Bishopsteignton Primary School

Below is the structure for September. This was discussed with and agreed by Governors earlier this year. The positive reasons for the choices are also listed below - many things were considered and this decision was not taken lightly. EXPLORERS- Foundation ADVENTURERS- Y1/2 NEW CLASS- Y1/2 DISCOVERERS- Y3/4 VOYAGERS- Y3/4 PIONEERS- Y5/6 INVENTORS- Y5/6 The reasons for our decision: • The school has had a long and successful tradition of mixed age classes with positive outcomes for pupils. • During their time at Bishopsteignton, children will continue to have the opportunity to work with a wide range of children during their time at the school rather than solely their own year group. The new structure will also allow children to experience being the younger and older age group in each phase. • It will be easier to facilitate the same opportunities for children in the same age phase: previous structures have involved some challenges where we have had mixed key stage classes and children have been involved in specific key stage activities (swimming, performances, sporting events.) This structure contains no mixed Key Stage classes. • Classes will not be ‘ability sets’ but parallel classes where children have equal opportunities to achieve. There will be a spread of ability within both classes. We feel this will take away the misconception of the ‘hierarchy’ of the previous structure. • There is greater opportunity and flexibility for staff to select classes with a ‘good mix’ of characters, personalities and learning styles – ensuring the best possible environment and outcomes for pupils. • The structure naturally creates teaching teams in which the teachers can start to work even more collaboratively- sharing planning, ideas, experience, moderation and assessment. There is the opportunity for teams to use teachers’ expertise flexibly and teach across the age phase. How the decisions will be made: Our Y1/2 , Y3/4 and Y5/6 classes will be parallel classes with a similar spread of ability in each class. The Senior Leadership team will initially split cohorts to ensure an even spread of ability across the two classes; they will then consult teachers and hold discussions to ensure that children are in the best possible place for their learning and emotional well-being. Potential challenges: At Bishopsteignton, teaching staff are excellent at ensuring curriculum coverage in mixed age classes. This is a challenging task but one that teachers are committed to work hard at in order to ensure that our mixed-age structure is effective. Of course, one of the greatest challenges is thinking of a name for the new class – ideas welcome!