Weald and togs - class sizes

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JJ123
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Re: Weald and togs - class sizes

Post by JJ123 »

Yes that is my understanding. Definitely nothing in year 7 and no plans for year 8 either.

My son is at Judd and they do the same.Years 7 and 8 no sets all subjects with one form - Two sets for Maths in year 9 and mixed year group forms ( just for registration etc) but not streamed for anything else at all.
mystery
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Re: Weald and togs - class sizes

Post by mystery »

Ah thanks. That's interesting. I'm pretty sure that TWGSB used to introduce maths and English sets sooner than that.

I've been to one of the open mornings but it was pretty impossible to get concrete answers to anything as we were just shown round by a child who said that everything was changing, she didn't really know the answer to anything, and that she didn't like any of the lessons particularly!

The staff were all teaching and this kind of thing does not seem to be covered in headteacher presentations so it was a bit of a non-event in terms of finding out the realities.

I think that just staying with the same class must be nice in a lot of ways. If one had to guess, one might expect the superselectives not to set as they admit a narrower band of children, and the other grammars maybe to set at some point.

Do you know what TOGS does in this respect?
JJ123
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Re: Weald and togs - class sizes

Post by JJ123 »

Yes those open evenings are a bit hit and miss aren't they. Ours was actually good but it depends on the (poor) child you get.

Sorry i don't know about streaming at TOGs, just know they mix all class from year 7 for teaching subjects but don't know if ability based or not. i'm guessing not as they do it from outset so no time to judge levels ?

Any Togs parents know ?
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ToadMum
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Re: Weald and togs - class sizes

Post by ToadMum »

JJ123 wrote:Yes those open evenings are a bit hit and miss aren't they. Ours was actually good but it depends on the (poor) child you get.

Sorry i don't know about streaming at TOGs, just know they mix all class from year 7 for teaching subjects but don't know if ability based or not. i'm guessing not as they do it from outset so no time to judge levels ?

Any Togs parents know ?
Do grammar schools in Kent know the breakdown of the applicants' 11+ score, or just the overall score, or just that they are 'selective ability'? If they get the breakdown, that would be a base for setting in ?Maths, I suppose? Not to mention SATs.
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neurotic kent mum
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Re: Weald and togs - class sizes

Post by neurotic kent mum »

Just to say that with the extra class at Judd it is now different. They are from next year in vertical house groups across Year 7 and 8 for registration. Then the house groups are split into form classes -eg 8X, 8Z etc - in which they may have only a couple of boys from their house group. It means they do get to know lots of boys very quickly. Setting for maths is still in Year 9.
Twinkle
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Re: Weald and togs - class sizes

Post by Twinkle »

That's right except that setting for Maths at Judd is definitely done in Year 8 and then continues through to Year 11.
JJ123
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Re: Weald and togs - class sizes

Post by JJ123 »

neurotic kent mum wrote:Just to say that with the extra class at Judd it is now different. They are from next year in vertical house groups across Year 7 and 8 for registration. Then the house groups are split into form classes -eg 8X, 8Z etc - in which they may have only a couple of boys from their house group. It means they do get to know lots of boys very quickly. Setting for maths is still in Year 9.
Or allot of boys not very well ?

Maybe not such a problem (??) with boys but for girls i really believe forming a good group of close friends is key to their initial happiness in year 7 ... girls i know at Togs have all found this very hard.

Mine is in year 10 at Judd and this just goes to show that everything is subject to change. He was streamed for maths (and maths only) in year 9 not 8.
mystery
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Re: Weald and togs - class sizes

Post by mystery »

Ah right - do you know why the TOGS girls have found it harder to make friends? Is it the vertical tutor groups or because they are setted for each subject in year 7 so they are never with any one particular group for very long?
Kentishmaid
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Re: Weald and togs - class sizes

Post by Kentishmaid »

Tehy definitely stream in y8 for maths at Judd, but it is quite loose - 2 parallel top sets. Tightens in 9 as the most able take GCSE in y 10 (this may change of course). Don't know about the friendship impact of the move to 5 classes, but guess they make class friends rather than house friends - would be best if they made geographically close friends imo!
franticmum
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Re: Weald and togs - class sizes

Post by franticmum »

Just to clarify:

Togs DO NOT have vertical tutoring. They have learning communities (where they mix years 7-9 together) but ONLY for registration and assemblies, etc (ie 1 hour a day). No teaching is done in mixed year groups.

This was introduced in September 2013 and as far as I am aware the teaching practice is still the same as before, ie there are 5 'houses' which are geographically set so children are more likely to come from the same schools/area and travel in together. They are also given house common rooms to go to a lunch and break to mix again with their 'travel companions'. I cannot say how well the learning community has worked for newer girls as my daughter is just finishing Y9.

Some lessons are taught in those house groups, such as english, pe. They are also split up through the whole year group for other subjects such as the sciences, etc. Maths is in seven sets in Y9 and then split into 8 sets for y10. Setting does not take place for language but the teacher does tend to put the more able ones together. At least that is our experience of it all.
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