Are smaller class sizes better?? worrying over primary school decision

Janepig

Obviously there's going to be some upheaval for your DD, but she'll settle in eventually - she's still only small and it takes time. And by the sound of it you're going to have guilty feelings whatever you do.

My DD is 6 next week and has been at her school full-time since she was 3 and her teacher describes her as being very sensitive, in that she gets upset quite easily. I think alot of it is because girls of even that age can be quite !!!!!y and cliquey, and while most of the girls just shrug it off, DD tends to take it to heart if someone doesn't want to play with her or hold her hand. Bless. She was fine starting school (nursery class) but we've had tears on the first day in reception and year 1 - in fact she ran out after me on her first day in reception! But she soon settles back in.

It's a large school that she's in, her class are 30 with another class of 30 in the year. In the nursery and reception both classes were in together with two teachers and an assortment of NNEB's and LSA's. I can honestly say I don't find the large classes a problem and despite her sensitivity she gets on with everyone, although obviously she's got a circle of closer friends, girls and boys, none of whom she really knew before starting school. DS starts there in September (gawd help him because he's still my "baby" ) but he's lucky in that we know quite afew children going in with him so he's got quite afew pals already and is very excited about it!

I don't know if it's just a welsh thing, but we have a new early years curriculum, part of which is that there must be one member of staff to 8 children, so the school is fully laden with LSA's - in fact it's difficult to know who are the teachers are who are the LSA's!! Last year the nursery intake was 67 (it's a very popular school!) and they took on 5 new staff in the nursery to ensure they had the correct child-staff ratio.

OP, she'll be fine!

Jxx

fairylights_2

For what it's worth, here's my thoughts on the topic:

I have two children, one six, the other four. They are both very bright, and I worried desperately about what my son would do in the local infants when he was due to start school. He did the half day visits for the summer term prior to reception, but I was just worried that it wouldn't be right for him. Locally a private school opened up in the autumn term of his reception year, and was run by people we've known for about five years. We decided to find the money to send him there. There were three (in total) in the school on the first day, and five by the end of the first term. By the start of his year one, there were eight children in the school. Academically they started off well, but with a very small complement of teaching staff they started to struggle with things to occupy him. Socially he was getting more and more shy, and very sad and tearful at times.

At Christmas we took the decision to remove him from the private school and send him back to the local infants he had visited before he started school. He's just started his second term there and is incredibly happy and hyper - a really happy little boy, rather than a quiet academic.

My daughter who is four started her half day visits at the same infants last week, and she is so excited to be going to school with so many other children, some of whom we've known since she was born, or from other activities that she does, and some she's never met before.

Our local infants has two classes per year group, but by virtue of being an infants with the juniors on a different site it still feels incredibly small.

Whilst I don't regret the time he spent at the private school, I understand now that for my kids school - especially primary school - is as much about learning to spend time with a wide variety of people as it is about learning.

I'd say go with your instincts, if you do that you know that you are doing the best for your yourself and your DD. If you are already worried about her not socialising enough, there's always the risk that a small school will make that worse rather than better as she won't need to try to socialise.

Good luck, and all the best for the transition.

mrsbez_2

Thanks again.
Just an update. I took my daughter to nursery this morning and again we had the same problem of her not settling.
The teachers/assistants are used to the situation now and i finally left after about 30 mins. When i collected her she had been fine although needed alot of attention to get her settled and into playing.
I also mentioned to the assistant (who is great) that i was considering moving her to the smaller school and she thought that really she may just be getting bored and need something new. Later on this afternoon i was contacted by the headteacher (of the large local school where she goes to nursery) who has asked me to go in and discuss my worries with him to see what they can do.

Also the local school is fully subscribed so i run the risk of not getting her back into the local school if the small school doesn't work out.

Lunar_Eclipse

mrsbez wrote: »

she thought that really she may just be getting bored and need something new.

This very thought popped into my head as I was driving back from Sainsbury's yesterday! As I mentioned previously, my September born child went completely off nursery for her last term, because having been there 3 years, she needed to move on. Thus bored, as in outgrown a place, not necessarily needing academic challenge (although she was ready for this too.) Even more reason to stick with the larger school IMO.

I would also urge you to try the 'leave them quickly' option; 30 minutes is a lot of hanging around and may cause your daughter to get more worked up about being left and take longer to settle than a quick kiss and goodbye that takes 2 minutes. Has anyone at nursery suggested this? Perhaps you could discuss and agree upon a new drop off routine with her? My daughter would stay in the cloakroom area until they called everyone for the register. She never cried, but held the angst and sadness inside! I feel really guilty just writing that - shudder.:o

Spendless

mrsbez wrote: »

Thanks again.
Just an update. I took my daughter to nursery this morning and again we had the same problem of her not settling.
The teachers/assistants are used to the situation now and i finally left after about 30 mins. When i collected her she had been fine although needed alot of attention to get her settled and into playing.
I also mentioned to the assistant (who is great) that i was considering moving her to the smaller school and she thought that really she may just be getting bored and need something new. Later on this afternoon i was contacted by the headteacher (of the large local school where she goes to nursery) who has asked me to go in and discuss my worries with him to see what they can do.

Also the local school is fully subscribed so i run the risk of not getting her back into the local school if the small school doesn't work out.

what about the other way round? If you take her to her to the local school and it doesn't work out could you get her in the small school?

re-her being bored, how long has she been in nursery? You say she is October born so did she start early? I have heard several parents who took early entry for their child that they became bored after the had been there for a year.

Poppy9

Spendless wrote: »

re-her being bored, how long has she been in nursery? You say she is October born so did she start early? I have heard several parents who took early entry for their child that they became bored after the had been there for a year.

I turned down a place in nursery for my DD on her 3rd birthday for the very reason I didn't want her in the school nursery for 18 months even though it was just mornings. DD nursery was really about settling them into the school enviroment and making them a little bit independent.

I agree with other poster that I would try not lingering for 30 minutes but do a quick drop off and see how that goes.

mrsbez_2

Spendless - the small village school is full aswell but they have said that they can provide a place for my daughter if she wants one. I think this is because they are not full in the yr1/yr2 groups and they have space in the classroom. Also the small school is a voluntary aided church school. Also does the fact that it is a church school make it a better place for my daughter to be educated?? that is another question in my mind.

She has been in the school nursery since Jan 2008 so it is over a year. She goes 4 mornings and on the other morning we try and do days out so it makes it more interesting.

I went in to speak to the head of the local larger school yesterday and he explained to me that most of the time the large group will be split into two smaller groups, with the help of a teaching assistant. Also the provision at the foundation stage in the local school is outstanding 'as quoted in the ofsted report'.
He was also happy to be quite flexible with her starting in september and although she is an october birthday, he said that if i wanted to she could start part time until January.

I have also been invited in to help out in the reception class next week to see how they group the classes (current reception is 26 children) and what sort of work they are doing. I thought this was a very good idea.

This has eased my anxiety alot and he has also encouraged me to put my name forward to be a parent governor so i can have a bit more involvement with the school. Maybe he has been reading this thread!!!!

The small village school is lovely, very rural, it is 3 miles away and if my daughter went she would be in a class of 26, made up of 3 year groups. But 3 adults supervising the groups. The whole school is actually 53 children - but it has a possible merger hanging over it's head.

mrsbez_2

And thank you, i will try and make a quick exit this morning!! see how that goes. So i'd better go and get her to school

Lunar_Eclipse

mrsbez wrote: »

And thank you, i will try and make a quick exit this morning!! see how that goes. So i'd better go and get her to school

Hope it went well.

I have to say that I am very impressed with the Head of your local school. Not only his approach, but also his suggestions. The school will receive less money if your Autumn born daughter goes part time for a term (thus our school does not allow this!), so that is a very personal/child centric offer. Absolutely outstanding given you are not yet a parent at the school plus if they are full or over subscribed they are highly likely to have a waiting list so her place will be filled regardless. They say you should judge a school by its Head, in which case I think you are already at least half way onto a winner, without having started.

Our local school doesn't allow any parents into the class room that have not had their CRB police clearance (as presumably you haven't.) I wasn't allowed to visit my daughter on her 5th birthday because my clearance hadn't come through in time. I appreciate it is in the interests of child safety, but it was hard given how upset she was (my eldest) to go to school on her birthday that first year of school. In hindsight, a day off would have been fine although I probably couldn't justify it at the time. But you never get opportunities back do you?

mrsbez_2

Yes it went very well, quick exit was only halted by the fact that DS wanted to stay aswell. He is only just 2. So after i had chased him round and scooped him up it was approx 4 mins!!

That must be very hard not being allowed into the classroom unless you have a CRB check. It is commendable on the school that they are looking after child safety, but then it still seems harsh not to allow you in for the birthday. As i say we are in quite a rural town, parents are often in the school helping out with various things and are allowed in to school before the bell goes. This all might change as this new head has only been in the post since Jan.

Feeling alot happier today, i feel a great weight being lifted from my shoulders.