Changing English class in year 9

General forum for Secondary Education

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

Post Reply
Sammi14
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:22 am

Changing English class in year 9

Post by Sammi14 »

DS's English is in the middle/above middle stats at school.

From the beginning of year 9, he told me that it is noisy at English lesson and classmates are disturbing others. This cause a lot of interruption in the lesson. The teacher tried to control the class however it is unsuccessful.
Ds is very frustrated and couldn't carry on his work during lession. I told the school about what we concern however the problems are still going on.

Ds went to see the learning manager before Easter holiday and requested to move to another quiet and more challange class. This week they put him to a new class which is smaller,quiet however the stats is lower than his pervious class. As he mentioned the new class is doing the story board (he did that when he was in primary school).

He is unhappy and worrying why he is in the low level class. He feels like this is the punishment for being requested moving class. He is a hard working person and always tries his best to get the works done. Should I ask the school again and request to move back to pervious class?
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Changing English class in year 9

Post by Amber »

My suggestion would be that you make an appointment to go and talk to the head of English at the school, with your son, to discuss the issue.
Sammi14
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:22 am

Re: Changing English class in year 9

Post by Sammi14 »

Amber, thank you for your suggestion.
not sure if I could talk to the head of English coz the learning manager handles all the curriculums. :(
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Changing English class in year 9

Post by Guest55 »

Sammi14 wrote:Amber, thank you for your suggestion.
not sure if I could talk to the head of English coz the learning manager handles all the curriculums. :(
Normally the head of department would be responsible for who is in which set so s/he is the best person to deal with the issue. Your child should not be moved down a set, the poor behaviour should be tackled.
Sammi14
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:22 am

Re: Changing English class in year 9

Post by Sammi14 »

Thank you Guest55.
They did talk to the students who interrupt the class however the nice learning environment didn't last long.
I will contact the school tomorrow and see what I could do.
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Changing English class in year 9

Post by Amber »

Maybe the sets will change next year when GCSE courses begin?
Either way it is best to speak to the school. Good luck. :)
Sammi14
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:22 am

Re: Changing English class in year 9

Post by Sammi14 »

He is in the GCSE course that's why I don't understand why he is moved to a lower level class. Maybe his exam result (recently) is not same as the school predict. (D1 instead of C2)
Kingfisher
Posts: 416
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2012 7:08 pm

Re: Changing English class in year 9

Post by Kingfisher »

Hello. Sorry to hear of your problem. There could be a whole host of reasons why he has not been moved up a group. Most schools do not simply move students from one set to another on parental request without evidence that the student would cope or would be suited to the level of the group.

You have to weigh up what is more important to you - the quiet environment or the set number.

You might decide that the environment is more important - in that case it is important that your DS is provided with appropriate level work and is not taught at the pace of the others. It is important that he does not feel he is being punished. Regarding storyboarding, this is a simple technique used for a lesson and it is not a method of teaching as such. The teacher is probably working on sequencing of plot or something similar. It can be used in any group.

Disruption is something else, however. This needs to be kept to a minimum by the department - although it is very difficult to get a room of 14 year olds to stay quiet when they don't want to - you should try doing it!

If the set number is important, you might have to accept that noise is part of the learning style of that group. My DD is at one of the superselectives and she says they all have far too much to say for themselves and are desperate to contribute. 'Quiet' does not describe the girls at that school.

Unless students are writing in silence, I never insist on a quiet room. I expect students to contribute and discuss the material. That style does not suit all, though - I know that. But that is what I am like as a teacher.

As others have said, things might change again next year. Unless your DS is doing IGCSE, there are going to be huge changes to the English curriculum next year so he might find himself in another group with a different set of people and on entirely different texts. These were only finalised midway through this year so it is extremely unlikely he has been working on the GCSE course since September; it is more likely that he has been working on developing the skills required for GCSE. The grades are going and will be replaced with numbers, but you can find information on this elsewhere. Current Year 9 will be affected (not IGCSE).

You might wish to email the Head of English to ask him/her what can be done for your DS from September.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Changing English class in year 9

Post by mystery »

Next year is a whole term off. I think the head of English should be able to speak to you soon and explain what is happening. Your son took the initiative to ask for quieter lesson and more challenge and he does not feel this has happened. He is owed an explanation and you as parent should be able to satisfy yourself that he is progressing, the work will help him to progress further etc.

There's no point in him to continuing to feel demoralised despite having done the sensible thing and trying to remedy for himself something that he felt was not going right with his education. It's bad if he either mistakenly or correctly feels that he is being "punished" by having taken some responsibility for his own education.

There may be a misunderstanding etc over the storyboarding, the level of the group etc but this all can be sorted out. Unless you are able to go in and talk to someone who knows what is going on your son is going to continue feeling let down.

If it all remains a bit rubbish then consider doing some good workbooks at home to make up for whatever is lacking at school. You shouldn't have to do this, but, hey-ho, what can you do when school isn't as good as it might be / should be / could be.

Good luck.
JaneEyre
Posts: 4843
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 1:04 pm

Re: Changing English class in year 9

Post by JaneEyre »

+1
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now