Starting our 11+ journey

[Manana]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I have finally managed to speak to dd's teacher and it seems that she doesn't set the children by ability. She has them all as mixed ability and she tends to pair a child who is very good with one who is not so good. That was a relief as it means that dd has not actually moved down a set at all which is what she thought had happened. Also, the teacher said that she was very pleased with my dds performance thus far.

Moved, would it be alright if I pm'ed you with regard to what you were saying about SATS levels? I'd be very interested to hear what you have to say as I don't really understand how the whole SATS thing works.

Anyway, thank you all again. This is such a long road ahead of us and it seems like there is so much work to cover, it feels quite daunting.

As a teacher, I would actually be concerned if children were not being ability grouped at all in KS2, especially for maths. Mixed ability groupings can be useful, but I think from Y4 onwards it is difficult to effectively cater for all abilities without ability grouping. I would also not pair less able/more able children for maths as a regular strategy as they will be working at such different levels.

Where is this primary school? Are you aiming for the super selectives or the Southend schools?

[talea51]

They have been grouped by ability since they started at the school but this particular teacher doesn't seem to employ that strategy. I don't know if she intends to continue this way for the entire year or if it's just at the moment until she has assessed all the children, I really don't know.

I would have thought it would be very difficult to ensure that each child gets the level of work that is correct for them when they are not grouped by ability but this teacher seems to feel that she can make it work.

I would like my dd to go to CCHS but her first choice is WHSG so we'll see what happens after she gets her results next year. I would be ecstatic with any GS place.

[moved]

They have been grouped by ability since they started at the school but this particular teacher doesn't seem to employ that strategy. I don't know if she intends to continue this way for the entire year or if it's just at the moment until she has assessed all the children, I really don't know.

I would have thought it would be very difficult to ensure that each child gets the level of work that is correct for them when they are not grouped by ability but this teacher seems to feel that she can make it work.

I would like my dd to go to CCHS but her first choice is WHSG so we'll see what happens after she gets her results next year. I would be ecstatic with any GS place.

There is no setting for maths at CCHS. All the girls are in mixed ability groups from years 7-11.

[Manana]

They have been grouped by ability since they started at the school but this particular teacher doesn't seem to employ that strategy. I don't know if she intends to continue this way for the entire year or if it's just at the moment until she has assessed all the children, I really don't know.

I would have thought it would be very difficult to ensure that each child gets the level of work that is correct for them when they are not grouped by ability but this teacher seems to feel that she can make it work.

I would like my dd to go to CCHS but her first choice is WHSG so we'll see what happens after she gets her results next year. I would be ecstatic with any GS place.

There is no setting for maths at CCHS. All the girls are in mixed ability groups from years 7-11.

To be fair-there is less need to set for maths at a grammar, particularly a super-selective one where the children's ability will only vary by a marginal amount. In a Y5 class, I would expect the range of ability within a class to be huge; far more than at a grammar school. My last Y5 class ranged between children at P3 and 5a.

[thankgoditsover]

Afternoon,

I would like to add that when my eldest was at primary, now in year 10, she was paired with another child that struggled. On more than one occasion she came home and told me that after completing her work she wasn't given any extra to be going on with while waiting for others to finish but asked to help the other child.

[moved]

Helping another child can consolidate the skills of a higher attaining child. It is frequently used in many classrooms.

[stevew61]

Helping another child can consolidate the skills of a higher attaining child. It is frequently used in many classrooms.

I've seen that amongst siblings.

A child that moves from student to tutor and helps, gains an understanding of the learning process and becomes so much more engaged and motivated with learning.