Appeal against decision to hold DD back in yr 1- MAT

[mummytwobears]

Hello, has been yrs since I used mumsnet, but I'm stuck and wondered if anyone had experienced this.

My kids go to small village school (55 kids). For last 3 yrs it's been great, couldn't ask for better. Last yr school became part of large MAT, with 8 schools not all locally and the leadership is very very different now.
The classes are divided into 3 classes EYFS/yr 1: yrs2&3: yrs 4-6. This has always been fine.
My DD will be going into class 2/yr 2 in Sept...or so we thought.

Yesterday we were given a letter at end of the day stating that DD is not 'emotionally mature' and will therefore not be transitioning into yr 2.
Never have the school or us raised any concerns before this.
My DD is so excited about going into class 2 with her big friends and was really looking forward to Monday when they have their meet your new teacher/class room day. All her friends are moving up without her.
I'm so appalled they've sent this with absolutely no warning.
My DD has no SEND, is meeting expected targets.

I'm sure the real reason is that they only want to employ 3 teachers and want to reduce some of the class sizes.
The ridiculous thing is and I know this shouldn't matter, but I am a (currently unemployed) teacher and my husband is a children's MH nurse, so we do know what we're talking about!

I'm not going to tell her and have written a letter of complaint and asked for decision to be reversed.

Just wondering if anyone has heard of this before and what people think?

Ta x

I'm speaking as a teacher and the parent of two children who attended a 3 class primary school

Ok, I get it may sometimes have to be done, but to not even prepare the students and parents for the possibility? Surely it shouldn't come as a shock, seems very unfair.

The head (management team) will have been looking at alternatives and presumably informed parents once a decision has been reached.

I had this situation but from the opposite perspective with ds2. He atended a small village school with 4 classes -EYFS/Y1, Y1/Y2, Y3/Y4, Y5/Y6. The school had always operated a split Y1 with the older children moving into Class 2 and the summer born ones staying in class 1. However, they decided to change this when ds was finishing his EYFS year, and move the children who they thought were ready for class 2 (more structured, less play) into Class 2. As ds2 was summer born I had assumed he would stay in Class 1 for Y1 and was very upset to find he was being moved into class 2. I felt he wasn't ready. However, after a long chat with the teacher, we decided that the school knew our child better than we did in the school setting, and that we would trust their judgement even though I was very sad that he wouldn't be in the lovely class 1 classroom with sand and water play, its own garden etc etc.

It turned out to be just fine. Ds2 thrived in Class 2. His best friend, also summer born, remained in Class 1 and that was the right decision for him as he really wouldn't have coped with class 2 at that point. Best friend blossomed by being in Class 1 for an additional year, especially as the Y1s who remained in Class 1 had their self esteem boosted by being able to do lots of things the new reception children couldn't.

We moved house before ds2 went into KS2 and he went to a bigger school. However they still operated mixed year classes. When going into Y5 he was one of only 2 boys (out of 13) in that year who was moved into what was predominantly a Y6 class. The other boy was the oldest in the year. 4 Girls were also moved. I did really worry about that as he was a very young Y5 with some children almost 2 years older than him. But that also turned out fine.

The second school our dc attended had a policy of not telling parents which class their children would be in until.the day before "move up day" so that they didn't get inundated with parents marching in to tell them they'd made the wrong decision (which I sort of did when ds was moving into Y1!).

OP, I think the school has worded the letter badly but I read this as the school thinking your dd isn't ready for Class 2. Which may very well be the case. You say 2 other girls are in the same position, and presumably some boys, so out of the year group of 12 half are moving to class 2 and half are remaining in class 1. Which seems sensible, but I do know from experience how it feels when the school change the way classes are mixed, and your expectations are thrown.

Talk to the school but trust their judgement. They will know the year group and the year above better, and there may be factors which absolutely make it better for your child to stay in Class 1.

I think it is fairly unusual o give off three children from Y2 to be with YR. it is a very pertinent question to ask how, exactly, they will be taught the Y2 curriculum with over 25 YR and Y1 children ? They are in a tiny minority so the competence of the teacher to cover all the Y2 curriculum should be challenged. It is not a straightforward mixed class over 3 years groups, but a tiny number of Y2 children in comparison to the younger children. It is different and detrimental to these three children.

to hive off ....

If your DD supposedly is emotionally immature, surely it would suit her better to be amongst children of the maturity she is aiming for? Children who model the maturity she is supposedly aspiring to?
Better than leaving her in a class with some children who will have just turned 4. How will that help her alleged 'problem'?

If it's just a matter of splitting the year group between 2 classes there should have been no need for a letter justifying the decision, it should just have been presented as 'this will be your class for next year'.

It can also be crushing to always be the least developed, least mature, least able, least ready child, and it can do wonders for a child to be the most able, the most mature, the furthest advanced, etc.

That's a fair point lougle. I would still be unhappy if it was my DD but I do see that may be the logic.

"I think it is fairly unusual o give off three children from Y2 to be with YR" not really it depends on the size of each cohort.

In the school my kids attended the classes were Reception/Y1 & some Y2 - the remainder of Y2/Y3 & most Y4s - the rest of Y4/Y5/Y6

I've taught mixed key stages with 20Y2 and 4Y3s then another class with 25 reception and 3 Y1s for example

", it should just have been presented as 'this will be your class for next year'." It has been presented as your child will be in class 1. I suspect if they hadn't explained the reason people would be saying they should have.

In reality there will always be children who are not with their ideal cohort in their parent's eyes. The September born genius who nevertheless has to wait a full year until they can start school, always the oldest in the year - seen as an advantage by everyone but the parent who sees how held back their little Einstein was as all his friends went off to Big school and he was stuck at preschool. The summer born strugglers, who could have done with another year at preschool, but until recently had to start school in the summer, or lose yearR altogether. The shy child who just could have done with a bit more play based time and didn't cope with the transition to class 2. The child who was put in classA but wanted ClassB.....

It must be really, really hard to be a teacher.

The teachers will have very little say in class organisation but I imagine it's a nightmare for the head and no you can't please everyone. At times my kids were the oldest in their class (because they hadn't moved up with their peers) at others they were the youngest ...it's a problem with small schools and declining budgets.

Awful they didn't even bother arranging a meeting to discuss this with you - I hope your call goes well

Firstly, in a small school this is not uncommon.

Secondly, do not accept it. This happened to my DC and I am convinced this was the single most significant event in her early years that changed everything. If I could go back in time I would have fought it and if I had been unsuccessful I would have removed DC from school and homeschooled until a good resolution was reached. Don't mess with her head .... some children don't recover from setbacks like this.

But it's not necessarily a setback, NotAngelinaJoile. Several Y2 children are remaining in Class 1 which is where the school presumably feels they will do best.

As I said above, my ds was one of only 2 Y5 boys in a predominantly Y6 class when the rest of Y5 stayed in their previous class and were with Y4s. I did have reservations but he coped, as the school knew he would.

Village schools often have to have mixed classes and they have to make decisions about where each child will do best.

Sounds very similar to a letter that I had on Friday that I'd been reflecting on before I saw your post. My DD isn't affected as yours is but on seeing your post I have emailed the school and let them know my thoughts on the principle of splitting the year groups. I know that as people have said on the thread that it is usual in some schools, but it goes against the family ethos of our school and impacts on at Year 6/7 given that the majority of children transfer to one secondary.

Mrz It's very common in small schools that have mixed aged classes. They have to organise classes in the most effective way possible.
I know, my kids have attended a 3 class school for past 5 yrs!
I'm speaking as a teacher and the parent of two children who attended a 3 class primary school Me too! :)

I have nothing against small schools or mixed age classes.
This is not my point.

My point is my DD was prepped to transition, she was told she would be, she thought she was going to be with her friends.
She is not emotionally immature, has no emotional or behavioural problems at home or school, she is meeting expected targets in all areas. Last week she was presented with an award for her peer mentorship and excellent attitude towards learning!!

We were told by letter not in person the day before she was due to start in her new class, which I think is really unprofessional and it will effect my daughters confidence and self esteem, I know this because I am her parent!

If this was merely a matter of class organisation, they should have said that and kept friendship groups together.

notangelinajolie Secondly, do not accept it. This happened to my DC and I am convinced this was the single most significant event in her early years that changed everything. If I could go back in time I would have fought it and if I had been unsuccessful I would have removed DC from school and homeschooled until a good resolution was reached. Don't mess with her head .... some children don't recover from setbacks like this. Exactly!!

While I understand this may be common practice, my kids have been to a 3 class school for 5 yrs where pupil numbers have ranged from as low as 32 up to 55 and before we joined the MAT teachers have never felt the need to segregate children in this way.

I have a meeting with Head later this week.
Wish us luck!

Good luck!

Is she currently off school until this is sorted?

It feels to me as if the problem stems from the fact that the classes seem to have been organised the same way for a while, with mixed-age classes but not split year groups.

Now the organisation of the classes has changed, to include splitting year groups.

I understand not telling parents too soon about how the year group will be split, to avoid everybody storming the office asking for changes/explanations. But it would have been absolutely possible to inform the parents a few weeks ago that next year the organisation of the classes will change, and that it will mean that some year groups will be split.
Then inform about the actual classes the children will be going into just before it is due to happen.

That would presumably have saved the school quite some trouble! With shocked parents and disappointed children.

And it would have avoided misunderstandings such as evidenced by the OP thinking her child is being held back a year.

It's called managing expectations.

My son was in a mixed class when he was in year 1 - it was the opposite to your situation as he was one of 10 year one children who were with 20 year two children.

Another 10 year one children were in with 20 reception children.

The rest of the year were in an all year one class.

This was because the school had 100 kids in each year so there had to be some juggling. I think they have changed things since then.

It is not always possible to keep the kids with their friendship groups but they should at least be able to nominate one person they want to be with in their next class.

Sounds like a poorly-worded letter. I agree the classes will be reorganised for funding issue and they will have chosen the less mature children to mix in with the year R/1/2. They probably shouldn't have phrased it to parents like this. Are there a group of children in the same position as your DD?

What I would do if I were you would be to clairify how they plan to ensure she is taught the correct curriculum for her age range in a R/1/2 class.