How common is a class of 30+ in KS2?

[purpleturtle]

DD's class is about to be amalgamated with the other class in her year, forming a class of 34.

I don't think it's going to be a huge problem, but it was the talk of the playground this afternoon, and I was wondering how unusual a situation it is?

[kitkatsforbreakfast]

There used to be up to 38 in our school in KS2. That's been stopped now with some reshuffling of rooms/teachers/class mergers. I don't think it;s ideal (to say the least) but it is better than large classes at KS1, if there has to be a choice.

[purpleturtle]

Thanks kitkats. Do you know whether the large classes led parents to move their children to other schools? That was one parent's immediate reaction to the news (I hope she calms down over the weekend), but I would have thought that trying to find a Y4 place midyear for a child would very likely end up with them going into a class over 30 anyway.

[Clary]

I think it's not unusual IME, in that you may well have classes of 30 at KS1, and then if anyone joins in KS2 it's not a problem (ie no class size limit) as it would be in KS1?

Both of my jnr aged children have been in classes of over 30. DD's class was 33 last year but now is 29 IIRC due to people leaving area etc.

I think it's too big but what can you do? (err, go private??!!)

[purpleturtle]

Thanks Emmmmmaa and Clary. That's what I thought.

They are planning to take 8 of the more able children into Y5 classes for English and Maths, so the class will be only 26 in the mornings anyway. All sounds very reasonable to me actually.

I'd still like some more experiences to back my own opinion at the parents' meeting on Monday.

[debs40]

35 in my son's class next year and I think this is too big (Y3). The teachers struggled with 28 this year.

I think it depends on the children and the teachers too.

[squilly]

32 in dd's Y4 class and most of the other ks2 classes too. No problems to press...

[Nephilim]

DC is in a class of 35. The class is now on its third teacher this academic year. There are four boys of a challenging nature with a part time LSA.

The thing is though, there were 35 in the class when DC started school. Now, the class seems too big. We feel a bit like; we knew what the numbers were when DC started, so why are we getting upset about it now?

[purpleturtle]

Thank you for these. Our situation is really pretty good compared to you particularly, Nephilim, as there are 2 TAs attached to Y4, who will both stay with the amalgamated class. One of them mainly does one to one with a particular child, but not exclusively.

I think there is not very much awareness amongst a lot of our parents about other schools - this is the primary school they, and in some cases, their parents went to before them. They know that the KS1 limit is 30 and they just panic when that number gets exceeded, without taking anything else into account.

[spudmasher]

Biggest class I have taught is 35. It is a lot, especially when they get to year six and they write a lot/ do loads of maths. It takes forever to mark, so please be kind to the teacher and patient if reading diaries are not signed every week/ homework not marked to the absolute letter.

[kitkatsforbreakfast]

I agree with spudmasher. Large numbers are not necessarily going to be detrimental to your children's education, but they will certainly mean more work for the teacher, and it can mean that more of time is spent in classroom organisation than would otherwise be desirable.

And yes, to your earlier question op, it did make people move school. In fact, the school almost geared itself up to it, as a lot of children left after Y2 to go privately. Still had huge classes in KS2, but the more vocal parents left the school and left those who didn't care or couldn't afford to move.

That's why it has recently changed.

But it doesn't mean it is necessarily bad, but, as you have found, parents perceive it to be bad. A good teacher will not only cope with large numbers, but make sure that the children learn as much if not more than they would in a smaller class.