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

Pont

My daughters both attended a tiny (45 kids) village primary school about 3 miles from our home town rather than the larger (200 kids) school in town. I have no regrets at all about my decision.
Pros
Small class sizes - there were approximately 15 children in each of the three classes. Class 1: Nursery, reception and year 1. Class 2: Years 2, 3 and 4. Class 3: Years 5 and 6. Not a problem re: mixed ages as any teacher worth his/her salt can assign appropriate work (a class with 30 children of the same ages would also need to be assigned appropriate work as larger classes will have all abilities within it too).
As mentioned before, children of all ages seemed to mix together nicely and there seemed to be less falling out with one another (probably because there isn't the choice of different little 'clicks').
Really felt the teachers knew my children inside out.
Seems like there was more flexibility in the smaller school. For example we were allowed to take pictures and video at concerts (the town school wasn't). We were encouraged to go into school to read, help with crafts etc.

Cons
The drive got a little troublesome at times (but at least I didn't get stuck in the jams that occurred outside the town school).
Not the best sporting facilities.

I did worry that my children wouldn't know the local town kids as they were in a different school. Again it wasn't a problem as my children were both involved in sporting groups and Brownies etc in town.

Finally, when both daughters went on to high school I noticed that they were both very confident socially and were way ahead academically. I noticed throughout their high school years that the kids who were the most academic, the kids who took the lead roles in school productions etc were mostly children who had attended the small village schools rather than the larger town primary schools.

mrsbez_2

Had another hard day again today. I decided to send her to nursery on a day i knew her very best friends were not going to be there. The look on her face was just sooo sad and i feel gutted that i have left her there in that situation this morning.
I want her to make different friends in the class and think this is important, but i hate to see her so unhappy.

But i made a quick exit again today without too much fuss.

I am meeting my friends later on that are sending their children to the smaller village school so i know i'm going to be persuaded by them that i am missing out on a fantastic opportunity if i don't send her to the smaller school.

I am going in to the larger school next week to help out in the reception class so i can get a feel for the school. I must say i am impressed with the reception teacher aswell. Maybe i should go back again to the smaller school and ask a few more questions??? so i can get a full rounded view of all the advantages/disadvantages

mrsbez_2

Just an update - i went into the reception class in the large town school to help out and it was a fine, but i did feel that the teacher and TA were very stretched. It was an eye opener to see how very different the abilities are in a year group and how some children take over and the others just follow.
I have also been involved in other activities with the large town school and have seen the older children play and that quite frightens me aswell, they all seem to fight one another!!

The small school is still an option and have spoken to the headteacher again, she assures me that although they have mixed classes, they have a staff to pupil ratio of 1:8 and the children are very confident and capable when they go onto the high school. Funnily enough in the small school they take part in more sports and all the school goes swimming every week. They have more artists come into school and the curriculum seems more varied.

My DD has two close friends that will go to the small school, and they live not far from us.

We have had no further problems with her going to nursery at the large town school, in fact she is fine now. But then she still spends most of her time with her 'very best friend', who will be going to the smaller school!!

decisions, decisions!

FIASCO_2

Both schools will have their pros and cons. It's up to you to weigh these up in light of your values and make your decision. Children are resiliant....you may find she does take time to settle, that wont mean you have made the wrong school choice. In my experience most children have a hiccup when they start school, if not at the very beginning then perhaps later on. All part of their learning process and maturing. Good luck in making your decision, you are the best person to make it as you know your child best. Be confident.

kindofagilr

I would go with the larger school.

If your daughter is shy then going into a small class where there is chance of cliques already then there wont be much choice for her to make friends if you know what I mean?

I mean kids can be cruel sometimes, so what if the other 7 kids felt she was too quite and didnt talk to her? she would have no one to turn to?

Whereas in the big class there are 30 kids there, loads of friends can be made?

I hope that didnt sound harsh, I didnt mean it to

Savvy_Sue

I personally wouldn't choose to send a child to a school with an uncertain future re merger / closure. The school will inevitably spend a good deal of time preparing for this, and parents may spend a good deal of time fighting against it.

DS1 started at a First school, and was then in the intake most affected when the local authority decided in its wisdom to change back to Infant / Junior / all through Primary schools. Which they promptly mucked up!

First they were going to leave the year above his in 'our' school when it became an all through, then suddenly - VERY suddenly - that year group was moving on and he was going to be 'top year' for four years.

I didn't feel that was going to be very good for DS1 - oldest child in the family, oldest year group at school for four years then suddenly catapulted into the bottom of a large secondary school - so I moved him.

Then once DS2 and DS3 were there, they threatened to close this school! We fought and won, but I'd much rather the staff had been able to spend ALL their energies on education rather than politics.

skintstudentnurse

fusar wrote: »

I have been through the exact same situation with my little boy, who is now 5 turning 6 in July. I opted for the smaller school, in which his class consisted of 13 children. The extra attention was great, but on the downside, the other children had formed friendships
before my son had started (as most had been to the pre-school), and we found that as there were so few children, he had less friendship groups available to him. In a week we are moving him to the larger school, where there will be 2 x clesses of 30. Larger schools tend to have teaching assistants, to help the main teacher, more funding and there is a wider social circle. The local school may also be better for friends to come back to play or for tea, which is important.

I would agree this this post DD1 moved to a smaller school as it was closer to home. There were shared year groups (year 3&4) and she quickly seemed to fall behind. Her reading book was a level that was far too difficult for her and I asked for her to be given a more suitable book but this didn't happen. The class of about 30 had one teacher ,I asked if there was a teaching assistant but was told that there was no funding available. To cut a long story short she was at the school for 2 terms then moved back to her original school. I'll never complain about driving a few miles to school again:rolleyes: