Year 10 mixed ability classes for GCSE

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I've posted before about my increasing disillusionment with DS's school.
DS1 is able, ambitious and well motivated but since starting this school it has gone downhill badly as far as results and ofsted are concerned.

He went back this week to start year 10 and is horrified to find that for the first time they have mixed ability classes in some subjects.(All but Eng, Maths and the Sciences). He was at level 7a in year 9 and some pupils in his history class are at level 3. He feels the teaching is pitched at the lowest level and many of the children are disruptive.

Perhaps I was naive to assume that because they were streamed in every subject for Y7 to Y9 that it would continue.

It may be that as in my school due to the numbers taking option subjects that they can inky run one class of options such as history, geography etc

I really wouldn't worry, we get excellent results with iur mixed ability.. The teaching is the same but the exam is what they write on the papers so if your child is able they will do well, if they are less bake they will do less well.

I would be worried. I teach science, but a lot of the basics are similar. i used to work in a school that had gone badly downhill and the behaviour was appalling. Even within a streamed set it was very difficult to teach both foundation and higher tier work due the disruptiveness. If your son is experiencing that sort of thing he has my sympathies. The question is where else can he go really, if you can move him you need to move him fast, otherwise he may be disadvantaged by changing exam boards/syllabi etc. Good luck, it's a horrid situation to be in.

I agree with maddy - it often depends on the number of children taking each course. I teach Performing Arts and Drama, and have always taught KS4 in mixed ability classes. I don't tend to get students under-performing.

Try not to worry too much. As long as they're streamed for English, Maths and Science, he should be OK.

Can you contact the Head of Year to discuss your concerns?

It's the same at my son's school, and it really didn't turn out to be a problem. He came out this summer with excellent results.

I taught GCSE RE which only had one paper so teaching different tier papers not an issue. We had mixed ability classes.

If you think about it, every class will be mixed ability, even if setted, as there is always a range of abilities in sets as well.

I still got As and A*s from students in mixed ability sets.

I'm a Geography teacher and have never taught anything but mixed ability groups at this level.

A good teacher will make sure all children learn at their own level - its not that hard!

At my dd's school afaik they only set for Maths, Science & languages...

Thanks for all your comments, esp weegiemum! It seems it may not be as bad as I thought.

In years 7 to 8 Maths is in 5 sets and all the rest are in 3 sets. In Year 9 Maths , English and Science are in 5 sets and the rest in 3 sets.

I just find it odd that suddenly he's in a hugely mixed ability group, albeit only around 15 of them. My experience with DS at primary school with mixed classes is that he was always left to coast while the teacher concentrated on the less able.

Perhaps DS is over-reacting as well. His first Geography lesson was apparently with a new teacher and he thought it was very dumbed down. Let's hope he was just breaking them in gently.

A 15-pupil mixed-ability Geog class .......

Bring it on!!

The smaller class size will far more than make up for mixed ability. 15 is lovely, you can talk to each pupil, and quickly judge their abilities, and set suitably differentiated work.

With option blocks, it may not be possible to set the classes.

But it has only been one week, so the teacher may be getting a feel for the class and will not always be pitching the lesson at the lowest.

In any class, even a setted one, there is always a range of ability, and the teacher should be differentiating. There is no such thing as a homogenous class.