Miffed about class allocation

[kingandjack]

Hi all

DC2 is starting reception in September (currently at the same school nursery) and just been diagnosed with ASD - which the school is aware about.

My DCs school seem to allocate younger siblings in the same class that their older siblings attended.

However, DC2 has been allocated a different class to her (NT) sibling.

There are many kids in DC1s class that have siblings joining reception in September and ALL have been allocated to their older siblings class.

I was going to leave it and not question the school but it’s been really bothering me.
Is my child being discriminated as a SEN child? Why hasn’t she been allocated the same class as DC1?

What’s worse is that DC1s reception teachers is the EYFS/Phase leader so it’s unlikely that DC2 has been put in the other class because she’ll be “better supported” in the other class.

Should I speak up about this or not?

TIA

My Dd hates having teachers her sister has had as she feels its too much to live up to. She wants to seen as herself, not the little sister.

It could well be this teacher is particularly good with certain additional needs.

I'd have thought it would be far better for siblings to be separated so they can be their own people.

Who'd be a teacher, eh?

It's nice! Parents like the existing relationship they have with the teacher and the school gets happy parents.

knowing how unreasonable parents can be, especially in Reception, I am sure many teachers would be delighted to not have to put up with the same faces again 😂

When schools allocate children to classes, they look for a spread of ability and need, so that there’s as much of a balance as they can manage, especially as they’re not yet familiar with the children. They talk to providers of pre school provision and take advice on pairings and groups. They look at how the children interact with one another and how they relate to adults.

They look at their own staffing and see what they think is ‘best fit’. It’s a lengthy process, with a great deal of careful thought.

The school wants your child to succeed. The school does not want a child that feels unsupported or out of place. They will have done the classroom allocations based on teacher personalities and the individual students based upon available information.

They may know that there is a student or two in the other classroom that is likely to stress your child and distract her from her education. Seriously, I can’t begin to tell you how much my ASD dd needs a quiet, orderly classroom.

If that's the "norm" I can see why you would be concerned but your probably overthinking it this time
in my school children never get mixed up in classes they literally go from reception to year six in the same group and they will be the children they were with in nursery

on one occasion they put a younger brother in a different year one class because the family wasn't British born the mother had difficulty communicating and this teacher had taught the older brother so she already had a relationship and could communicate effectively with the family one of the other parents ambushed the teacher demanding to know why? (Publicly) we could all here her saying "I'm assuming it's to do with communication but it's not really FAIR I wanted YOU to be MY CHILDS TEACHER)

Fucking embarrassing

It's very unlikely that they always place younger dc with the same teacher their older siblings had. I appreciate this may have happened but it's more than likely a coincidence. If your child is in the other class they are more likely to have a consistent face rather than an EYFS lead who will take additional management time on top of their standard PPA. Will she cope well with a TA/Cover supervisor who may work across several classes and not have the same relationship as a full time teacher would?
FWIW, I wouldn't worry too much about the EYFS lead being a "better" teacher. One of the worst teachers I have ever come across was our EYFS lead and she was sacked on capability as she was truly awful!

Our school might appear to put all the same siblings in 1A, 1B etc but it's really that kids going to the same nursery are divvied up in the same way and siblings tend to go to the same nurseries.

Different teachers get the classes though.

It could be that you've seen a sort of pattern but are putting 2+2 and getting 5. It doesn't sound like discrimination, I'd be surprised if the school have even noticed.

My DCs school seem to allocate younger siblings in the same class that their older siblings attended.

They ‘seem to’, is not a plan or policy. Please don’t complain about this!

It seems a bit odd and I don’t see why a school would do this. It certainly never crossed my mind when allocating children teachers as a DHT. There are a whole host of things to consider as many PPs have already said: SEN, boys/girls, personalities (of children) good mix of quiet/more exuberant, birthdays (summer, September etc) and the staff skills, qualities etc and availability to actually be in class.
You can only ask if it bothers you that much. I would also say that sometimes teachers don’t have a great relationship with some parents so a regroup would be avoided with future siblings as they may have a better relationship with a different teacher. Happy child, happy parent, happy teacher etc.
I would make an effort not to get off on the wrong foot with the new teacher, your DC will most probably love them!

We aim for a balance based on
Term of birth
Boy/girl
SEN
Reported behaviours from pre school setting.
Reported positive/negative friendships from pre school setting.
Sometimes parental requests.
Or on very rare occasions, if the teacher has already had a family and needs a break from them or has a great relationship with them.

This

putting children in the same class as siblings as a rule is batshit.

you’re setting the younger child up to fail as there will be assumptions and expectations based on the older sibling.

if the old child is well behaved/academic/sporty and the younger isn’t they will feel the expectation of not being as good.

if the older child has poor behaviour or low achievement the expectations of the younger will be low before they’ve even set foot in the classroom.

preconceived ideas can be very difficult to overcome.

Surely there could be many children who’s older siblings had that teacher at some point and would vary year on year. So, it could be there are too many in that year group who had older siblings in her class to divide into two even groups?

I am secondary not primary, but I imagine that they will have thought the most about SEN students and their needs, especially knowing him from nursery. It could be SEN students with similar needs have been put together so a TA can help them more effectively. Given how badly funded schools are, this is a common strategy. Or they think a particular mix of characters or behaviours wouldn’t work well in combination, so have split them.

I would trust that it has been thought about a lot and is to do with their best chance of learning/settling in well. I would probably give the other teacher a chance and raise issues if /when one arises from September.

I’m sure every parent could think their child would make more progress with the EYFS leader. She can’t teach the whole year though!

Putting every child who starts in with the teacher who had their brother/sister isn’t a process. It’s just some coincidences which has led you to believe it’s how they do things-it really won’t be. Planning classes takes hours and it’s based on things far more important than whether the teacher taught someone’s sibling 5 years earlier.

Maybe there is another ASD child in the other class. Or some other combination of need that means they need to spread across both classes

I’d love to see it. My son was regularly beaten up by one child during primary 7. I was called every couple of weeks about it. Then they had their visit to the high school, where they get to try some classes etc. The same kid attacked my son during the lunch break at the high school, it was filmed on a lot of mobile phones and everything. Then class allocations came out and this kid was in my son’s class. They had about 300 first years and they put my kid in a class with the kid who had spent a year attacking him and attacked him during their high school visit. So I’m sure a LOT of thought goes into it… really, I’m sure you try so hard.

It’s not that he is able to cope with different teachers, it’s that he gets consistency with his learning.

think back to when you had a supply or stand in teacher at school. They’d have no idea where you were in the curriculum, so you’d either get nothing done, repeat work, or jump around all out of order.

there are huge benefits to having the same teacher who knows what’s been covered, what your weaknesses and strengths are, how you learn, and how to keep you interested. A series of ta’s or cover teachers won’t provide that.

My youngest HATED being with the teacher who had had her sister the year before. The teacher expected her to be like her golden girl perfect pupil sister. And apparently showed deep disappointment when she wasn't. She was a great and clever kid herself, but didn't match up to the teacher's expectations.

Her next teacher was new to the school, didn't know my eldest, and DD absolutely blossomed and thrived with her. I think it's a really good idea for siblings NOT to have the same teacher, and to be accepted as they are, rather than being compared.

If your younger one struggles more than their sibling, i think that having 'his own' teacher is far far better.

Oh Jesus Christ. Class allocation is done on so many other things. Not having the SAME class teacher as the sibling. The teacher wouldn't have even realised that when choosing.
Friendship dynamics play a huge role. Don't overthink. Ffs. Your Sen child will be supported. Probably more so if it isn't the phase leader. As they won't have as many leadership roles to fulfil

All of this.

It’s concerning that your first conclusion is “discrimination” and not that your child’s best interests have been taken into consideration tbh

Yup

This.

Who'd be a teacher, eh?

Quite

As early years lead I allocate classes by splitting the children with SEND first so they are balanced between the classes. I then take advice from their previous settings as to which children should be split/kept together. I try to balance the abilities and behaviour needs. I also take account of what settings tell me about more difficult parents and split them if possible! Once I’ve done that I check the boy/girl balance. When I’m happy I decide which class is allocated to which teacher. Sometimes the level of need comes into play here but this is also where siblings might be mentioned - if a teacher has a good relationship with several families already they might be given that class. I suspect your child is probably not the only child with ASD starting school and this will have been considered. There is also the possibility that certain children in the other class are not a good mix with your child. As the lead teacher I would generally take the class I think might be more challenging but this is hard to predict when you don’t know the children and if I’ve split them well hopefully one class won’t be more difficult than the other!

Absolutely-there is so much to think of. Trying to give an even mix of summer births, PP, EAL has to be taken into consideration as well.

You're annoyed that DC2 doesn't have the same teacher that DC1 had years previously?

I guess if that is a custom in your school that has been helpful as the teacher/family already has some knowledge of each other it's quite nice. But as Pp's have said there are many other things that need to be taken into account when allocating classes. So it won't always be possible or practical.

In my DC's schools it would be unusual for the teachers to still be teaching the same classes year after year (or in the same school or profession year after year) and so wouldn't be a thing.

If you really rated the teacher, you could ask for them to be switched. If there's still movement they might be able to, but I think you should be ready for them to say no because of all the other considerations they have already had to take into account.