Opinions; School mixing classes up

[cupcake23]

Hi, hope I can get some opinions...

My dd is 6, in year 1 infants school, received a letter were they have decided that at the end of year 1 they are going to mix the whole year group so that they can;

1) balance the numbers
2) help the children make new friends/ help them with the ability/ confidence to make new relationships...

So I understand them wanting to even classes and keeping things 'balanced' but what's really annoyed me is the notion they have to help children, especially my child get confidence (which she already has!) and they decide to do this by changing the environment they are most happy in.

Does anyone else's child school do this? I hate that my dd has to deal with so much change, she gets enough of that, I just feel it's mean, possibly taking her away from her core group of friends and the class she knows so well.

 

[Nibblenic]

Our school mixes year groups. So this year she is in a mixed year 1/2 class. Last year she was in a solely year 1 class but there was a mixed year 1/2 class. In reception they were all in reception but split into two classes.

She has been in different groups of kids in every year. They have a class teacher and then are setted according to ability for English and Maths. For english and maths they may have a different teacher to their class one, or the same this may also change through the year depending if they are moved into different sets.

Personally I think school isnt about sticking with one group of kids and when shes in school working she should be doing just that. Obviously the people she has been setted with have pretty much been the same kids since day one so she is used to working with them. Friendships are for playtime.

If like you say shes confident she wont be worried about being separated from her group of mates, although she may not be. It will also encourage her to learn to be with and get along with different people. Its a pretty important life skill

 

[caz_hills]

The school my son comes to has one intake a year but for those friends whose kids have two or more in takes this seems very common.

My newphews classes got mixed from reception to year one and he got to make choices (preferences) about who he wanted to stay with. They tried to make people's preferences happen.

It seems really common and I'm sure your little one will be fine - they are very resilient! x

 

[Banshee]

Ds1's school mix all the year groups so this year he's in a reception/year 1 class and next year (because he's one of the oldest in the year) he'll be in a year 1/year 2 class. I don't have a problem with the idea of mixing the children up but I guess we'll see how it goes...

 

[Tasha]

Our school doesn't do this, until year six. However I think it is a good idea, the reason being that they find it very hard in year six. I feel like if it happened regularly then it'd prepare them better for that.

 

[george83]

I'm a teacher at a one form entry school so mixing up the children isn't an option. I personally think 7 years of being stuck together isn't always good for every child and mixing them can benefit them

 

[cupcake23]

Thank you for your opinions.

It is only her year group, 4 classes that are getting mixed up. I wouldn't mind if it was something that they did as standard but my son only left this school (separate infant & junior schools- automatic transfer) last year and they never did this.

So to me it seems they are doing this because they don't have enough teachers or enough children and classes are uneven, not to help my child's development. I can actually see the benefits of moving them about however when she's in year 3 and goes to the junior school they will mix them up again, therefore more change in a short period.

Once again thanks for the replies X

 

[Tasha]

Sometimes it's a capability thing too but they just don't say that. I would imagine it easier to teach children who are of similar ability than very gifted, above average, average, below average and so on.

ETA: and that's better for children since they'll be working at similar paces.

 

[LoraLoo]

I don't like the idea of this at all and personally would not send my child to a school that did this (just my preference)

Our school has one class per year of 30 children or less and they will be with those children from 4 to 11.

Mine have never struggled to make new friendships as we socialise with other children outside school. I think consistency is really important.

 

[OmarsMum]

Our school mixes classes in Read write inc. advanced children attend with PY2 students who are in the same level. DS is fine with it although he is not very social, it never bothered him, they start in reception to mix classes.

I think it is a good thing academically, teachers can teach students of the same level without spending extra time on those who can't catch up with the curriculum & advanced children won't feel bored.

Last year & this year he was moved to a new class with new friends, he was also fine, it depends on the personality of the child I guess, my boy is not bothered to have friends inside class, he prefers to concentrate rather than talking & socializing in class. But in the play ground he still plays with his old friends from last years.

 

[Boomerslady]

Personally I wouldn't be too happy with it. Initially I thought it's not a big deal, as my sons school does it in year 4. However after reading your updates and that ythe school is like my sons (seperate infants and juniors) and they will be mixed again in year 3, why do it in year 2? Doesn't really make sense other than for reasons the school are aware of!

 

[Tasha]

I think it's more important if they're swapping in a new school. Simply because a change of school and a change of classmates is two big changes, whereas if they've had a change of class mates before, it's not a new thing.

 

[catty]

At my school there was a primary 1/2 (a mix of both and a primary 1 and a primary 2. So I was in primary 1/2 and one year I got mixed with the primary 2 class because that class had around 6 or 7 children that had behavioural issues so they thought it best to mix all the classes up as the teachers were really struggling with that class. Personally it worked fine but I wouldn't have wanted it happening often! I think it's nice for the kids to have continuity, they already have enough changes going on in their life

 

[Rósa]

They do it in our school and I asked the headteacher, he explained if a year 1 child was advanced they could progress with year 2 work and if a child struggled they could continue with year 1 work for a bit longer

 

[Pearls18]

I went to a school that did this, didn't ever think anything of it, I haven't even ever thought what they do at my ds1's school, he's only reception though. I understand the trepidation of a new change though.

 

[laurajo24]

There are lots of reason why they would mix the classes, my school does this but not without a lot of thought and consideration. It's never just 'for a change'.

There could be a lot of behaviour issues in one class, or a lot of children with special educational needs in one class, which is only becoming apparent in year one. They wouldn't have necessarily known these things when creating the classes in reception. This creates a lot of work for just that class teacher which is hugely stressful and it's not fair on the children in that class so mixing them evens it up.

We would never put them in a class acording to ability, that's very old fashioned. We also try and keep them with their best friends as we know it can be a bit overwhelming. They adapt so quickly. After the first few days, you wouldn't even know they'd been mixed! x

 

[Zephram]

I don't really see the big deal. I went to a school that did this and to be frank we all found it exciting. What an adult is worrying about won't necessarily worry a child, kids are much more adaptable than we are. It's a great opportunity to get kids talking to and learning from other kids they wouldn't have the opportunity to otherwise.

 

[Natsku]

My primary school did this, we had two (I think) intakes so we'd be split between two classes each year and each year the classes would be swapped about a bit and changed but best friends were kept together. In years 4 5 and 6 they mixed the year groups too so we had a year 4/5 class, year 5 class and two year 5/6 classes, it worked really well as they put the year 5s who were always ahead in class in the year 5/6 class so we could do the year 6 level work.

 

[Spottycup]

I'm not sure what happens in other years yet as my oldest is in reception but I know reception are split into two classes and they have an hour each day where they mix and also at playtime they can mix outside. They also mix the school nursery for an hour with 1 class one day and the other reception class a different day. x