HELP. Lower set in English

[questionsneverstop]

My son is in Year 9.
They have already chosen their Options.
Last week we found out that he has been moved from set 3 to set 4 (lower one) in English. He is very upset about it. His words were "I really did not know I was so bad in English". I felt so sad for him and I have tried to tell him all the positive things about it (class will be taught to a speed that it is easy for him, the curriculum is the same, nothing is fixed forever, his strength is maths, etc) , but the disappointment is there.
The school did not inform us about this change, we noticed it only looking at the timetable app which showed the set 4 teacher so I have just emailed the Form Tutor asking for a meeting.

Could anyone let me know what i should do to get my son to another set? Is tutoring the way forward? being in the bottom set compromises the GCSE marks? Any suggestion would be more than welcome.

Thanks.

Firstly, are you sure this is the lowest set? Schools often run parallel sets (and, unless this is a very small school, only 4 sets suggests that there are parallel sets).

Secondly, what is the profile of the school? If it's a very academically strong one, then lowest set may still be working at a pretty good standard.

Unless you think he is in the wrong set then your arguments about this being best for him do all apply and the school won't move him. In Year 9, he has plenty of time to improve for GCSE. Also, English does not have higher and foundation papers, so he will be taught exactly the same stuff regardless of what set he is in.

Thanks for your reply.
Yes, this is the lower set, (they have 4 sets also in maths and science), but, now that i am thinking about it, my son told me that soon they will be split into 8 sets (not sure if this will happen also with english).
Well, I cannot really say if he is in the wrong set or not... the fact is that the school has not shown any results.
I am just worried as I would like to understand what being in the lowest set means (apart from speed of teaching) and the implications on GCSE will be if he stays in the last set.

He'll be taught the same material regardless of set.
What he may miss out on in a lower set is some of the additional support to produce "top mark" answers. But, if he's in a lower set, it's presumably because he's not deemed capable of producing top level answers so not really missing out. His teacher should still stretch him to the best of his ability, and the school should also review sets on a regular basis and move him up (if up is the right place for him).

Do you not get reports (e.g. at the end of last term)? I find it odd that you're finding the fact his English is weaker to be such a surprise.

If you are worried about his English then your best bet is to get a tutor.
English Language GCSE requires very specific skills for each individual question as well as overall good SPaG. Picking this up in y9 should be able to make quite a difference by summer y11.

In terms of teaching you may find they do a more straightforward set text for Literature (or you may not as it stops movement between sets). You may also find that the discussions on texts are less complex than you would find in higher sets as more obvious stuff still needs to be pointed out and explained.

Schools don't normally inform/consult parents when a pupil moves sets.

Good posts from @RedskyThisNight and @TeenPlusCat. Four sets is not many op - is it a small school with a year group around 120? Or is it eight forms/teaching groups as your last post suggests, and there are parallel sets? In that case he is in the bottom 25% so not terrible.

The fact that there is no higher and foundation tier in Eng means he should be taught similar work and will sit the same paper as higher sets.

What are his target GCSE grades in English? If they are 4/5 and he prefers maths anyway, then no worries. Slower speed and more explanation is often better.

I'd contact the school and ask advice. We have 7 set but 10 forms so no idea how that works!!!

What are his target grades?

Thanks for your answers.

I actually do not know what his target grades are. Should I already know them in year 9?

I too am shocked thus has come as a surprise.

"Schools don't normally inform/consult parents when a pupil moves sets."

I would want to know. Our school tells us. I asked, at parents evening, how he was doing, was he stable in the set, what he needs to do, what he needs to improve on.

I'd email his English teacher for starters.

Schools do normally inform parents when their DC change sets ime.
And yes, you should have some idea of attainment levels, often given by way of target grades, by now.

What did his last school report say?

Both my DSs were in Set 6 for maths. Amazingly they lived. And got good GCSEs.

@questionsneverstop

Thanks for your answers.

I actually do not know what his target grades are. Should I already know them in year 9?

In year 9, they are most probably based off SATS so not particularly meaningful. But basically if he was getting 100s in English SATs his target will be 4; if he was getting 120s his target will probably be 7+ (or 9 if the school wants to stick its neck out) and you can probably guesstimate the rest yourself.

I would expect you to get a regular report with some sort of indication as to how he is performing. Or him to be taking some sort of assessments or exams. Or both. Did you have a parents' meeting in Year 8?

It really depends on the academic profile of the school too. If he is at a selective school bottom set may still place him in an above average range of gcses grades. My son was bottom set maths and science at a selective and ended up with 9 for Maths, 9 Biology, 9 Chemistry and 8 Physics. He was placed there because the school felt he would not speak up if he didn't understand something but that others in that set would and indeed if he didn't understand something then one of the others wouldn't either. His internal exam grades had placed him in the set above. However the pace suited him better and he actually ended up with better grades than some in their set 2.

Ask why he has been placed in that set (explain you are not doubting it is the correct set but justwant to know the reasoning behind it). There is no point trying to get him moved if it is the right place.

If you do want to find a tutor to support his learning or boost his confidence that may be useful. Once my DS was amongst others where he didn't feel out of depth his confidence increased and subsequently his grades.

How big is the school @questionsneverstop ? As in, how many pupils in a year?

Even if you haven't been given GCSE target grades yet, you should have been given some idea of how he is doing in terms of progress. And most schools set some kind of KS3 target at least, even if it is not related to GCSE grades.

Have you had a parents' evening or any reports home?

There are around 190 children in a year, 7 forms and it is a quite academic school (results higher than national average).
I had a good chat with the English teacher yesterday so all my doubts have been answered.
My son told me that he actually had a good day in the new class and the teacher checked his work several times so i think for now it is the best place for him.
Now, i will have to decide whether we go for tuition or what we do to help him further.
Any suggestion will be welcome.

If there are 190 in the year, then he is either in set four of 7 or 8, or the year is split in half and he in a parallel set ie the lower 25%. Nothing to worry about most likely. I would chase his teacher for some feedback tho. I am amazed you have not had any kind of indication of how he is doing or his predicted or target grade.