We are lucky that we have a fantastic whole school behaviour policy so we are able to swiftly deal with disruption

In year 7 we teach classes as tutor groups. In Y8 we change classes to be mixed on science ability and then consult heads of year and do any swaps needed if we have put together any students that really don’t work well together - so we start with mixed ability and the tweak for behaviour if needed.

We are mixed ability through KS3 (& the first year of KS4). We find it works well for us. It allows us to balance classes & to spread SEND and behaviour, each teacher has fewer higher needs students so can give greater focus and enables all students to see what good learning habits looks like