Have you been told about next year's classes yet? Composites? Numbers? Teacher? Friends?

[teslagirl]

A small part of me want to type Grrr. There, I've done it. I mean, the schools KNOW what they're going to do already so WHY NOT TELL US! Whilst I'm aware the obvious unspoken reason is "To give you parents less time to launch complaints", the reality is we have a pretty good idea what they'll do so please don't keep us hanging on!

It affects both DSs. We have an Infants and on-site but different school Juniors arrangement.

Briefly, DS1 was amongst the first to be 'composited', Y3/4, as there are only 43 DCs in his year and the schools operate a 2 form entry (max 60-ish). He's now a '4' in a 3/4, having been a '3' in a 3/4 last year. But WHAT are they doing next year? Rumour Control speaks of 'pure' yr 5s- so there MUST be more incomers we don't know about. Yet, for some of us, we'd prefer an ongoing composite (Y5/6) as we don't LIKE many of DS1's year group contemporaries! My view of the potential success of next year will be seriously shaped by exactly which of his year group he will find himself with! The good and studious who will 'bring him along' or the.. Others?

DS2 is going into Juniors. We pretty much know they'll be composited, Y3/4. It's less of an issue EXCEPT- and I'm on dangerous ground here- there are just a couple of DSs whom I'm keen for DS2 NOT to be with but of course I won't know whom til July 4th! Also, it'd be handy, practically speaking, to be able to foster friendships between DS2 and his Y3 classmates over the summer IF I knew who they were!

WHY, really, all the secrecy? And guesswork? The 'pure yr 5' thing has been guessed at because a teacher told his class he was 'having a Yr 5 next year'. And none of the DCs have been asked to list their 2 best friends for class division purposes. WHY?

What will knowing actually achieve though? If you don't approve will you be able to move him?

Ds1 will be going into yr1 - we haven't been told officially, but he has told me who his teacher will be and which class they will be. He is only 5 though so it could all be a fantasy!

I have to say I don't really get your post.

"My view of the potential success of next year will be seriously shaped by exactly which of his year group he will find himself with! The good and studious who will 'bring him along' or the.. Others?"

I agree, the school know what they are doing.

I work in primary school, we still haven't been told which year group/class we'll be with

Well, how useful would it actually be for your ds to have your 'view of the potential success of next year' shaped at the earliest opportunity? Can't see that being particularly helpful myself.

Agree with Malory - I'm afraid you sound like the very reason you are not told until the last minute!

I know which class ds3 is going into for reception but I don't know which yr1 class ds2 is going to or which yr 3 class ds1 is going to.

Oh, how I too wish I'd never been exposed to the child you tells another 6 yr old to "Eff Off you C*!" as opposed to the DCs whose parents would DIE of SHAME if their 6 yr old even KNEW those words, THEN perhaps I could accept myself as a' vile snob'.

It does matter.

Expose DS1 to sensible, mature, motivated DCs and he will go along with it. Expose him to, at best "It's all BORING", at worst "Effin' C*" and- well, I have a pretty good idea which peer group will give us, as a family less grief.

Can YOU work it out?

I don't know which classes I am teaching yet! No big conspiracy. There are other things going on in schools.....

Schools put children in different classes for allsorts of different reasons. Please don't assume that your child is the only one to be considered

Thanks to the teachers who've responded. I don't really see it as a conspiracy- just that fairly obviously the school knows - so why can't we?

See, the thing is, I KNOW my child isn't the only one 'to be considered'. It's quite possible he'll be put with a certain group to bring the group's average up! Average behaviour/maturity/courtesy...who knows? They're state schools. They have dozens and dozens of DCs to consider. I, however, have only 2 DSs to consider. If the 2 opinions fail to gel badly enough, obviously I have options I can exercise.

I work in a junior school & they've only just worked out which teachers will be in which class.

They are working on the class lists now, but no, we won't be telling the parents until the last possible moment - which is the Friday before term ends on Tuesday and the day that all the classes have an induction morning with their new teachers - the children will learn which class they are in at assembly that morning, the parents won't know until they pick up after school.

We've done it this way for many years ever since a group of parents launched an organised & completely unjustified personal attack on a particular teacher.

As for taking parents' views into account - we do try to where possible, but it's certainly not a top priority - it really can't be when you have Mum of X saying 'My DD must be with Y or she won't be able to cope' and Mum of Y saying 'I must insist that DD is not in the same class as X'

HI, my dd is moving up from reception this year, i have asked and teacher does NOT know were she will be(she hopes to stay in reception despite wanting to see her class through into next yr, nor has she been told whether class with be mixed around again..she has told me there will be 2 classes(40 odd children, so they will have too) a reception/yr 1 class and a yr 1 class,,,the first being for the younger children and those whom may be having trouble with the work at minute then YR1 for the older and more advanced children.
I am pleased to hear though that dd although being one of the younger children IS going into YR1, teacher said thats a definate(she was grading all the little assements theyd been doing as we spoke) but she couldnt say who else would be with her nor who her teacher would be..i WOULD like to know, but i KNOW she desnt know yet eitehr so not worried, she said shes trying to pin the head down for answers, but has so far got no were and am that they are lsong 3 ta's next term, so hope we do get chance to find out who and were in the next few weeks as her current teacher and TA are very firm but very fair and dd has done so well being in her class..but end of day i wont go in and cause prob's ill see how it all goes.

DD's school know who is doing what year groups (the teachers, not the parents), but the classes haven't been decided/announced yet. I only know because of insider info

I am worrying, because I know one of the class set ups could have a detrimental effect on DD (her SN issues, nothing to do with the children), but we'll deal with it as it comes. We get at least 6 weeks to get heads round it, so does it really matter???

I had meetings with all the parents of children who will be in my next class last Friday. The KS1 teachers are having meetings next week.

Ours get announced a week on Thursday. The kids will have spent half a day with new teacher/class by then so no real room for debate !

We already know dd's year group will be remixed to incorporate newcomers as class numbers expand and beasue the abiltiies/sexes are unevenly spread at present. There are some kids who ideally would n't be of our choice but the school are savvy enough to keep core groups of children who work and play well with each other together. The kids were asked to name a particular friend at the beginning of term and suspect they generally go with that unless there are adverse reasons. ds' year was remixed last year but increasingly they are setted so the class group itself is less relevant. Despite our intial reservations, this year's class has forced him to be less daunted by some of the more confident kids he'd previously avoided, so a benefit.

I think it's good schools DO take 'parents views into account'- I also thinks it's excellent they take the DCs views into account- in many ways their friendship groups tend to reflect the type of DCs they are. I know I can't go marching into the Head's office and say "I don't want my DS in the same class as a, b, and c" (though many do!)- And it's NOT 'My DS is too GOOD for these DCs", it's "It concerns me that all the evidence points to the fact that my 'slightly anxious, reasonably clever (NOT GIFTED!), but easily led if the approval of a peer group is at stake' DS will fare badly amongst this group, I'm not really happy" is the truth.

And let's face it- all I'm debating here is the micro, local version of blindly sending one's DC to the local secondary, however rubbish it is because to do otherwise would render me 'a vile snob'.

Have you heard of the term "helicopter parenting?" You're doing it. It's not good for you and it's not good for your kids.

Chill - how old are these children, six, seven? I really don't get how involved some parents get in this sort of thing, when I was at primary school my mum couldn't have told you the name of 3/4 of the girls in my class, and quite right too. It doesn't matter at this age.

But there are a lot of 'slightly anxious, reasonably clever (NOT GIFTED!), but easily led if the approval of a peer group is at stake' children in every year at primary school - some of them will have to be in the same class as at least some of the 'bad influence' group.