Daughter deliberately failing

[Toastandmarmite999]

Hi,

I have a Y7 DD who's just started secondary. She was put in the bottom set for maths and hated it because one of her teachers (there were 2) was very strict and shouty.

I was told by the other teacher that my DD is at the top of the class and with a bit of work she can get up to the middle set, so hired a maths tutor and DD's been working on her times tables in the evening - all looking good.

However today she came home delighted because Mrs.Shouty is only going to teach Set 2 from now on.

DD has asked me to cancel the tutor as she no longer wants to move up a set.

What onearth should I do?

She's going to deliberately fail just to avoid Mrs.Shouty.

Your priorities seem a bit odd.
If DD needs extra help in maths, then keep the tutor.
If she's happy in her maths set, she's likely to do better than in a set where she's not happy.
As long as she's not deliberately messing up work, then she's not deliberately failing. Unless there is a massive difference between what is taught in middle and lower set (seems unlikely in Year 7) then the set she's in really shouldn't matter - her achievement is what does matter. She may well end up in a different set anyway (schools often shuffle after half term in Year 7).

Thanks @sheepdogdelight - I wasn't aware that there isn't much difference between set 2 and 3, I'm just worried about her falling behind - and thought she might find set 2 more aligned to her capabilities.

The Pp doesn’t have a clue whether there is much difference in the sets in your daughter’s school. That’s something you need to ask them, it varies from school to school.

I would talk to the year head and the teacher she does like. Explain she doesn’t want to go up a set till next year as she doesn’t get on with the other teacher, but you would like a move then. Keep up the tutor, get the teacher she likes to set a bit of extra work so she’s working to capacity. If she builds up her confidence by Sept, she’ll probably have more or less forgotten about Mrs Shouty even if she then has to deal with her then.

Mrs Shouty might be less shouty with set 2. She might also be not so bad once DD gets used to her. (My daughter disliked one subject in year 7 because it was taught by a Mrs Shouty. However it didn't stop her learning, and she did get used to her. She did also understand that the shouting was effective with some of the silly boys.)

Although there is almost always a bit of overlap between top of set 3 and the bottom of set 2, I have seen sets 2/3 which were very close in what they covered and sets 2/3 which were very different - more of the latter. If the school thinks she should move up, then that is probably best. Schools usually do monitor the setting and make regular changes, especially in year 7. If they've already said she's at the top, she might find she gets moved even if she does deliberately mess up the next test - they might see through that.

My husband was in bottom set maths and he ended up with a PHD. She's a kid, at this point it makes next to no difference unless she's an aspiring mathematician. Maybe she can move up a set next year.

Great advice all - thank you so much for your replies - I'm feeling a little less stressed now!

As per PP, I have no idea how the sets at your school work. But it would be very unusual to have a set up at this point in Year 7 where Set 3 and Set 2 were doing such different work that there wasn't a big overlap between top of set 3 and bottom (or even quite a large proportion) of Set 2.

If there's only 3 sets, there's going to be quite a wide range of ability in a single set anyway.

There are 6 sets at my children’s school.
Set 4-6 have a different (foundation) half termly assessment and right from Y7 are separated into foundation and higher streams. There is movement, but they’re quite different class material if side by side - friend with twins tells me!
So I don’t think you should assume anything!

If she doesn't like / get on with the teacher I would keep the tutor and ask to keep her in that set this year, to only move up next year.