Have your kids been streamed into bubbles?

[takethegirloutofwales]

My dad had her first day back in year 8 yesterday. Before returning we discussed how they may end up in bubbles and whether they might keel them as tutor groups or stream them according to their sets for English/maths/science etc so that the class is of relatively the same ability. She joked ‘as long as I don’t end up with my French class’. Guess what...yep they’ve set them according to which mfl they chose. Set 1 and 2 kids had the option of choosing mandarin when they went into year 7 which a lot did. But my dd loved french at Primary and wanted to keep doing it. What this has meant however is that her french class is very mixed ability which wouldn’t be an issue except for the fact that she despairs is the class as they’re disruptive and a lot don’t want to learn. Not saying all - but you only need a few little ‘darlings’ to disrupt an entire lesson. Last year she was fed up of class detentions and negative behaviour points. But at least she only had to tolerate them for a couple of hours a week. Now she is with them 9-3 Monday to Friday. I feel gutted for her. She is bright - not top of the top but she is conscientious and works hard. Aibu to say it’s silly having all in one class like this all day - when at lunch they can sit with whoever they like in their year group?

Sorry that should say ‘dd’ not ‘dad’.

DC's school routinely (i.e. before Covid) taught KS3 in mixed ability class groups. So it shouldn't have to be a negative experience. If DD's particular class is particularly disruptive then I would suggest you raise it, and keep raising it.

If it's like DC's school, lunch is short, they are encouraged to socially distance, can't face each other and so the risk of passing infection on at that time is much smaller than when they are in class.

Even maths, science and English? Her set 1
Maths is super hard. I would imagine if you struggled with maths or just didn’t like it, you’d struggle to keep up. I was a kid who didn’t like maths and had a mental block about it so can’t Understand how you’d teach that level to a mixed ability group for example.

They did some setting for maths (top third of the year were put in 3 equal higher ability groups, with others being in 6 mixed ability groups). No setting in any other subject.
No setting in any subject except maths even higher up the school either. Results are basically the same as similar demographic schools near by that do set.

They don't have any setting at all for maths in KS3 now (Covid precaution) and very loose setting in KS4 (DD who used to be in Set 1, is now in a group that is mix of Set 1-4 students).

My dcs' school have bubbles as a year group so they are still doing sets in Maths, Eng, Science and MFL. Mixed for other subjects. The whole sixth form is 1 bubble but that is similar numbers to 1 year group lower down the school. 240ish

This sounds like the same for my daughter. She was set 1 for maths English and science but is now very mixed. The kids who opted for mandarin as a language are only a mix of set 1&2 so you do wonder if some kids are getting a very different learning experience and Whether this is fair

I think there's a couple of different issues at play here.

Firstly, it's common to stream during Covid and it's not an exact science. Some schools have done it by maths, some have done an average of prior attainment information, some have done by English. There's no way to get everyone in a perfect class, which is why some schools have done mixed ability

1. If her French class is rowdy, are they rowdy in all lessons or just some? If the group is known for being a bad mix then it seems unusual for senior leadership to have grouped them together. If the class behaviour is affecting her ability to learn then you should probably raise it with the head of year.

1. Whole class detentions are really bad practice and I'd be very surprised if a school has them in their behaviour policy. It's generally considered ok to keep a group back a few minutes but class sanctions are unfair. Most schools don't allow them, but some teachers do them. If this happens I'd encourage any parent to raise it with the school.

The school will inevitably have several complaints about sets, because some parents are obsessed with sets to an unhealthy level, so if you want to complain I wouldn't take that angle. Instead focus on your concerns about the current situation and ask what the school can do to remedy it.