AIBU to think changing schools may be the right thing to do?

Where I work has had both models, though the schools are considerably smaller than that in the OP. Both have worked. I've also known it to just be a headteacher job and how much actual SENCO work goes on is debatable. Having an individual SENCO for a small school is expensive though.

Quite a lot of schools have a SENCo across academies. So a TA could take on an assistant senco role.

Mixed cohorts are common in small schools too, but mixing those year groups are a bit much. If you can move them to a different school I probably would.

Similar size school to the one my kids attended and I'm a governor of. The finances for schools our size are getting to "squeaky bum time" but I wouldn't be happy with that range of year groups combined at all - I've personally taught year 2/3 combined and that cross key-stage is a tricky combination, let alone with Y4 in it as well.

We're 15 per year group - broken into Reception as a single year class (in a smaller room as well), Y1/2, Y3/4, and Y5/6. I'd be worried about the planning cycle as well as that's going to have been set up on a 2 year cycle so the kids don't end up doing the Egyptians for 2 years on the trot etc - all of that is going to have been thrown out.

I'd be incredibly concerned about the loss of the SENCO, and the Head not knowing who each child is - our Head (granted he's the biggest kid going) knows each and every child and family down to parents' first names, plus football team supported and probably favourite Pokemon and/or dinosaur! (Like I say - biggest kid going bless him)

I did move my kids previously from a larger school that was incredibly badly run and where one child was starting to experience really targeted bullying - one child struggled more than the other - but she's a child who historically struggles at every transition point and the school were very supportive to get her settled and happy there.

Really usual school organisation near me.

Federations of 2, 3, 4 and 6 small schools with various leadership models, headteacher/executive head teacher, heads of school or senior teachers. Shared headteacher and SENCo across the federation.

Schools have either two classes (R, 1, 2) and (3, 4, 5, 6) or any combination determined by numbers in each year group. Some schools have three classes, again year groups in each class determined by numbers.

Cuts to school budgets and removal of the sparsity grants by the Conservative government, demand such arrangements if schools, especially those in villages, are to survive.

My guess is that other parents will also be considering moving their children so you may find that some of DD's current friends move to new schools leaving an even smaller year group. Who knows then what might happen next year.

If she was in Year 5/6 I would leave her but in your position I would move. It may feel as if you are abandoning a sinking ship (albeit it's been a great school to this point) but at least this way the move is within your control.

If it helps, when my dd was in primary they decided to combine yrs 4 & 5. I was concerned at the time as it wasn’t previously & I do think the standard dropped. That said they had really strong teachers in yr 6 who really pulled out all the stops so she did do ok. I haven’t heard of a school combining different ks’s before though. My dd is now under SEN but wasn’t in primary so I’m not sure about this part.

So will it be Reception/yr1, y2/3/4, then 5/6?

There will need to be less than 30 in the class as the infant limit will apply (or is yr4 splitting in two perhaps?)

Sustainable with mixed age classes, not with single year group classes with 14 children in.

@Smartiepants79 the school where I'm Chair of Governors has exactly the same arrangement.

We are opening a nursery in September to ensure continuity of numbers in the school, and provide a little extra income.

But, like you, we are financially stable.

No it’s not.
That is the model our school is set up under - 15 per year group with combined year groups. 3 classes of 30 and 15 in reception.
We are full and doing just fine. Budget is tight but no worse than any other school I’m aware of.

This sounds like a sinking ship I’m afraid. Look at overall pupil numbers over the last few years and see if you can see a pattern of decline. If so, I suspect a lot of families will be trying to leave for other schools and you don’t want to be the last.

So what's the class size going to be? That would be my first question.

Many years ago I went to a small primary school. I think there were about 50 people in total. Each class had a desk. I was really happy. I was really upset when my parents pulled me out at the end of year 5 because they thought the teaching wasn't good enough.
You don't know if the next school will be better. I remember reading on mn that you should never pull a happy child out of a school he/he is happy at. I agree with that message.

This is financially unsustainable.

If there is no money to fund teachers what do you expect them to do? I'm not being snarky it's an honest question.
Education has been underfunded for years and the results of policy for the years during and since Gove are coming back to bite us all. Schools have been good, too good, at putting a brave face on for the world and managing massive issues and challenges but we can't pull a rabbit out of a hat...

Very interesting, I teach in a small rural school, we work closely with the schools in the neighbouring villages, sharing planning etc. We aren’t officially a federation though. We all have our own SENCO, even though we have less than 10 EHCPS across the 6 schools.

It is allowed and is common in small, federated schools. Some very small schools don't even have a Deputy Head, just a senior teacher on a TLR.

A large composite class wouldn’t bother me in a school where the staff were used to it, but putting three year groups together in a 100 pupil school seems extreme to me.

I wonder if they’re hoping the roll will drop even further and eventually they’ll be allowed to close that school if they have spaces in their other ones locally

I suspect this is part of an academy trust?
Sharing a senco is probably allowed in these circumstances as is sharing a head teacher.
100 on roll is not particularly tiny. And shouldn’t warrant the need for mixed classes of that many year groups.
How many in the class? If there aren’t enough kids to make more than one class out of years 2,3&4 where are all the rest of the 100 children?
We have similar numbers and are running classes that are practically full - yrs 1/2 3/4 5/6

Sounds like it's a small school. You know you can access the 3 year budget plan by asking for copies of their governing board minutes and associated papers? In a small school the SENCO can be part-time and definitely in a multi academy trust or even a maintained school with a collaborative agreement they can be shared.

I’m not sure that’s allowed.
I’ve never worked anywhere that hasn’t had its own SENCO. It is sometimes someone doing a dual role so Assistant Head or Deputy Head and SENCO.