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Secondary education

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

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Original poster

Year 7 Setting by ability

41 replies

madasamarchhare · 14/09/2015 02:45

Ds settled in really well to secondary school very happy and already seen confidence soar (hoping the bubble doesn't burst). However he thinks that the ability groups are ranked 1-? With 1 being the highest and he is in groups 4 and 5.
Without wanting to be precious over pfb I am concerned he has been placed wrongly but wanted reassurance from others that they will monitor the children over the first few weeks and move groups. We had been told children would move groups where necessary but as its all timetabled I'm concerned in practice that this doesn't always happen.
I'm concerned as his teachers were full of praise at primary English always being very strong and his sats were 5b for English and reading and 4a for maths. Although his report did note that he is more capable at maths but test nerves let him down. He was only 9 marks away from passing 11+
I think they've probably been grouped based on tests they sat on taster days which he was not happy with as all done on computer and wasn't completely comfortable with this.
Please someone tell me his capabilities will show and the school will act or should I give it a few weeks and if nothing changes speak to head of year. I don't want him to start out on a back foot.
Surprisingly if groups have been set as he believes he is also in a higher group for maths than English? Just doesn't seem to add up.

OP posts:

Didgeridont · 14/09/2015 09:23

Most schools have a Yr 7 info evening for parents to explain this sort of thing, check to see if your school has one.

Regarding sets, IME having 2 DC go through secondary school -the secondaries round here don't actually discount the SATS, but they are treated with a degree of suspicion. DCs school makes a point of saying this at the Yr6 info evening in July. The school prefers to do its own assessments to baseline the children's capabilities then predicts outcomes given 4 levels of progress (stretch targets) for GCSEs.

Again from my experience the sets are quite fluid and children move down as well as up. However if your school has 'bands' as well as sets this may have an impact on choices later on in the school.

rollonthesummer · 14/09/2015 09:24

She or he doesn't actually alter the question does it?!!!

No-but it makes me less inclined to want to bother to help you if you can't be arsed to decide what sex your own child is and then get stroppy when people are confused.

LadyPenelope68 · 14/09/2015 16:09

What rollon said!!!

LadyPenelope68 · 14/09/2015 16:13

And just because you are in a Grammar School area doesn't mean all the high level 5's and 5's have gone there. Plenty decide that they don't want Grammar and most only take limited numbers due to size, so not everyone getting the high grades can actually secure a place.

kgov1 · 14/09/2015 16:21

Don't think you can assume that all the high achievers will have passed and gone to grammar. We live in a grammar area, DS got 5a's across the board apart from maths where he achieved a level 6. He didn't sit the grammar test and is at a local comp. For maths he said his teacher asked who got level 6 and there were at least 20 children.

It doesn't matter what set your DS /DD is in as long as the work is pitched at the correct level. I would only raise concerns if I thought the work was too easy or difficult and not because of the set.

Mehitabel6 · 15/09/2015 08:17

That is what is wrong with the grammar school system- your child will not have been the only higher achiever to have failed- he will be one of many.

Clavinova · 15/09/2015 09:15

The op's child isn't a 'high achiever' though - they only achieved a level 4a for maths in the ks2 tests which could mean a score as low as 68% for maths whereas a low level 5 (a 5c which is possibly not good enough for grammar school) could be as high as 86%. They also felt they hadn't done well in the induction day tests at the secondary school. Is your child attending a single sex (girls'?!) school op as this could explain the lower set for English or a faith school with a large catchment area? Hopefully there'll be a parents' evening soon.

oreosforlunch2002 · 15/09/2015 11:50

I Would double check all facts, it's obviously not clear what is going on here. Setting is never just as obvious as a numbered group and it can also be fluid throughout the year. Class 1 and 2 might be a top set with 3,4,5 being middle set Maybe some subjects are set, some not, maybe the sets are very rough and changes are made at half term....
Bring it up when you know more at first parents evening.

Stompylongnose · 16/09/2015 10:31

My daughter achieved 5b in maths and english but is in set 2 of 6. Set 1 and set 2 study the same material so I'm not bothered at all. 15% of her y6 year managed a level 6 so I'm not surprised that she's not top set.

Racundra · 16/09/2015 10:43

We're in a grammar area, but a 4a would put him in our fifth set (of six) for last year's intake. (Haven't looked at this year's yet).
However, we also name sets with non-ordering so our highest set it 7-5 and lowest is 7-3.
All schools are different.
5b would put him/her in third set for English.
In a grammar area lots of pupils KS2 are inflated due to 11+ prep.

Cloud2 · 16/09/2015 13:20

I think it is important how your DS feel. If he feels happy and not bored in his class, then it should be fine then. My DS1's school, students learn same in different sets in Y7&8, just the top set move much faster, lower set learn slower. Some students would ask to move down as they feel they can't keep up in the top set. And school would adjust the set according to students ability along the way. However, once they move into year 10, it does matter now. The top sets are going to take on additional math, so they would learn differently.

So I would suggest OP to check with your DS, does he feel it is too easy for him? And also to check with school during parents evening , find out the difference they learn between sets, the flexibility of moving sets. And the impact on later GCSE level.

Emochild · 16/09/2015 18:40

We've had tears tonight over art homework of all things

She thinks it looks stupid and she's going to get a negative (notoriously strict teacher)

She's spent hours on it, it's not finished and is due in on Friday but she's got guides tomorrow so is panicking

Being 11 shouldn't be this stressful

Emochild · 16/09/2015 19:33

Oops -just realised that this is in the wrong yr7 thread!

WhoreGasm · 17/09/2015 08:42

Agree with Lady Penelope. Your DS was probably on the top of the heap academically at his primary. But now he's probably a small fish in a big pond, with lots of children who probably have much higher SATs scores, with plenty of high level 5s and 6s across the board.

So his 4a and 5b would put him somewhere around the middle? And if he struggled a bit with the format of the tests then that's unfortunate. But bear in mind there will be plenty of pupils who didn't struggle with the format of the tests, and the creation of the sets will reflect this.

WhoreGasm · 17/09/2015 08:46

Ah, just seen you're in a grammar area. Lots of 11 year olds then with very high Yr 6 SATs results due to the 11+ prep. If you're in a super selective area there will be loads of pupils who just missed the cut for the grammar but will still have level 6s in English and Maths etc. So a 4a will put your DS in lower sets for maths.

deliveredby · 18/09/2015 11:22

Ours were set for all subjects bar drama and music in year 7. Even in PE.
Although I was sceptical and I do think the pe sets is a good thing.

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