Split Classes-Advice Needed

[Sam16223]

Can someone please tell me the guidelines/policy for selection process for Y1/Y2 split and is there a standard criteria set from the government is what the headteacher decides law.

Many many thanks

The only guidance is that a class of 30 in Yr1/2 shouldn't normally exceed 30 except in the case of additional children admitted under the 8 criteria listed in paragraph 2.15of the Admissions Code.

How a head teacher structures the class (ie ratio of Yr1:Yr2 children) is an operational decision and is not set by any guidance.

Some schools split the year groups evenly within the classes, some may choose a structure that consists of 30 Yr1 children, 15 Yr1s:15 Yr2s and then 30 Yr2s, or in another way.

There are no set rules.

It's not a governance decision; it's operational and is decided by the headteacher/SLT and incorporates many factors.

In our letter sent home it said the split class would have the oldest from reception in and the youngest from year 1 and it said this was government guidance. Presumably not something that schools have to do just guidance

I'd be interested to see the guidance document because there is no record of class split guidance that I can findfrom our sources or the DfE

Oh I don't know I just know what it said in the letter

@purpleme12
In our letter sent home it said the split class would have the oldest from reception in and the youngest from year 1 and it said this was government guidance. Presumably not something that schools have to do just guidance

This is not government guidance. Your school is just saying that to try to shut down any arguments the parents might have by blaming the government.

Thank you so much to the above, my ds is in a Y1/Y2 class split currently ( he is in year one.
The school have sent a letter home saying he will be one of the children split from what will be in September the full class of year 2.
The letter stated that the criteria is age/gender and friendships!
He is one of the older ones in his year and he does not have a single friend with him, there are 8 children going down to the Y1/Y2 class which includes my son.
They have told me he is where he should be for his age and has not problems.
Why on earth is he been moved away from the full Y2 class when he has no friends with him and is one of the oldest??????
I really don’t think this is correct do you???😢😢😢

I haven't got the letter with me perhaps I've misread it.
When I was at school there were mixed classes it's nothing new and quite common

The school will split the classes as they see is most appropriate. It may include ability, avoiding obvious conflict, developmental reasons, age, gender, friendships, ensuring a balance across classes. I doubt a school would structure classes in a way that is detrimental to learning or to deliberately cause problems.

My son has been in a composite class this year and will be in one next year. We are in Scotland so composite classes are limited to 25.

This time last year I was worried but I am reassured now that teachers can very effectively teach the different years at the correct levels. I have been in the classroom several times and the work is at a different level even if they are on a similar project/theme.

The splits at my children’s school do not seem to be based on a ‘level’. They will need groups of children who can work at a similar level.

I don’t understand though how they can send out a letter saying how they split the class and none of the the criteria my son meets, as said above??😘😘😘

It does seem odd if he is being separated from his friends. Ultimately it's the school's decision, but there's no harm in querying it with the teacher.

Maybe he is not the only older one? Maybe they want a group of maturish Y2s who will do what is asked of them without having to be checked on every minute.

If you are confused then you should ask the school to explain their decision.

Your son may be working at the expected level for his year group, but other children may be exceeding that and achieving greater depth. Your son may have been observed as working better with the children they have grouped him with rather than the friends he spends time with at playtime.The criteria used is a balance and is also relative when taking in to account other children in the year group.

This is a tricky one in our school too( they have a vague requirements list too) but what I do know is that they are usually not for changing once they've made their list as if you changed one child back, they would be inundated with requests to also move other children too.
Prepare yourself that you may not be able to get this changed.

Right now, it's the central issue in your child's education, to you.

In the big picture, this will not matter.

My DS1 was in a YR class, the other being YR/1 class; then a purely Y1 class (21 boys, 5 girls!) with a Y1/2 class alongside; then in one of 2 (small) Y2 classes.

Juniors ( separate but connected school) was a bigger schamozzle of Y3/4, Y4/3, in order to provide a pure Y5, and a pure Y6 ( of 22 per class...)

It all works out in the end. Once they're Y15 😂 and in uni, you'll be hard pressed to remember the machinations, let alone your dudgeon.

It all works out in the end.

FTR DS2 was very much 'separated out from his friends' going into Juniors; same site, different school.

Did him no harm at all, tbh. They could all still play together at breaks; and more or less every activity was structured into learning groups, decided by the teacher, not by the in-class 'friendship' groups.

It doesn't really matter.

So are there 38 DC in y2 for next year? Why are 8 DC being removed? What is the need for this? I dislike the whole idea of removing children from cohort like this. It stops development in sport, music, and other areas when a few DC are with younger children. It makes the continuation of friendships difficult. You have to work so hard to maintain relationships. Yes, it does matter now. Ask the school why this is necessary because surely his year 1 was not over 30 children so why are they not all going into year 2?

With the 8 been split that go into theY1/Y2 , there full class of year 2 have currently got 26 so I’m my thinking don’t they have 4 more spaces ??

You say he's already in a split class, in year 1, so is this the standard way the school operates? How many children are there in each year?

That 26 - sorry but for clarity is that including the 8 or not?

Yes sorry the 26 Y2 that is without the 8 they have taken out xx