Transition within school

[pa2k84]

As yet I still don't know who my sons teacher will be next year. Have a letter brought home today telling me that the whole school are having a transition morning tomorrow after registration so my son will find out who his teacher is going to be then I will find out after school. I am beyond annoyed about this, he needs reassurance, has it in his head he is going to one teacher just because she teaches year 2 now, he will most likely not be with her but I don't know who he will be with. I know he will be worried tomorrow and not understand why he is not with who he thinks, I would dearly love to sit down and chat with him about who he is going to be with but I can't. I am worried he will end up with the same teacher he is with this year (they are splitting year 1 and 2 into same classes which again is something I am not overly impressed with) but with very little time to actually do anything about it.

Don't really know why I am writing this, just ranging I suppose friends are fed up with listening to me!

 

[nessaw]

Hi I teach Infants and in my school we have class swap over day in the last week of term and send home a piece of paper with the new teacher on that day. We have lots of talks about who it might be or not and things to expect or what they might want to know. There's lots of preparation before that swap. Exceptions are some children with special needs such as Autism who usually have extra visits to new classrooms and special books made for them. Also particular year groups eg Nursery coming to Reception or Year2 into Juniors get extra visits. Try not to worry, in my experience they are normally so excited by it that they forget which teacher they thought it would be! I'm not a fan of split classes either-wouldn't want to teach in one. Hope it goes well. X

 

[pa2k84]

Thank you. I am still not keen on the idea of children knowing first, he likes to know what is happening and can very anxious. I am also very worried it is going to be the teacher he has this year and don't want her, if he 'meets' her then in his head she is going to be his teacher and he won't take the change well (because he would change if it was her I would make sure of that)

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Mine have always found out on the last day BUT my son has additional needs and they would always tell us as soon as they knew so we could meet the teacher xx

 

[pa2k84]

Mine have always found out on the last day BUT my son has additional needs and they would always tell us as soon as they knew so we could meet the teacher xx

This is awful, so if unhappy with anything no time at all to do anything about it?
A lot of people on the playground today are unhappy with the school this year, Lucas' best friends mum has told me she is going to pull him out if he ends up in mixed class so anxious about that. She was not the only one saying that either. Must admit I have spent the morning researching other schools cash wait to pick him up just so I can find out where he is going

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I think they do it so people cant complain haha. No mixed classes here and no experience of them xx

 

[hel_5]

We have mixed classes over here (two years in the one classroom) because the numbers are too small to be just one class. But some school that have enough to have one class per year still mix the years and have two classes. We haven't had any problem with it, but we knew to expect that with a small country school xx

 

[pa2k84]

Luckily he is in with a all year 2 class. Also with a new teacher. He still had tears this afternoon though finding out another teacher was leaving very upset all afternoon, really do wish school would share info with parents first

 

[CaptainMummy]

It doesn't bother me tbh.
We didn't know who Paiges new teacher was going to be and then one day the week before they ended we got a letter with all of the new teachers and classes and then the Monday of the last week they went to their new classes and met the teachers. Every single class is split, except from p6 and p7.
Composite classes are very common here, I didn't bat an eye when I saw the letter and it really doesn't make any difference to me.. I was in a few myself at school and it was exactly the same! Although even if you are not happy, you cant refuse them to be in a mixed class.

Glad he is in the class you wanted though, hopefully he is happy with that too x

 

[george83]

I think you'll find that the children finding out before the parents is pretty common practise. I don't particularly understand your point of it being too late to do anything about it if you don't like the decision, does that mean you'd change schools every time you didn't like the teacher your son was given? In my school we are understaffed and as teachers can still hand their notice in up until the end of May - meaning replacement teachers may not be found until close to the end of June - frequently it could be that head teachers simply do not know what staff they have for September and can not make those decisions. Equally it is very difficult to engage children in your class if they are already focusing on the next year so the process of meeting the new teacher being moved earlier in term can cause issues in itself.

 

[Nibblenic]

We have exactly the same set up and my daughter is going into a mixed class. She does have additional needs so i did know (unofficially) who her teacher was going to be next year.

I think if you have an issue with a school such as mixed year classes and I can understand why you would then maybe look for another school.

 

[pa2k84]

I would not change his school no but I would have spoken with the head about my concerns and asked as there are 3 classes for his year group to be changed into another one. I would say for most children situation would not bother them, my son however struggles with change and has some issues which school are aware of so would have appreciated knowing beforehand so I could talk it through with him to make it easier on him.

 

[Rags]

I think i understand your point but have to agree with some pp in that my son finding out first didn't bother me. My son enjoys school and learning and really liked his teachers this year (there were two full time teachers sharing two classes of 15 in one classroom), they have worked hard at creating a very comfortable and nurturing environment for the whole group so the children finding out together was wonderful for them - they then brought the new class lists home with them that day. Ds started in primary 1 last August (in Scotland that's the first year of school) and i decided to imediately join the parent council as i wanted to understand and be involved in the decision making processes to make his education experience the best i can - i'd recomend it to anyone. In my case it has let me see the inner workings of the school and the staff and to develop a real respect and trust for the head teacher and how she runs he school.

 

[zorak]

Honestly I really don't see the issue here. I'm a former teacher and we would sometimes not know the full compliment of teaching staff until the first day back. Kids were always told first with a letter given to parents on that same day (usually the very end of term). I also don't get the fear of mixed classes. They can actually be better as kids tend to be matched on levels. My nephew is going into a composite next year and we are really happy about it as he is academically advanced.