Sometimes I think that getting an A* is all that matters....

[Sparklingbrook]

I am starting to feel that's what DS1 (Year 9) thinks. had Parents Evening yesterday and he's a bit down now.

Unfortunately, to me it reads as if your DS may have incorrectly been placed in the top set when you joined the school. It is terrible when this happens - it has happened on occasion at my school when the ideal class was full and the choice is between the higher set or the lower set, usually it is decided that the student will fare better in the higher set. It also happens when the previous school doesn't provide data promptly.

That said, if this is important to your DS and you - it doesn't need to be a permanent move. Last year in July I was contacted by a parent (from a student at another school) after their DD was moved down to set 2. She had been struggling to keep up and her teachers had felt it was the best move. Now she is half way through year 10 and as of next week will be moving back up to top set after a recent test meant she scored better than half of the top set. Now I'm not suggesting you get a private tutor, but I am suggesting that an hour of dedicated time per week can make all the difference.

Thanks land. He really wants do to well. That's why he has taken this badly I think. He has worked really hard and is being moved down to Set 2 so I can see his point in that respect.

Catherine that is exactly what happened, down to the full classes etc. I am not adverse to a private tutor he had one in Year 2 for Maths. My friend has said her son who is going to Uni in September will do some one-to-one with him over the summer in areas he is struggling with.

Sparkling DS2 was in Set 2 for Maths in Yr 10 and 11, he is still on course for either a high A or an A. Set 1 did linear maths, so have already done their GCSE, some got As or As, some got Bs. Some have retaken three times already to try to get an A.

DS2 is going to get at least an A, unless something goes drastically wrong on Monday when he does the last bit of his exam. At the last parents' evening the maths teacher said he thought they had got DS2 wrong in Yr9 and had put him in the wrong set. But in my mind, I reckon they got it right, that little bit of extra input that he has been given has really helped him, and a few others in the class, and as a result he will get his A, or A*. If he had have been out of his depth who knows what might have happened?

That's reassuring land. I am hoping DS1 will come round to the idea in time. He seems a bit better tonight.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone on the thread for being great and understanding during my 'post parents evening gloom'. It really helped.

DS1 and I are both back to normal now. He has cheered up considerably which is great.

Time is a great healer.