Is some of Yr7 work revisiting Yr 6 work?

[steadfast]

I read somewhere that a large amount of Year 7 schoolwork is going over Year 6 work. Does anyone know if this is true?

at my school that wasn't true at all, but it was a grammar so probably not typical.

at my DSDs' sink school they do seem to go over stuff... but then TBH they barely seem to learn anything anyway

When dd started Yr 7 she found it exciting because there was a lot of project work and they went over things far more in depth and looked at things in a totally new way. She learnt masses in her first year at secondary. Big step up from Yr 6 but in a very positive way.

Yes, it makes sense that they'd go over some things again but in much greater depth and from a different angle. Yr7 DS's homework so far seems pretty easy (apart from Latin) but i guess it's to ease them into the first few weeks of secondary. Trying to organise everything and a much longer day with the travel involved means he's worn out - not to mention me!

That's not my experience from ds1 (now in yr9).

There is a huge difference/step up for secondary because they are being taught by subject specialists, which is a massive benefit from primary. (Except for in some mad schools that do these "learning to learn" curriculums.)

Where particular areas of knowledge are repeated, the standard at which they work should be much higher. For instance in history ds1 covered - I think the battle of Hastings. But whilst in primary he did this through project work and so on, in yr7 he wrote a serious essay on the subject including independent research.

ds2 (yr7) is currently doing lots of baseline testing to identify where there abilities lie, and also to monitor the yr6/yr7 dip. (Where children stop being crammed for SATs in early May, then do very little "work" for 4 months.) So, for instance in Maths they have all just sat a completed set of yr6 Maths SATs papers. ds2 is very able in Maths, and this hasn't phased him at all. He took it as a challenge to try and get 100% in the tests.

There is more overlap/repetition in MFL, but this is inevitable when the feeder primaries all teach different languages to different levels. But ds2 is enjoying that too and is still "learning" and making progress.

No! Not in Science, some maybe familiar, but it is mainly new. In Maths there is some re-cap but the pace speeds up and a lot of new concepts are introduced. English it depends on the texts, but although it builds on the past more complex concepts are introduced. Then there are the brand new subjects.
(Personally if my kids were going to miss a year of school it would be year 6 not year 7).

DD's experience so far is like mummytime says.

I think it varies a bit from school to school and whether the groups are ability-grouped or mixed-ability must make a difference too.

Conversely, I have heard that Year 8 is where they don't seem to make much progress?

I hope not because year 6 was just revising everything they'd covered in primary, if they're doing that again then they won't have learnt anything new in two years.

DD1 is learning lots of new things, but is at a selective grammar.

You need to establish a base line, so some may have done rivers in geography in depth for example, some may have skated over it, so it is done in KS3 geography in depth to ensure everyone is at the same level.

There are things on the NC that have to be covered at KS3, so they are covered irrespective of whether they have been done at primary or not.

Year 8 is where the dip comes, and especially with boys ime.

nope

there is often an element of a spiral curriculum (I apply it in my subject) which means that you may cover the same topic every year/KS, but in more depth and/or from a more sophisticated angle each time.

tbh, we have too much to shove into their heads to get our CVA and %pass rate up to waste time covering old ground...

I would hope that they only covered Y6 work for a few weeks as a settling in and getting everyone to the same place.

If you thnk about it, you have a wide range of ability, and pupils have come from different schools. The first few weeks is getting to know them and finding out where they are, as well as carrying out baseline testing.

A lot of work will be building on previous work - taking it to a higher level, not just repeating it. You can't look at the topic titles and say they are the same.

There does seem to be a bit of this.

DD had already been taught by subject teachers since year four, so I suppose some of it is to be expected. Many of the girls joining have not covered geography, history, latin etc in the depth she already has.

Fortunately, the whole experience of moving schools is maintaining her interest levels.