MIXED ABILITIES IN YEAR 9 LESSONS. HOW DOES IT WORK?

[ibizagirl]

Dd started year 9 last week and has settled in great. On Friday she had her first history lesson. It is a compulsory subject and she has also taken it for her "option". She said that there were about 18 in the class and that there are some who aren't very good (she would never say thick or anything like that). So i said "well you are all set 1 so they must be ok" and she replied that it is mixed ability and they are all doing the same work. Apparently they are doing dd's level work and maybe some will struggle but they will all "take the same exam". Have i got this wrong? I thought that dd would be in set 1 for all subjects again. She is but they mix the options lessons. Any experiences out there?

Has your daughter started her GCSE then? In my experience it is often the case that option subjects are mixed ability. It is a numbers and timetable issue. Unless all the history classes are in one "option block" they cannot go into sets.

She has started the gcse work yes. There were 2 blocks with history in to choose from so i think you are right. It probably is numbers and timetable issue. I was just wondering whether the work will become too simple as the teacher may start to teach to the lower ability iyswim. But in German there are only 8 of them out of the whole year 9 and dd thinks this is great - and they are all the same ability.

Tbh I've always had to teach GCSE in mixed groups ,who are doing different tiers. If anything I think it's harder for the less able. All you can do is make sure you jnow her target grade, get regular updates on her progress and make sure she goes to revision sessions, which are often populated with the keener students.

My daughters History, Drama, ICT and RE were all mixed ability due to numbers taking them. French and the core subjects were the only ones taught in ability streams, but even then, in Science - being a mid-group - there were both foundation and higher paper in her group.

Some GCSEs only have one level paper available which covers Astar to G. Yes, they attempt the same questions.

History was one of those. RE another.

18 is a small enough group that the teacher will be able to differentiate. Dd was in a mixed ability class of 17 for her core subjects most of this year, (they didn't all do the same exams - most did higher + a few foundation) and it worked out fine. It probably wouldn't work with a class of 30, but should be ok with less than 20 imo.

Isn't it a bit odd having it both compulsory and as an option though? How does that work? Perhaps they expect the more able dc to choose non-compulsory subjects for their options and only those who need extra support to get through the compulsory ones to choose them? Maybe you need to speak to the school & find out more. Also, to check about them all sitting the same exam as that sounds a bit odd too.