Dd2 upset about being moved down a group in English, do I say anything or not ?

[IllegallyBrunette]

She came home yesterday in a right strop because the broups for Maths and English have been redone, and presumably it was done according to the results of the QCA tests they did before half term.

Anyhow, Dd2 has gone from the top group for English to the middle and she is not happy.

English is her favourite subject and tbh I am a little confused as to why she has been moved down, as her teacher always raves about how good she is at English.

As I said, dd2 is not happy about being moved down, but I am unsure wether to mention it to the teacher or not. I mean if she has moved down because of her results then there isn't a fat lot that can be done about it is there.

I am slightly worried thought that dd2 may feel that she is now not as good at English as she first thought, and it might generally put her off iyswim.

Possibly it's not so much that she's not so good as she was, but that others have made more progress?

Hmm hadn't thought of that.

Not sure dd2 would appreciate that either though LOL.

I think I might just see if she mentions it again, and if she does, I will ask the teacher for a word.

can't you be brisk? I think I would say (to hide slight disappointment) 'well, you'll have to work harder and get back into that top group, don't worry about it, now lets do something [vaguely treaty]'

and its a good lesson to learn tbh

not necessarily great to be in all top groups at primary, sometimes it can give you an inflated sense of your own cleverness which makes it all the more gutting when people who work hard overatke you [speaks from bitter experience emoticon]

Have a word with the teacher and ask whether DS is slipping (and if so how you can help her and support her enthusiasm and enjoyment) or if she needs to stop sitting on her heels - or if indeed others have caught up - then you can help dd either address or accept the issues.

If other people have moved forwards, it still means your dd is good at English - she neds to enjoy it for it's own sake and her enjoyment of it, not just the fact that she is in a top group.

I had this with DS1, but in maths, you need to find out why she has been moved down and what areas she needs to improve in to get back up to the top set - talk to her teacher and set up a plan

I did this with DS1 and he was moved back up the following term, we worked harder on the areas necessary. We found that he had been graded only slightly below in the top group but "rules are rules and we had to move him down"

my DS was stressed for ages when he moved to top set. He would say "I can only go down now!" not the right sort of attitude! I think it makes them work harder if they are determined to go up a set.

I did say something similar Enid, and mentioned that it might due to her spelling or punctuation, as these are two things which she is a bit careless with.

She has a great imagination, and can write fantastic stories and understands lot of things about literacy which I would have struggled with at her age, but her spelling does let her down. She can spell, she just doesn't check her work over.

She got upset with me when I mentioned that the reason for the move might be because she needed to try a bit harder

She isn't in the top group for Maths either, but she doesn't care one bit about that, but moving her from top in English is a big smack in the face to her I think.

My DS#1 has never been that motivated at school. He sits round about the bottom of the top set or just below for most subjects. The literacy sets were rejigged beginning of this year with 2 more intermediate sets in between added and he was moved from the top set (bottom of) to be put in the second from top - he was outraged . It motivated him hugely. He had been taking for granted his ability to coast at a reasonable level which isn't a good thing. If a child has some ability I don't think it does too much harm to be moved out of their comfort zone.

But I do sympathise with your DD. Tell her it doesn't matter, that she'll be back at the top in no time if she works hard, and then distract her with something much more fun.

it will deffo be spelling then I would have thought

if she has a fab imagination and loves to read then I would say that is wonderful and not to worry. She may find being in the middle group more 'freeing'?

Good point Enid, you might be right about that.

Also agree with everyone that has said it might give her the motivation to try a bit harder.

Her teacher has always said that wrt her reading, she is way ahead of where she needs to be, apparently she reads at the level they expect children to be at when they leave primary, which is fantastic, but I think it may have skewed dd's perception of where she is overall.

DS1 was excited to be in top maths group at start of this year, but he was really struggling.

His teacher talked to us - plus she had too many in top group and no support - before moving him (and some others) back down. Now he shines in lower group and is imo doing much better. It can be a good thing to go to a group where you can be the leader and the demonstrater.

tell her to put more effort in and she'll move back up

then speak to the teacher and find out (but don't let her know)

it should be about effort, not innate ability - this could be a great thing to happen if you play it right

I see I'm late to the party, carry on all

So, dd2 was still upset about it, and so I agreed to mention it to her teacher, and the convo went as follows.

Me : Could I have a word about Chloe's English, as she is upset that she has been moved down a group.

Teacher : Chloe, how can you have been moved down a group when we didn't have groups last term.

Chloe :

What a nutter. I had actually asked her to check she'd been moved down and she said yes she definatly had.
Teacher was fine about it, he thought it was funny. He said she hasn't been moved down, just that they'd had a rejig of the tables for English because of the amount of children or something.