Son placed in correct Science/maths set? sorry v long

[lelly88]

My Son is in year 8, he has been placed in Set 3 for Science maths and set 4 for Humanities. He has Sp learning difficulties but has a reading age a 18 months above his age, but difficulties with writing speed. In yr 7 he was placed in a C1 stream even though he had CAT scores of 116-maths, 114 non-verbal, 94 verbal. It was a smaller group doing "mainstream" work, so I was quite pleased. He found the work easy had excellent assessment scores. In the end of year exams he was given the same exam as A/B streams for Science, Geography and History in which he out performed his 2 friends in the A stream in all 3. He had an ?outstanding mark as expected for science as his oral work is excellent and he grasps new subjects quickly?-he had 84%. However he was given a C1 exam for maths, which he took 40 mins to finish a 1hr 30min exam (I phoned to tell the school that he hadn't been challenged on the day and how disappointed he was not to be allowed to take the harder paper knowing he found it easy), he had 93% (missed 2 questions out by mistake),the teacher had earlier written that he has a high mathematical ability.
He was also given lower papers in Spanish and Welsh which he had high 80s in. His English exam which was the same as A/B ( the very exam he needed a lower paper in), he had 30% but the teacher stated he was better than this mark.
I questioned the Set 3 in Science/maths as I feel he has an aptitude for maths that has not been recognized, but was told by the head of lower school he was 170/210 and the chemistry dept were worried that he couldn't cope with the maths involved. How can they get a clear position on his maths if he was not allowed to compete on a level playing field? He went to the ceiling of the test!?- I was told he would sink under the pressure in a higher set. I like to think the teachers know best, so accepted this and moved on.
Now in Yr 8 he is top of Set 3 in maths and science getting 98% in his maths assessment (class average 51%, 2nd place score 72%) and 98% in chemistry test (it was far too easy considering what he actually knew), a few children were close behind but most were in the 70s.
Help I don't know what to do the school insists the sets are fluent, but he is not being challenged and not being moved, previously when I have phoned they make me feel that he's going to fail at the next hurdle. Surely a child who has suddenly found his feet after years of feeling inadequate in primary should be given a chance to reach his potential that they picked up on in their CATs.
As for set 4, 15 in the class , 5 of which have behavioural problems, but still son produces excellent work in languages, the geography class is taught by a learning support teacher who gives the children who don't bother to revise week after week extra time, while my son is fed up learning EU capitals/countries rivers and mountains over and over when he knew them for the 1st test date. Any input much appreciated, thanks

[Rafaella]

You need to make an appointment with the head of year and go in and speak to them. Stay calm, don't get upset, don't sound like pushy mum, just explain what you've said here - make a note of the points you want to ask about before you go in so you don't forget anything in the heat of the moment. Ask them what he needs to do in order to move up a set and make a note of it. Be prepared to listen if the head does have sensible reasons for the decisions that have been made.
Fortunately your son is only in year 8 - there's loads of time before this affects decisions relating to his GCSEs. If it gets to year 9 and nothing's changed you'll to reassess then.

[Decorhate]

Sometimes a school won't move a child up if they feel they have confidence issues - could it be that they feel he would be too much out of his comfort zone if he was moved? I know children who got excellent GCSE results though they had not been moved up to the top set because school & parents felt it would be detrimental even though they had the ability iyswim.

Def a good plan to talk it all through with head of year though.

[TheFallenMadonna]

I agree that you need to make an appointment and speak to the head of year. I'm surprised at all these percentages. Most schools use levels in year 8 IME.

[lelly88]

Thanks for the advice Rafaella,have left a message for HOY that I would like to speak to him.

thanks Decorhate, Surprisingly DS doesn't have confidence issues even though he thought himself bottom of the class in primary,he enjoys working hard and seeing the results, he is an extremely happy child. I'm not anxious for him to be in "top set", I just want him in a class with children who want to and are enthusiastic about their work (is there such a class?) DS has great enthusiasm e.g ask questions all the time such as why are diamonds and graphite both carbon and why does it have more than1 form etc. why does polythene get a neg charge and acetate a pos charge when rubbed with a cloth, drives me mad I keep telling him ask the teacher these questions. (anybody know?)

With reference to levels in Wales it seems they have a thing about not giving levels.No a,b,c sub levels are given at KS2 (to parents anyway). i was told by the Art teacher in parents evening they are told not to give them, but told us that DS was on track for L6 for KS3 in Art. Interim/term reports state highly probable/likely/unlikely to meet target with no mention of what the target is-bizarre! Meaningless really, the only thing a parent can glean from this is if the category slips to unlikely to meet target there's a problem. Thanks all for the input.

[crystalglasses]

I had a similar problem with my dd1. The school agreed that she was capable of working in a higher set but it would mean moving another pupil down, which would undermine the other child's confidence even though he was underperforming.
I wasn't having any of it and my dd1 was moved up a set.

[ilovesooty]

I think I'd be asking how long his Geography class has been "taught" by someone unqualified.

[feynman]

Defintly go in and see the head of year. From what you have said he sounds like he is totally in the wrong sets and needs to move up. Ask for this to be done and if they refuse ask why. Maybe you could suggest a temporary move and if he can't cope they could move him back. (Although I think this very unlikly to be the case from what you've said).
It is not at all unusual for kids to be better in some areas than others and it sounds like he has an apptitude for maths and science.
I would also be asking about the geography situation.
Finally graphite and diamonds are both made of carbon atoms but it is the way in which these atoms bond that accounts for their different properties. In graphite the carbons atoms form layers which can slide over each other which is why the graphite can rub off on paper (think pencil). The carbon atoms in diamond form a totally different 3d structure which makes it exceptionally hard.
Also the acetate/polythene is beacuse acetate has a tendany to lose electrons thus becaoming more poitive and polythene viceversa. Tell him to look up triboelectric series if he's interested.
Oh and if he's ansking questions like that, I'd definitly be asking for him to be moved.

[lelly88]

Thanks feynman and all who responded.
Good news, he moves up to set 2 in maths/ science tomorrow!! He has a good friend in this set so he can check for any work he hasn't covered. Can't believe it was so easy after last years conversaton with head of lower school.
He had another end of unit assessment result in Physics this week (set1,2 and 3 did the same assess) -92%, even after saying it was hard with a lot of reading to do, or in my words- challenged correctly.
Now to check with SENCo to make sure the teachers are aware of his slow writing speed and poor quality handwriting. SEN needs, that's another battle.