Parenting 

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Mixing up school classes

Is your child going up with her friends next year? Or have the year's classes been mixed up? Hilary Pereira investigates this practice of mixing infant classes

Some infant schools have started mixing up school classes each year before the children go up to the juniors. At this age, children are beginning to form strong friendships, and some find the split from 'best friends' harder to deal with than others - especially if there is a group of friends from whom they've been separated. It's hard, too, to explain to a four-, five- or six-year-old the benefits of going into a new school year with children he or she doesn't know so well. So what is the thinking behind mixing the classes? And how can you help your child to cope?

Why classes are mixed together
Some head teachers believe that mixing infant school classes gives the children better social skills, and ensures that by the time they go into the juniors they know all the children in their year. This gives them a broader experience of children with different personalities, backgrounds and cultures, and helps them to learn how to relate to them.

Children up to age six are very sensitive to adults' personalities, and some schools place each child with the teacher with whom they are likely to respond best, instead of necessarily keeping them with friends.

Some schools have moved away from the idea of 'streaming' by ability in the younger years of school. Different skill levels emerge in different children with each year, from Nursery through to Year 2, and some head teachers believe in mixing children of different abilities so that they can all encourage each other. Plus, a child realising he is in a less able group can be demoralising at a stage when academic ability is less important than social and communication skills.

Sometimes relationships are formed on which one child is more dependent than the other, and this can hold both children back developmentally. In this case separation is often the best solution - however harsh it may seem - with both children eventually performing better. Dr Rona Tutt, President of the National Association of Head Teachers, adds: 'Each infant school is different in size and in the composition of its classes. If a school has a policy of not keeping class groups together as they move through the school, it will be because it has been found to work well, giving the head and staff greater flexibility to consider the mix of pupils who will work well together and matching them to the teacher who will suit them best.'

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