If your child is in a lower set, this story is for you.
You know your child is brighter than the set he is in, and you wonder why they are in that set. They could do better, it’s in your gut, and you are probably right.
This is a personal story about a student who was in a low-level maths set. The overall message is that being in a low level set does not determine the students potential.
I had this student once, he was in set 8. There were 8 sets in maths in his school, so he was in the bottom of all bottom sets. Like no hope in hell of achieving anything. Like what was the point in helping this kid, he won’t even scrape a pass.
But after a few months of 1-to-1 sessions, I asked him, “So, how hard are you finding these algebraic fractions?”
He said…fine, a bit hard to start but getting the hang of it now, in fact easy now.
I said, “Oh that’s great because this is the topic they are teaching in set 1, remind me why are you still in set 8?
He looked at me in shock, and then it looked like his eyes were tearing up. He could not quite believe how easy the work was in set 1! And he could not understand why he was in set 8.
For anybody that knows their maths topics, algebraic fractions are really hard for the average kid in set 1. Fractions are hard enough, to add on top of that some algebra, really throws the kids off board.
Now I know this kid, he’s family. He’s a bit of a joker and prankster. I can understand why they chucked him into the bottom set, he’s just a distraction. A nuisance. I don’t blame school whatsoever.
It was too late, he was in year 11. Exams were in a few months and there’s no chance in hell of moving him up sets…what for? To distract the kids some more?
Moral of the story 1 : Whos fault is it your kids in the bottom set? The school system, the teacher, Your child or even you. Look at your child and their behaviour. How are they at home? Kids play up more at school than they do at home. So whatever naughty-ness they get up to at home, it’s ten times worse in school.
And what did you do to bring them up to scratch. Did you ring in, write letters, walk into school to complain, provide extra tuition? I remember my mother going into school to find out what books we were working from, then she bought them from the shops.
I went from bottom set to top set in no time! My friends tell me today they can’t remember me being in the bottom set, “Raks why are you lying, you were never ever in the bottom set!” well that’s because I wasn’t there for long.
Moral of the story 2 : What do you want your child to achieve in set 1 anyway? You can do equally well in set 2, 3 or 4….probably not in set 8 though. But remember being in the bottom set does not determine a student’s potential.
There’s a reason why they get lowered, usually it’s the exam results. It’s hardly ever because a child is naughty or disruptive. But there is a limited number of seats in each class. And if two kids with the same exam result are battling for the same seat. Who do you think is going to win it?
Well the least disruptive kid of course.
Moral of the story 3 : No point in pointing the finger. Look at yourself first, look at your child and then point the finger afterwards if it makes you feel better. At the end of the day, who loses out? Well YOU of course, more energy is lost pointing fingers. Your child has achieved subpar results and school carries on as normal, fine and dandy as usual!
Lets get out of the blaming culture and find solutions instead.
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