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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Y7 setting - it won't matter if they're in the wrong sets for a short while, will it?

5 replies

LucasNorthCanSpookMeAnytime · 08/09/2014 10:29

DD didn't do SATs and secondary have said they'll put her in sets based on her Y6 teacher's assessment. But that assessment was from the start of Y6 (and I'm also convinced that she isn't as good at maths as her teacher thought). Sets are fluid and she will obviously end up in the right one eventually, once they get to know her abilities, but I'm a bit concerned that she will be put in too high a set for maths for a while and then struggle. Can they still teach to differing abilities within a set?

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Takver · 08/09/2014 13:36

In dd's school yes, but also the sets definitely seemed very fluid to start with, with children going up and down. (And there's been more reshuffling now at the start of yr 8)

ttlshiwwya · 08/09/2014 14:19

In my DCs school it wouldn't matter as sets are adjusted after each term in Y7 and Y8. However as time goes on adjustment has been less generally just at the start of the year. Also for timetabling reasons year (250 kids) is split into two so there are 2 x set 1, 2 x set 2 etc. Hence double amount of kids in top set in Y7s and Y8 means wider abilities in each set than in later years. Teaching is meant to cover all abilities not sure they always manage it for those who struggle - it depends on how vocal the kids are and how good the teacher - I can imagine my DD would be fine (she would insist on additional help) but my DS2 would not ask.

Leeds2 · 08/09/2014 15:58

Sets at my DD's secondary were very fluid for the first couple of years. Think they had half a term of mixed ability teaching, then did an exam and were placed in their sets based on the results. More movement at Christmas, and following each set of subsequent exams.

PastSellByDate · 09/09/2014 10:29

Lucas:

I'm a newbie with Y7 myself - but from what friends say with older children this first term is entirely about settling them in and getting a sense of where they're at as a student.

I can understand you're worried they've put her in a class that will be too difficult - but as you said the assessments were made at the start of Year 6 and I suspect that means she's improved beyond that point during Year 6.

My advice is keep talking with your daughter about whether she's finding classes too easy, just right or too hard. Maybe even jot down some notes on it - so when you have your first parent/ teacher meetings you can raise your concern that your DD is finding math/ science/ etc... too easy/ hard - if that's the case.

In the meantime - just keep a watchful eye on how she's doing and try to avoid helping her too much with homework if she's struggling. Better to turn in an incomplete homework - saying you don't understand how to do this - than have you coach her through the homework and give the teacher(s) the impression she's finding it a breeze.

Most schools offer support for maths at various points in the day (at breaks or after school) - odds are the teacher explained that at the first class. If she's fine in most areas but maybe finds one topic (say fractions or algebra) a bit tricky - she can always come along to a maths support session with her homework and have someone there help her work through it.

In the meantime - if she hasn't mastered her times tables to x12 - now is the time to really get those solidly learned to the point of instant recall.

Great websites for practice:

www.multiplication.com - lots of games to practice times table skills.

resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/timestable/index.html - this is the timestable zone of woodland junior school maths zone. Lots of great links to games

HTH

LucasNorthCanSpookMeAnytime · 09/09/2014 14:50

Thanks, everyone! SellBy, she only knows her 3 times tables Blush i've said not to bother with 5s for now as you can do those quickly on your fingers (is that a mistake, I wonder?) Ditto the 9s as she can use the finger trick to quickly find that one out. So we have to work on 4, 6, 7 and 8. I bet she's the only kid in the class who doesn't know them :(

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