What do i need to know about sending My DC to a Small school ?

[filtered]

What diffeernces? will they miss out as i can send to local school (150) ( 10mins in car))or send to one further away ( 325)(25mins in car) but having not sent a child to school before not 100% sure of what i should look for /ask, thanks

[Surr3ymummy]

You should go visit both schools, and see if there is a big difference over which one you prefer and which one you can "see" your DC in.

All things being equal, I would probably go for the nearer school. Remember that your DC is going to make friends and will probably want them round for tea or parties and go to them etc. You should assume that your DC's best friend will live the same distance from the school that you do, but in the opposite direction! Life is much easier when the school is nearer.

My 2 daughters went to a lovely small infant school - about 60 children in the whole school - just 1 class in each year. They then went to a much larger junior school at 7 - about 480 children (4 classes in each year) which was also great.

At the end of the day it's the atmosphere and feeling of the school that's the most important thing - go with your gut feeling!

[ScaryScienceT]

I teach in a very small school and it is so nice knowing all the pupils. There is no question of any of them getting lost or staying below the radar screen. They also get to all take part in extra-curricular activities, as there are plenty of spaces on teams, etc. for everyone.

[francagoestohollywood]

ds goes to very small school and it is lovely. he's in a class of 14 children at the moment, I think they get lots of attention from the staff. And it is nice to have a local school, with local friends.

[suedonim]

150 seems big to me! Dd was at a 28 pupil school, which was gorgeous. The main advantage is attention, lots and lots of it. Have a look at this website for pluses of small schools. www.smallschools.org.uk/index.htm

[DoctorFrankenSquonk]

dd2 goes to a school with 49 children.

Tis fab. Tis wondrous. Cannot praise it enough.

But you should visit both schools and see what you think. You will probably get a "vibe" from them, go with the one you feel will be best.

You should ask for a tour of the school when the children are there if possible, look at the discipline, look at the childrens' faces, are they happy? are they bored?

I sent dd1 to her primary school because of the three I looked at, at only one of them did the person showing me around school actually stop and talk to the children that we came across, and she knew every kid by name. (and there were about 300 at that school, btw)

good luck

[DoctorFrankenSquonk]

jura - do you not find though that, when she has fallen out with her friends that she makes friends with them a lot quicker than if she were off playing with other kids?

We moved here for dd1's last three years of primary school. She is now three years into high school and she has a strong loyalty to the kids she was at primary school with. She falls out with them, and they with her, but they are always there for each other.

[brimfull]

friend of mine moved her ds from a small school,not because of the teaching but because the range of friedns was very limited.There was only 12 in year and he found it difficult to fit in,so as the yr group was not going to change she decided to move him to local state primary with big yr group.He is much happier and has made lots of new friends.
So small only suits some children.

[hedgepig]

My son stated school this year in a small school (120) with 20 other reception kids. He is an august baby and I was very concerned how he would settle. For him a small school was defiantly right he has settled really well and in the 3rd week he decided he was going on the school bus on his own .
As others have said the closer school also means his friends are local and should help with friendships in the future. The only concern i have is the school is so small they and teach mixed classes all the way through and I'm not sure how that will work out. Also the school is not big enough for an after school club so if that is something you will need then the bigger school may offer that.

[SparklePrincess]

jura, my dd is having exactly the same problem at her school. She is one of only 4 girls in that year group & finds herself spending a lot of time alone. Weve actually got to the point where were considering moving her on to a bigger school.
Cant fault the school academically though.

[haggisaggis]

My ds and dd attend a very small primary - around 40 children in total. They are taught in 2 classes. Obviously the year groups are very small - there are 3 boys in ds's year. But they make friends across the year groups - and I think this is a great strength of the small school. THe ages all mix very well together - which I think helps to reduce bullying etc. The atmpsphere in teh school is fantastic. THe children do miss out on facilities - there is no gym hall and space is ata premium - but I think on teh whole it is better than a large school.

[bobsmum]

Ds is at a school of 30, so I would consider 150 to be enormous!.

In his P1 class there are 6 pupils. He loves it. The whole school plays together and do a lot of activities together like an extended family. Academically it's great, and ds gets loads of much needed attention. THe nearest "big" school has 70 pupils, he could have gone there if we'd insisted, but we're so happy with his little school that I can't imagine doing that now.

by the time he gets to secondary, all the feeder primaries are pretty small so all the children will be coming from a similar experience which is helpful.

Ds' class is mixed P 1,2 and 3, but there are loads of specialist teachers and assistants drafted in at different points. The resources for such a small school are amazing!

If this thread stays small, I may post a URL to the school website, just so as only genuinely interested people have a look IYSWIM

[Elk]

My dd attends a school (She's year R which has 15 children) with 110 children from 3-11. The bottom four classes always play/eat together as do the top four and friendships seem to form across year groups. Last year when she was in nursery she played alot with the Year 2 boys. This year one of her 'best' friends is the year 1 girl she sits next to at lunch. As she is quiet and shy in large groups it is ideal for her and she is slowly becoming more confident in the larger groups. It is currently working for us but if things change we are open to the idea of her moving school.

[Blu]

I used to be an assessor for a particular kind of award schools can apply for - and small schools were given a lower qualifiying level for provision for extra-curricular activities because of the greater level of challenge they have in providing them - smaller pool of teachers and children to attend them, etc, so you might find that a small school has less access to extra arts and sports activities (smaller halls and other spaces, greater price per head if bringing in a theatre company at a fixed price) - but that would ned to be looked at in comparisin with the other school - can't generalise, of course!

I favoured a one-class entry school fr DS - but I do know friends who have had problems when teachers had less room to manouevre in terms of moving children around between classes to facilitate social and educational mixes.

[ingles2]

Hi my ds's go to a village school with 65 pupils to age 11. They have mixed yr classes, with DS1 (yr3) being in same class as ds2 (yr2). There are both advantages and disadvantages...it's a lovely little school, friendly everyone knows each other etc,etc,...ds2 hasn't got many friends, hardly any boys in his yr, brothers together in class, and at secondary they'll go to an enormous school! with 1500 pupils which I think will be a HUGE shock...but at the moment..pros are definitely outweighing cons

[HappyMummyOfOne]

My DS's school has about 65 children in total, 8 in his reception class.

I love it all the children, regardless of age, interact well and play with each other. Afterschool activities are never oversubscribed so will be great for when he's older.

Teacher and teaching assistant always have lots of time per child. They interact with Year 1 a lot which I like.

You'll know from the visit which school is right for you, I knew as soon as I walked in I wanted DS to go to ours and luckily not many children in our village so got in with no problems.