Mixing up Classes Reception into Yr1

[LaralouMc]

Hi, first time posting so bear with me ! We have received a letter today in DDs (5) bookbag stating that they are mixing up the 3 reception classes and to nominate 4 friends that you child is closest to. They want us to do this by 1st July and the "new" classes will commence on 2nd July until summer break and continue when they start in year 1 in Sept. They are not guaranteeing that they will be with the children we stipulate and go on to say that they will aim for at least 1. Now please tell me if you think Im making something of nothing but as far as I can tell there is no other reason for doing this other than just for the sake of it. The reasons they are quoting are "Effectively balance the characters, skills and learning of our pupils" This impacts on 89 children and it goes without saying that Im not alone in feeling that this is completely uneccessary. I have made an appointment with the headmistress for Monday afternoon to discuss it but i wondered if any of you have had experience if this situation and your thoughts, Positive and negative. I have an older daughter who is in yr 4 and have never had cause to go in before and Im normally very supportive of the school.

They are trying to make sure every child is with at each one friend - that seems perfectly reasonable.

or do you mean, why are they mixing the classes in the 1st place? At DS's school the Reception classes were mixed because 1 class had the majority of the higher achievers and the other class the majority of the "nightmare when put together" children.

They are mixing them again at the end of Year 1 because they've again found the classes uneven in terms of ability and which children work well together.

Most parents consider it to be a positive thing and it has encouraged children to make a mixture of friendships.

As a teacher I doubt very much that the school is mixing the classes purely for the sake of it. Depending upon how the Reception classes were formed initially e.g. September and January intakes it may be that the classes are unbalanced in terms of ages, performance, gender, home language, behaviour needs etc.

Some schools do this regularly so that children broaden their friendships and don't get used to being the best at X or the worst at Y but lots do it at the end of Reception, especially since central allocation of places means schools may not know much about each child before needing to form the classes.

As the parent of a Reception child I wouldn't worry at all if the two classes at her school were mixed, particularly if the school involved the children and parents by asking for them to nominate friends.

Mixing of classes happens every year at DDs school. She is always with at least one friend, and it does mean that the children get to mix with lots of others across 2 years (as ours are also in mixed year group classes).

Also, each class has a whole range of ability groups and personality types, and the class teacher will recommend to the Head which teacher in the next year group s/he feels will best suit your child's learning style and they try to take account of this too.

My DS's school mix the classes each year and it works well. DS has a very wide circle of friends both in his year group and in other year groups. When he went into year 1 most of his friends went into the other class however he sees them every break time and lunch time. He's also made new friends in his year 1 class. Children are often far more adaptable than you think. It should make the transition to High School far less traumatic as they are used to change.

Hi, I?m having the same problem my little girl is starting year 1 this September but they are putting her up into year 2/1 splitting the class as they took 43 in the reception class I believe it?s all to do with funding and greed and that they are pushing the numbers around. As she is one of the eldest so she will be nearly 6 and some of her class are nearly 5 and would be a huge gap in age difference with year two children discrimination? I have looked on the intake amount on gov website it says max 30 in years 1,2&3. To top it off they have had had re-organisation of the schools and are changing the uniform and we also had no consultation only 1 retailer quoted for the contract as they didn?t put it out to tender in this economic situation do they think they are a private school and do some schools not put the child?s well being first? I don?t want to shake the school up as my daughter loves it there but now I have a to do list for them lol!

This is happening at my ds's school. I think it's a great idea to try and mix friends, strengths and personalities.

I'd hate for ds to become dependent on one or two friends who might leave or be ill and he'd be lost when they weren't there.

It's very important to be able to cope and mix with many different kinds of people.

There is no reason they won't still be friends with the children they originally knew.

I have no worries about her making friends thank goodness as she was in preschool with most of them but at the end in year 6 they will leave and she will repeat the year she has just completed then will have to make friends with old reception friends that are all ready bonded as friends they will have their own groups it?s just un-necessary stress on children which will lead to bullying and children not being happy at school.

LilH, It's unlikely that the organisation will the same through primary school.They will probably change all that around between now and year 6.
We have a similar organisation in our school. Y1 & Y2 mix up but they could not do that with the Y2/Y3 as one class is KS1 and the other KS2 (or at least that's what they told us...). So Y2 are a whole class again.

This happened to DS in Reception.
Not the school's general policy.
Letter home in book bag one night telling us
children would find out their Year 1 teachers the next day, and that they would not be moving as a class.
A lot of the parents were quite angry about the communication, some were angry about the decision.
I can honestly say it is the best thing that happened to them.
He is now in Year 4 and all the teachers throughout the school comment on what a friendly year group they are, they still play with children in the other class and friendships have remained while new friendships have been formed. DS's closest friend is a child that was not even in his class in Reception.
Try not to worry, I'm sure your DD will be fine and you may even find out that it turns out to be a good thing.

ours rejig the classes every year as part of the anti bullying policy. My ds is in year 1 now and he has been asked to list 3 people he wants to be with next year, I do hope he is with his very close friends. However he will play with them in the play ground and may well be with them for certain subjects as they are split into ability groups across the year for some things. I think it is a positive as they do play with kids from other classes, do not get used to being the best or worst in the class and unhealthy relationships are split up.
Your DD will be fine what ever happens and will end up with more friends not less..

I badly wish that DS2 had had the chance to be in a mixed R-Yr1 class (for his Yr1 year). It would have been terrific for him.

I also think it's great if they make more friends across the year groups.

As for listing children they want to be with... don't get me started on that one, the school has botched it quite badly recently for one of my DC! I hope it works fine for all of your DC.

They are mixing up DS's classes between Reception and year 1 -- they don't normally, but some children are leaving over the summer so they are dropping down from four Reception classes to three Year 1 classes.

I'm not worried about DS as he plays with plenty of children in the other classes anyway (I am surprised by one of the children he's said he'd like to be with, though. And generally a bit surprised and pleased that half the children he named are girls as they can get very polarised at this age. And a bit fearful for the Y1 teacher's sanity if they wind up with DS and his best friend from nursery in the same class...).

As SE13mummy said, it is highly unlikely that any school would do this for the sake of it. It's an absolute headache trying to re-jig classes into a balanced set, and just when you think you've got a workable mix, then some parents come in and kick off because Johnny can't be with x but must be with y (when you know that Johnny and Y together is a recipe for disaster).
i think you should be very thankful that at least they are involving you in an element of choice. Most schools don't.

Also, I might add that I think the school will know better than the parents if it's necessary or not!

mixing up reception classes is fairly normal I think. Our school does it. however I would be very cross if the children were in the new classes for the last part of reception. This must mean some of them are having to have a new teacher right at the end of term and must all be quite unsettling.