teacher you speak to.