The school system

[mystika802]

A little rant here but Im so annoyed with the school system right now in regards to there not being "losers" and "winners" etc, they dont fail kids, or push them forward anymore etc etc.
Im honestly all about teaching kids and preparing them for the "real world" so I dont get how your teaching them anything by making everyone a winner for everything etc. Kids dont get recognized for being good at things anymore....drives me insane. I do understand the premise behind it all but are we not just setting our children up for disappointment when they enter the world and its not all equal? I mean when you go for a job interview, not everyone gets the job, when you go to college, if you fail, you fail....if you enter sports, if you loose, you loose......so why arent we preparing our children for that?
Really I think the pressure on the teachers must be insane. To have to deal with every different level in one class....that must be soooo hard. I feel horrible for Mason's teacher, I know hes very advanced in reading and writing and average in everything else so she has to give him different things to do than the other kids when it comes to reading/writing......I have a niece 2 months younger and she can barely read and he can read novels....they were in the same class for a year and the teacher was meant to accomidate both........
sorry, just a rant with no real point lol

 

[Kimmy25]

Dont think there ever have moved people forward in this country not that I know of anyways (feel free to correct me lol)..But my child is rewarded for good behaviour with things such as best in class at end of week and achievement certificates.

My DS1 is advanced at maths and reading but his writing is average. They often have classroom assistants to help the teacher with the different stages kids are at in the class.

I know when I was at school I was advanced at some subjects and my teacher always kept me occupied. And we used to have different tables for people at different stages?

Anyways no real advice there lol x

 

[lozzy21]

Dont think there ever have moved people forward in this country not that I know of anyways (feel free to correct me lol)..But my child is rewarded for good behaviour with things such as best in class at end of week and achievement certificates.

My DS1 is advanced at maths and reading but his writing is average. They often have classroom assistants to help the teacher with the different stages kids are at in the class.

I know when I was at school I was advanced at some subjects and my teacher always kept me occupied. And we used to have different tables for people at different stages?

Anyways no real advice there lol x

The thing iv noticed though are the kids who realy do try and still get good results but average good get nothing. I can remember at school, all the ones set to get a* got a trip to oxford uni for two days and the ones that never used to try or used to nick off got to go kyacking(sp?) but those of us who tryed but were still set to get d-b's got nothing.

 

[Kimmy25]

Dont think there ever have moved people forward in this country not that I know of anyways (feel free to correct me lol)..But my child is rewarded for good behaviour with things such as best in class at end of week and achievement certificates.

My DS1 is advanced at maths and reading but his writing is average. They often have classroom assistants to help the teacher with the different stages kids are at in the class.

I know when I was at school I was advanced at some subjects and my teacher always kept me occupied. And we used to have different tables for people at different stages?

Anyways no real advice there lol x

The thing iv noticed though are the kids who realy do try and still get good results but average good get nothing. I can remember at school, all the ones set to get a* got a trip to oxford uni for two days and the ones that never used to try or used to nick off got to go kyacking(sp?) but those of us who tryed but were still set to get d-b's got nothing.

i never though about that but yeh thats normally the case

i tend to get my son rewards myself for good reports etc anyways but no its not fair on kids who try so hard

 

[Lightworker]

Hun, I went to school where they ranked us, so if you were smartest, you were number 1 and so forth. It was awful. For a few years I was number 1, then someone else beat me and it completely floored me. My sense of worth was crushed. Also, I noticed that as a result of being ranked, I used to constantly compare people with myself in terms of looks, smarts, body, etc. I don't think it is essential to push children. Learning is meant to be enjoyable, not a competition IMO

 

[mystika802]

well here everyone is equal pretty much, there isnt even a first place in track and field anymore...its all "participation awards" COME ON!
People shouldnt be ranked and maybe not even get special trips for coming first but when the rest of the kids in Masons class got "tutors" for reading..so did he, and he could read and spell better than his "tutor"

 

[indy and lara]

Teachers have been dealing with mixed ability classes for years. I have never taught a class that wasn't mixed ability, it is part and parcel of the job. We do have 'firsts' in different things but I don't believe that education should be all about competition. As a teacher I always make sure that throughout the year we have the opportunity to celebrate something everyone is good at.

 

[Blah11]

We always got put into groups within our classes in primary ie. the circles were the cleverest children, the squares were average, and the triangles were the children who needed more help. They actually had to make 'the pentagons' lol for me and 2 classmates cos we were getting bored in the circles. I dont think theres anything wrong with that and besides, the work was totally different. I'd rather Amelie was stimulated and challenged than bored stiff in school.

I think its a parents place to reward academic achievement though, not the school. That way the other children dont feel left out cos they know nothing about it. We got rewarded at school for good behaviour but i dont ever remember getting anything other than a certificate for good results (and usually it was the entire group for passing a little test or something).

 

[LoraLoo]

Teachers have been dealing with mixed ability classes for years. I have never taught a class that wasn't mixed ability, it is part and parcel of the job. We do have 'firsts' in different things but I don't believe that education should be all about competition. As a teacher I always make sure that throughout the year we have the opportunity to celebrate something everyone is good at.

Thats how it should be, I believe. Annoys me at our school as its ALWAYS the same kids that get the same parts etc in plays, and so on. They recently had to 'audition' for the speech festival. When DD came home I asked her who got through and then mouthed 'Bethany' to my Mum. Yup sure enough, Bethany got through, but she didnt have to audition, they said 'We dont even need to hear you Bethany, you were so good last year' Annoys me, what about giving the rest of them a chance?? They must think theres no point even bothering when its always the same handful of kids. Really gets to me. Has took us such a long time to build up DD's confidence and theres never any reward etc

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

The way its done at my sons school is they have lots of "clevers"

some kids are art clever, body clever (sports), word clever. There are loads of different ones so EVERYONE is in the TOP group of something. I think this is fair. Sometimes a lower achieving child doing something small would be more praise worthy than a child who always completes work doing the same thing. Its hard line I should imagine but I do believe everyone deserves the same praise.

I dont have a problem with the way it is to be honest. I must say they do have a very clever system x

 

[lesleyann]

I find college just as bad tbh. I was doing my english, and is was us right at the top, middle group and the ones who really needed extra help well all my lessons where taught at really needing extra help students so us at the top who just needed a little help, all 4of us failed our exams and had to resit, with yet again no lessons geared up towards us lol

anyway my rant over haha

I found in secondary school the groups where split, the children who needed extra help went to the "special" class, then you had your b-d's then you had your A class but that was only in english, maths and science

 

[Blah11]

The way its done at my sons school is they have lots of "clevers"

some kids are art clever, body clever (sports), word clever. There are loads of different ones so EVERYONE is in the TOP group of something. I think this is fair. Sometimes a lower achieving child doing something small would be more praise worthy than a child who always completes work doing the same thing. Its hard line I should imagine but I do believe everyone deserves the same praise.

I dont have a problem with the way it is to be honest. I must say they do have a very clever system x

See when I was at primary it seemed to be the same 5 or so kids in my groups for all subjects. Lanuage, reading, maths, art, music.. everything will be interesting to see how it is when amelie is in school.

 

[LoraLoo]

The way its done at my sons school is they have lots of "clevers"

some kids are art clever, body clever (sports), word clever. There are loads of different ones so EVERYONE is in the TOP group of something. I think this is fair. Sometimes a lower achieving child doing something small would be more praise worthy than a child who always completes work doing the same thing. Its hard line I should imagine but I do believe everyone deserves the same praise.

I dont have a problem with the way it is to be honest. I must say they do have a very clever system x

See when I was at primary it seemed to be the same 5 or so kids in my groups for all subjects. Lanuage, reading, maths, art, music.. everything will be interesting to see how it is when amelie is in school.

In ours they have the Gifted and Talented groups, so its usually 1 or 2 children in a class, maybe for Art, or P.E, etc, but doesnt mean that every child will be in a group iykwim. If they are in the Gifted/Talented groups they often get to do special activities, maybe at other schools (art workshops, working with artists etc for the Art, and so on...) I just think all children are special and that some arent recognised enough. Some try and try and try, but will never be the best, therefore they dont get choosen for any special groups, they dont get choosen for plays etc, and they are basically not challenged either. Thats my experience anyway, of our Primary school currently. Luckiy the senior schoo is one of the best in the country but i fear for some of them its too little, too late by then

 

[Lightworker]

I was just imagining what it would feel like for a child to persistently either be at the bottom of the class,(where you get recognized for being dumb doh!) or to be somewhere in the middle where you don't get recognized at all. These are children we are talking about, children still trying to find their place in the world. Its horrible.

 

[LoraLoo]

I was just imagining what it would feel like for a child to persistently either be at the bottom of the class,(where you get recognized for being dumb doh!) or to be somewhere in the middle where you don't get recognized at all. These are children we are talking about, children still trying to find their place in the world. Its horrible.

TOTALLY AGREE

 

[mummy3]

Its tough wherever you are in the class I guess. My eldest is a soon to be second grader she's also profoundly gifted so is in a group consisting of just her for reading, writing and maths. School was meant to be the right thing for her for socialising but she only really gets that at recess. So its lonely for her, no praise just isolation Hopefully this year will change as the gifted programme starts at grade 2.

 

[indy and lara]

Things have changed in many schools from when most of you guys were there. In our area, we have a very holistic approach and in my school we are heavily involved in something called Creating Confident Kids. I have always had the approach of celebrating everyone's strengths as a teacher. It is important to celebrate talents, including those which are not academic.

There will only be a few kids (if that) in each year group who are truly gifted and talented. Despite that, it is important that those few kids are offered something extra. There will always be a need for ability groupings within a class if it is a mixed ability class. However, these groups are fluid and being in the most able group for language does not mean you will be in the same for Maths. I do not have ability groupings in any other curriculum area.