Thoughts on large (280) vs smaller (130) state secondaries?

Do those figures include private secondary schools (which tend to be smaller?). We have one near us that only takes 25 in a year (which I do think is too small).

I agree it varies by area. I'm in a mid-sized city and our smallest secondaries take 150 in a year and the biggest 480. Whereas my friend in rural Wales sends her child to a school with 90 in a year, and that's normal to her. I guess the takeaway for OP is that individual schools are used to being the size that they are and making it work for their students.

My dd school has a 240 intake. They split registration, tutorial groups and games/PE by sex. Then they have core lessons with their class and are in smaller (different groups) for more practical lessons (HE, science etc). Sounds like a timetabling nightmare but dd gets to have lessons with lots of different groups so increases likelihood of meeting your tribe.

Look at...

• how classes are arranged. Do they split the year, teach mainly in form groups, set across the year etc.
• options at GCSE. We have a 2 class secondary school locally, who all do the same GCSEs as an extrreme example! But bigger schools can mean more options
• extracurricular options. If you want something mainstream like boys football, smaller might mean a better chance of making the team. On the other hand, bigger schools could have more niche options.
• facilities. These will ve different between schools. My friends school has a climbing wall. Ours has its own campsite and an outdoors education programme as core curriculum (camping, hiking, team work skills etc)

On the friend thing, just to give the flip side, DD1 went to a huge school with 240 intake. Bounced around different friendship groups for 5 years. In a way it was good, because when her friends were being shit, she could walk away. But she also never learned to analyse her own behaviour in these blow ups.

DD2 goes to a tiny school, 30 per year (yes, it's independent). We worried that she'd have nowhere to turn if she fell out with her friends. Instead all the girls are very good at resolving their issues, there's a lot more compromise, and the staff help them talk through their disagreements and find common ground. She realises some of these girls will be friends for life, some will fade into acquaintances, if that.

It's great preparation for work... you don't get to pick who you spend 8 hours a day with, you find your closest people, and figure out how to make it work with the rest.

My DCs school is about 280 per year. They have 2 groups per year that initially they have classes between. I went to a 180 per year school.

It doesn’t feel too big. Parents evening the teachers know even my quiet child well. I see a lot of great interaction between pupils and teachers, They have a very good range of academic subjects that suit my DC. Their GCSE options weren’t restricted by timetable constraints. They have sets now they are in GCSE years. Lots of after school clubs.

Downsides are my DC don’t play any sport for the school, which maybe they would if smaller school. Unsporty me got roped into hockey for the school when I was a teenager.

But overall one 280 school can be as different to another 280 school as it might be to a 180 school.

Just for context on school sizes, I googled and the average secondary school size (a couple of years ago) is (or was) just over 1,000 pupils (so 200 in a year or fewer if it has a sixth form).

About 10% of secondary schools (in 2012, data is old, but figures won’t have changed that much) had more than 1500 pupils (= 300 per year unless sixth form is included).

I guess it varies a lot from area to area. Certs 2,000 pupils is by a long long way the biggest school in Derbyshire.

I think in general more children=more chance of finding friends.

Yes. I went to two secondary schools (because we moved), and much preferred the larger one despite being a shy diffident child.

I think in general more children=more chance of finding friends.

My experience with my child's own (bigger than yours) school is that it's highly unlikely that your child will mix with everyone in the year group. In fact in Year 7, they adopted an approach of teaching most subjects in the same class group and the few others in a group mixed with 2 other classes. So your child spent most of their class time with the same 29 other people and all of their class time with fewer than 89 other people. Schools are generally conscious of helping their children to settle in! A question for open day anyway.

I'm also assuming your child is at most Year 5 as next year applications are already made, so by the time they start Year 7 in 18 months time they will also be more grown up and able to cope than they are now.

(280 in a year is probably average in my area; certainly wouldn't be considered "large").

280 would probably be about normal now, if not a bit small.

That's certainly not true at least in my area (East Mids).

By far the biggest school in my area has just under 2000 students, inc a sixth form of about 4-500, so that's about 300 per year for KS3 and 4. But the vast majority of local schools have about 1,000-1200 students inc a sixth form, so about 180-200 in a year.

Not that it really makes much difference to the OP's question, but no, 280 in a year is not a small school. It is very likely to be the biggest school in the area.

280 would probably be about normal now, if not a bit small. 130 per year is very small, I don't know of any local schools near me that are that small other than brand new ones that aren't at full capacity yet. My concerns would be - why is the school so small and how financially is it keeping going? Is it part of a larger school, or a larger group of schools that share some costs or facilities? There will probably be limited course options at GCSE and more limited facilities for sports etc.

I’d be inclined to go for the bigger school tbh @ParentOfOne

280 in a year is very big school but that can certainly have benefits:

• Greater range of GCSE options
• Better range of clubs
• More chance to find people you get on with – be that Magic the Gathering or footie
• Good number of teachers meaning you should have specialists at least for GCSE years

Does the school treat them as a cohort of 280? I have known of schools who sort of split themselves in two, and operate as if two 140-intake.

I remember talking about a big school once and asking how the headteacher could possibly know all the pupils. The replay was, "Don't be silly. They don't even know all the teachers!"

Bigger school = more money = better staffing structure.
Given the current underfunding plus teacher retention crisis, I'd go for the bigger school which would have more of a buffer against these factors, hopefully reducing the staff turnover/supply teachers your daughter comes across and also reducing the violent /disruptive behaviours she will face from other pupils.

I also think a wider pool of children increases the likelihood of her finding friends with shared interests, especially if hers are niche. Also more children=she can change friendship groups if necessary, rather than sticking to one her whole school life because there are no alternatives.

280 pupils in total or do you mean an intake of 280 each year?