Mixed year groups 2/3 -Key Stage 1 and 2 together

[toomanyprojects]

Due to falling roles our school has re-jigged classes , I found out yesterday that yr 3 will be split with DS1 being in a mixed yr2/3 class with some of his yr in a 3/4 class.
Seems very odd to have a split over key stage 1 and 2 - can someone reassure me this is normal in smaller schools?

I wouldn't say normal, but not unheard of! I taught a 2/3 class last year, no more complex than teaching any other mixed age class, look at what the children can do and where they need to go next, their age or year group is pretty much irrelevant! The only problem can be if the school sticks to QCA units and there is a difficulty in deciding which units to cover, we use a topic based approach based on objectives so planning was relatively simple!

It has happened in the school my children go to this year. I am also a governor there. There was a need due to numbers. The re-gigging was then done based on academic need. Some children had not made enough progress in KS1, so it was beneficial for them to remain in a Yr1/2 group for another year whilst in Y3.

Don't mean to hijack this thread but Ive just been told that my ds is staying in class 1 which is a mixed reception/year 1 class. He's 5 and there are anywhere between 3 and 6 of them staying with their current teacher and will be joined by a new intake of reception children. The rest of his current peer group will be moving to class 2 which is a mixed year 1/year 2 class.

Having read his report I honestly can't see why, other than he seems to be average or slightly below in writing (it does look like a spider crawl at times!).

Apparetly the school has done this for a few years, it's a small school, only 90 kids in total but I can't help thinking that I've somehow failed as his mother. As much as I try and square with myself that they know what they're doing and he'll be fine, I feel a stigma attached to it.

Am I just being silly or am I right to be concerned? He's not very confident at all, great with his peer group, shocking with adults. The rest of his work seems average or above according to the report.

I have parents evening on tuesday but don't want to go in like a bull in a china shop but really need to be considered in my response to this. If anyone's been in or is currently in the same situation I'd be grateful for advice.

Apologies for the hijacking - and the long winded rant!

My ds is going into a mixed year 2/3 class in September (he was in a mixed R/Yr 1 class last year!). Ours is not s small school either. The teachers cope well with it as far as I can see.

He's still moving into yr 1 though, whether it is in a R/1 class or a 1/2 class! No-one has suggested he remains in Reception, have they? The school clearly thinks that he will benefit from (perhaps) a more relaxed curriculum and set-up in R/1 than would be available in 1/2 ( although you minght find them surprisingly similar too!) The work he does in R/1 might be little different ( if at all) from the work he would do in 1/2 as it SHOULD be geared towards your childs specific needs, how to progress him in his learning. Personally I would consider he would benefit from being one of the oldest in the class, he will be expected to act as a "role-model" which will hopefully develop his confidence, try to look for the positives rather than seeing it as a "stigma", it is meant to be in your childs best interests!

primarymum - I hear everything your saying and believe me I've been like a tennis ball at wimbledon over the last couple of days, he'll be a grown up in the class, but wouldn't his maturity (for want of a better phrase) come on more surrounded by older rather than younger children. He's still in year 1, but his friends have moved on and he hasn't. Honestly, I know it's my hangups more than his but I still need to understand their decision making process and with the report in front of my I just can't see how they've come to their conclusion. Role on Tuesday when I can speak to them!

Thanks for the input though, really do appreciate it.

Don't worry, it's easy for me to say "be positive", I'm not your DS's mum! You do what you think is best for your child, if you are not happy with the reasons your school gives, then argue!

Thanks for your comments primarymum - I think the split has been done on age and if so DS will be the eldest in the yr 2/3 by over 3 months - he is an autumn birthday. I'm not sure that being the eldest will be the best thing for him - he is not lacking in confidence! Acedemically he loves numeracy and science and is working at level 3 so am presuming the split is not an acedemic one.

There are just a lot of differences between key stage 1 and 2 and I don't see how the school will accommodate them when half his year are in a yr 3/4 and he is "left behind" in the yr 2/3 class. I use the inverted commas because the class they will be using is currently the class 1/2 classroom and has always been the infants part of the school. The preception is therefore that they have been left behind!

Can I ask something here too? My 6 year old daughter has been in a split year 1/2 class this year. At parents evening we were told she had achieved the results she needs at the end of year 2 already.

We have just been told that next year she will go into an all year 2 class with just one friend from her current year 1/2 class.

If she has already achieved what she needs at the end of year 2 how will she be taught in a year 2 class where the children are effectively a year behind her?

What she actually needs is teaching in a year 3 class but the school doesnt split the classes across key stage 1 and key stage 2.

What is the education policy on teaching children key stage 2 when they should really only be in key stage 1?

Can a child that should be in year 2 be taught in year 3?

I am making an appointment with the school to discuss this and want to get my facts right before I go.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you

Thanks Verity, I just want to get my facts right before I go in there.

In reception the school kept trying to hold her back and they actually said at one point that they didnt want her to go any further with her reading because she was already 6 levels higher than the rest of the class ... as you can imagine,I went crazy ...you cant holda child back just because the other children are not keeping up!

This year we have been happy with her teacher and being in the split year 1/2 class has been great for her. She acheived 2Bs in the year 2 assessments which we were told is what she needs to get at the end of year 2. She has a reading age of 9

She has just let her go forward and when she has become bored because its too easy she has made things harder for her.

What we dont want now is her education suffering just because the school doesnt have a year 2/3 class which is what she needs.

your input is much appreciated. Thank you so much

I am a teacher and quite often have children in my class working at least a level ahead of their age expected level (as well as a level below). This is definitely not uncommon and not that hard for a teacher to accomodate in class through meaningful differentition of tasks and focused guided reading and writing sessions.

It should not usually be necessary to move the children out of the class in order to ensure good progress.

To put it in context, your child has achieved levels that the 'average' child will obtain at the end of year two. Your child is performing at an above average level and so would be on target to achieve a 3c at the end of year two. This is normal for the extension children in a year two class.

It is definitely sensible to go and talk through your concerns with your headteacher as only you know your child's school but hopefully it won't be an issue and your child will be remain challenged whilst learning with her peers.
All the best

< wonders if DC go to same school as Merle's >

My DS has been offered a place in a new split Y2/3 class, but he is a Y2 and there will only be 8 of them, versus 22-24 Y3's. I guess the concerns I have are the opposite to you, OP, I worry that he will be expected to behave as a KS2 child, with the added expectation.

The more formal learning environment will suit him, I think, and he's been a Y1 in a Y1/2 split this year ( although that was a 50/50 split ) and it suited him very well.

I had a discussion with the head teacher about it this morning, and as primarymum says, most of the learning seems to be tailored to individual needs anyway, so its kind of irrelevant from an academic perspective which class they are in, other than perhaps the learning style and how the lessons are run.

Eek - just read what you said about reception. No wonder you have concerns about the school. It is the teacher's job to stretch and challenge more able pupils in their class. I can't imagine this ever happening in our school. Is the school otherwise good?

My concern is due to the way the school handled things in reception. The school is the best we have in a deprived area. There are much worse schools here. When they created the split year 1/2 class she did really well and the teacher worked with her and with us to ensure that she was learning at her own level. We were told she and the other year 1s in this class would be kept together as high flyers next year but now there are only a couple of them in the new class. A split year 2/3 class would have been much better for her than this I am sure but this school does not combine key stage 1 and key stage 2 in one class. We are waiting to get an appointment with the school to discuss our concerns and hope they have a plan that will work for her.

Thank you so much for explaining about the target we can expect.

All we want is a good education for our daughter and after our experiences with the reception teachers you can understand why we have concerns.

well, today things have changed a bit as it seems the split within the year group was not based on either age or ability but I don't know how it was done yet - will find out later on this week.

There are younger children then DS in the other class and looking at the SATs results for the year group, if it was done on ability he would have gone to the other class as well.

Also the split in numbers isn't even - there are many more "going up" than "staying down". Am trying not to dwell on it as there's nothing I can do until I see the Head and find out why this has happened and I get more cross every time I think about it!

Hi Toomanyprojects

I know just how frustrated you feel. I battled all through my daughters reception year as they were holding her back. Then she went into a year 1/2 class and that has worked really well and the teacher has worked with her and us to make sure she is learning at her level. Now she has been put in a year 2 class with children that are effectively a year behind her as she has already achieved the level she needs for the end of year 2. I too am waiting for an appointment with the school to find out how they are going to teach her next year. Its so hard not to dwell on it but when its your childs education its hard not to keep thinking about it. The more I think about it the more frustrated I feel. All I want is a good education for my daughter as you do for your son ... its not too much to ask is it?
Good luck and let us know how you get on.