DS going into a class of 33 kids. Should I get a tutor?

[Wellhellothere101]

Looking for some advice. My 8 year old DS has just found out his new teacher etc for next year (primary 5, Scotland) and he will be in a class of 33 children. 24 boys and 9 girls. His class size this year was 19. He gets on fine academically and socially but I'm a bit worried about the sheer number of children in his year and how the teacher will manage this. Would it be ridiculous for me to get him a tutor to give him a bit more one to one support? If so, what kind of tutor do I look for? Thanks

See how he gets on first, they might (hopefully) have a TA to help out, but you're right that's a hell of a lot of kids

Depends on the class and if they are all good workers or kids who like to play up and avoid working

Isn't it @QueenoftheBayou? Poor bloody teacher!

The average class size when I was at school was around 30 kids, we all coped fine. We had a ta in a separate room for a handful of children we needed a bit extra support but apart from that we were all fine and got all we needed. I think it will depend on your child, see how he gets on and how he feels in a larger class.

Good point @ifoundthebread. My class sizes in primary were huge too and I don't think I suffered because of it. It's just because he's been in smaller classes previously. I'll see how he gets on first.

When I was little although the classes weren’t so large it was a combination of two years (every other year and our year was always the younger year). Poor bloody teacher! We turned out ok!

See how it goes.

Mine had an average of around 30 students in each class most years. I think your DS was fortunate to be in a small class size of 19 last year and that's why 33 seems especially large. I think my class sizes were always between 28 to 35-ish and like the previous poster said, if everyone's well behaved, it shouldn't be an issue. So the number of disruptive students will be a more important factor.

I think that was normal sized classes when we were at school and that was without a TA

I wouldn't rush to get a tutor at this stage until you see how things are.

My first primary school I was in a class of 5 including myself (very small village). We moved and I went to a school with class sizes of around 30 and I did just fine all through primary. I would wait and see how he gets on.

33 unfortunately is becoming the norm in P4 and up. (I think the limits are 25 in P1, 30 in P2 & 3 and then 33 in P4 up.)

My advice would be watch and wait - keep a close eye and step in with a tutor if you need it. It all depends on the class makeup and also the teacher. DS had a class of 33 in P4 with a particularly ‘boisterous’ group of boys and a teacher who was lovely but just didn’t have the ability to keep that group of boys under control. The combination of the two was disastrous and I felt DS lost a lot of ground that year.

Mine was in a class size of 33. He has ASD and there were other issues but he’s now in a different school in a class of 25. Much better. Personally I think it’s too big at primary age and too noisy. I’d wait and see how he gets on before hiring a tutor just for the sake of it.

We were 36 and I've turned out ok!

I'd wait and see. He's been really lucky being in such a small class, but the teacher might have help. Give it a go and see how the first month or so goes I reckon.

I wouldn't say you NEED to get a tutor because of a class size of 33, but you aren't being unreasonable to do so.
Tutors really helped my kids (who were towards to bottom range of ability) to understand things that they had not understood in class because the pace of learning was too fast for them.

I wouldn’t get a tutor at 8 but I would find resources to back up the work he’s doing.
Find a maths site and do some regular work on that, get some English work books, lots of reading.
Don’t go overboard but 15 mins a day a few times a week should be enough.

Thanks everyone. Good idea re the maths sites @Beechview. Though I wouldn't really know where to start. When he was struggling with comprehension I tried to get him some books to help but it was a minefield trying to work out what KS he was at. When I discussed it with his teacher she said not to bother with books and just chat to him about characters in stories etc. Anyway I bought the books and it was way above his level of comprehension. Sorry if any typos I'm at the gym

MathsFactor is quite good for that age.
My dcs School subscribes to Education City so we get access to that. It’s very kid friendly.
As for workbooks, cgp for the year your child is in are good.

Lots of visits to the library and watching documentaries on tv help too. I found it just sparked an interest in the world around them and an enthusiasm for learning but of course, every child is different.

I agree with chatting about the books you read to see how much they comprehend and just get them interested in the story.

Thanks @Beechview. Sorry just noticed your post. I'll work out which KS he is at as the Scottish system is different to the English. These look really helpful. Thanks again