Right - can someone please explain why DD's school do this intake + half thing?

[vigglewiggle]

So on moving from reception to year 1, the class will be split and the oldest 15 children will go into a mixed yr1/yr2 class.

I've just about got my head around the mechanics of it and I think it will be fine. I'm just curious as to why the school does it? Does it mean more money for the school? Or is it actually a good idea?

[thisisyesterday]

well. it must be becausae they have tooo many children in each year group

so, if they have 45 year 1 children, and 45 year 2 children they couldn't have them all in one class could they?

so rather than having 4 classes (2 yr 1, and 2 yr 2) they have a split group class

means they don't need to have more space/teachers

[IndigoBell]

Because you get funding per head you need to keep classes as close to 30 as possible, that'll be why......

[vigglewiggle]

I get the bit about 45 children starting in reception needing to be reduced to classes of 30. I am guessing that they are squeezing the maximum number of children into the school.

But, is this purely financial? Are there not enough schools to accommodate single classes? Or is it actually a good idea for the children?

[PurveyorOfBaloney]

Ours does this and one of the teachers told me they had been given an allocation of 45 per year group (by council/LEA, I don't remember) so they had to do it this way. Apparently they had requested to have an intake of 60, but they would have to build more classrooms, they have the space to do so, but the council won't let them!

It does work out fine though apparently. The two groups are often introduced to the same topics e.g. some historical period or other, but the work they do on it is pitched at the right level for their year.

[IndigoBell]

No, it's not about the children.

It would cost money to increase the intake to 60, so they won't want to do that, and if they reduce the intake to 30 then 15 the won't have school places for 15 kids, so they won't want to do that....

I really don't think it's a big deal. In all classes you'll have a huge spread of abilities with kids working 2 years ahead and other kids working 2 years behind. The spread in a Y1/Y2 class may not be any different to the spread in a pure Y1 class........

But, personally I like bigger schools, so would prefer an intake of 45 to an intake of 30......

[vigglewiggle]

No, I'm fine with it, I was just wondering why they have such a complicated system. They don't openly explain why they do it which made me suspicious curious!

[JWIM]

It means that in the locality the LA data suggests there are not enough children to have a 2 full (30 children in each) classes intake but there are more than 30 children likely to want places each year. The infant class size regulations, as you note mean that classes are kept to a maximum 30. Presumably your year R classes are 22/23 each - so children benefit from a smaller class size at the outset of their education.

Mixed year teaching is not uncommon - how you divide, in your case, the Year 1 children between a sole year 1 and a mixed Year 1/2 is a moot point but should be made in the best interests of all the children in the cohort. It often results in parents couching the selection process in terms of children 'kept down' and 'damaged self esteem' and 'my child is brighter than yours' - I've heard all these but only from adults and never from children.

It takes, roughly, the income per child received by the school budget for 22-25 children per class teacher roughly to cover the overheads (salary, support costs, buildings, resources etc).

If they don't explain it it may just be because 'in school' is familiar with how it works and after a while forget it might be very new to new to school parents. Why not ask school rather than assume that the absence of an explanation has some sinister connotation.

[MovingAndScared]

My DS's (old) school is a 45 child intake - I don't think there would 't be room for a 2 class intake all the way through the school -ie not enough classroom - it seems to work just fine - and having the smaller R classes was also great

[PurveyorOfBaloney]

Ours mix right from reception, so we don't have that benefit. The teachers seem to have it in hand though, and I don't mind either way if DD ends up in a single YR or a mixed YR/Y1 class.

[peanutbutterkid]

If they don't explain it it may just be because 'in school' is familiar with how it works and after a while forget it might be very new to new to school parents

That is so true of so many things about how schools operate! DC school has an intake of 45-50, has a mix of single- and double-year classes, for every year except Reception & yr6.

[thejaffacakesareonme]

How do the parents of the younger year 2s feel about it though?

[GnomeDePlume]

My DCs were in this situation. I actually liked it and thought it was great for our children. We had one older and one younger in yr1/2 (this was NL but the principal is the same) and it worked for both.

[angelPeacock]

i recently looked back at an old school picture....i noticed there were kids in our class who i could have sworn were a year younger than me.....we were a 2 class per year school, and this kind of thing must have happened at some point to us......
i dont remember a thing! must have made a real big impression on me hahahahahahaha

[munstersmum]

It depends very much on how well the school manages it. From experience though I think it's hopeless when the intake is more than 30 but not enough for two classes. Older kids put into a R/yr1 class can miss out on the more learning through play, outdoors approach. When there is a yr1 trip they get left behind. Hard also if go to school not able to read.

DS is Aug born so when his split into Yr2 & Yr1/Yr2 he was put into the yr1/yr2 class despite having done maths with yr2's when he was in yr1! That school went strictly by DOB considering no other factors around maturity/friends/balance of boys& girls etc.

If mixed ability teaching/differentiation is the way forward agree all classes in such set up should be equally split ie 2x yr1/yr2

[vigglewiggle]

I guessed that they divided them by age to avoid the political minefield of assessing ability.

DD is in the younger side of the split, but it doesn't worry me, I actually think that will suit her better. I do think some parents wer a bit put-out about it though.

[popelloucla]

DD's school split by age, the KS1 classes are R, R/Y1, Y1, Y1/Y2, Y2. So the Y1s are split across three classes. It seems to work well and DD certainly benefited from being a Y1 in the R/Y1 class. As an August baby I suspect it will be the only time in her school life she will be one of the oldest in the class.

If splitting is done using criteria other than DOB, it would be open to all kinds of interpretation. With DOB there is nothing to argue over.

I'm waiting to see what will happen in September as the intake is increasing from 45 to 60.

[ceebeegeebies]

Ooh OP - does your child go to my DS1's school That is exactly what is happening with him next year - there ar 40+ children in Reception and they then split into either Yr 1 or Yr 1/2 class next year.

[ceebeegeebies]

cat64 interesting as apparently they have always done it in age previously at DS1's school (the oldest children go into the mixed class) but this year, the Reception teachers have decided to do it on 'ability' and have proposed their choices but we have a new headteacher who will presumably have his own ideas on how to do it.

We are all waiting with baited breath at the moment to see which class our DC will move into next year (so we can start the hand-wringing and complaining )