If you yourself went to a very small primary school...

[IaskBoringQuestions]

... can you tell me your views on going to one?
Are there any pros and cons you can list to having gone to a small school?

(Sorry for such a dull thread)

I ask because I went to a large city primary and so did my first child.

So now for my 3 year old I can apply for her September 2021 primary School place- tomorrow! -eeek.
And I am in the catchment now for a very small village school- they typically have 8-10 pupils per year group.

And while I know there are good points to a small school I worry that her chances of having good friends will be much lower.
In my year at school there were 60 kids my age. In my oldest child’s year there were 90 kids his age!!
And that was good because we each had loads of friends.
A big school meant loads of school trips and residentials. Lots of parties to go to etc.

A small school I assume means more attention and better chances to learn without distraction.

Any experiences or advice much appreciated, I will read every one.

There were five in my primary school class, and less than eighty in the whole school.

Four classrooms. The headmaster taught two year groups and spent half the time on the phone. It was in quite a wealthy area and a lot of children went to the village school for a few years, then went into private education. I stayed, but my parents also got me a tutor.

I did a lot of after school activities so knew other children through that, and so knew some other girls when I went on to grammar school. No one from my primary school went to the same secondary school as I did and i didn’t keep up any friendships From my primary school class.

The parents In the school all knew each other, and it was very very gossipy. But I do have fond memories of he little school.

My whole primary school was 12 students. I loved it we were all from the local village. My gran was a teacher there too. We all got very tailored attention to our learning needs so those who needed extra help got it straight away . We went on plenty of school trips.

Con: starting secondary school I was very frightened and didn’t know anyone but I soon made friends. Told everyone I was never leaving my primary school

I went to a small primary (

I did, by the end of primary there were only five in my year group.

The positives were that there was always composite classes so you mixed with both older and younger children so learned to mix and adapt.

And whilst technically more teacher attention the flip side was whether you were in the older or younger year group- younger, you benefited from earlier teaching of the older syllabus and vice versa.

The downside was that there was always bickering and if the 4 others in your year group weren’t your tribe then tough.

Also, no sport at all or school trips.

My kids go to a huge primary but at least I know that they will have friends and the transition to high school will be much easier.

I chose a two-form entry school for DC1 over the small primary (approximately 100 children) that was closer location-wise. The two main things that swung it for us were the lack of wraparound care (the small primary suggested using a childminder) and more extracurricular activities available at the larger school.

I was also concerned about mixed-year teaching and how that might pan out for my DC over the years (the small school only had 4 classes). The boy/girl split is also a gamble as you might not know until the first day of school how many will make up your child's year group and they could end up with a very small number of same-sex friends.

My children attend a small village school where there is a maximum of 20 children per classroom and that’s two year groups blended in one class! There’s around 100 children total in the entire school

I really like it as my children get additional support if they need it and they have gone on some fantastic trips that just wouldn’t have been possible at their other primary school which had 42 kids in one year group so it’s a big difference.

There’s no real issue with friends and I think it’s because there isn’t that many children so it’s harder to exclude someone as it’s noticed quicker

Around 60 kids in three classes in my primary school.
My kids have 90 children per year in their three form entry school ...

I was overwhelmed by their massive school at first, but now I can see advantages. Especially in music, they have multiple choirs and an orchestra, things I didn't get until secondary.

Sports wise there's much more going on too.

But I'd still prefer a smaller school, it's lovely. You're known so much better.

I lived in a small community and went to a small primary of 90 pupils, albeit many years ago.

The one issue I found was that there wasn't the scope to accommodate pupils' particular skills/interests. There were too few pupils for it to be anything other than very standard, very one size fits all.

For instance, there was no music provision. When I went to high school I found many of my classmates played violin, piano, tuba, bassoon etc etc etc. We had been completely left behind.

I joined mine later in Juniors and it was awful. I went from happy, lots of friends and confident to being excluded and bullied. All the friendships groups were well established and no one wanted a “new girl”. There were also very set ways of doing things at this school...I was considered weird because all the girls in my class (8 of them!) had their hair cut short every summer , I was the only one who hadn’t been to Centre Parcs, I didn’t have a sibling etc etc. It was just really cliquey and hard to fit into. I felt like an outsider until I left and was only allowed to be friends with other “outsiders”. It wasn’t an inclusive environment at all and I found it oppressive.

I often wonder if I’d have liked it there if I’d started in reception and I’m not sure. It was just a bit weird! I went to a big senior school and fitted in much better, floating between a few different groups and cliques and getting along with most people. Except those who had friends at the old school who told them to bully me as soon as they met me.

Maybe it was just my weird little school though!

We have moved from classes of 32 and 2 classes to a year group to a school with 24 kids which includes nursery!! DD is thriving with the more one to one mentality. She says she prefers the smaller school.

FYI 1 teacher for nursery, 1 for P1-3 and 1 for P4-7. DD is one of 9 in her group.

I went to a tiny Primary school in a rural area and it was awful. There were 4 girls in my year other than me.
My DC went to a large Primary and there was always someone to play with if they fell out with someone, plus when it was time to transition to Secondary it was easier for the dc going to a large school.

I loved my time in Infants in a tiny school. I thrived. The teacher was wonderful.

I hated my time in Juniors in that tiny school. It scarred me for life. The teacher was mean and shit. I was stuck with her for 3 years (yrs 4,5,6). One year and then a new teacher would have been tolerable. Three years at that age was too much. My MH was wrecked.

Our village school has 58 kids in total 5-11, there’s usually 6-9 kids per year with only 2 classes of mixed ages. It has excellent results but the downside is no wraparound care so I’m not sure we’ll be able to use it. There’s only 1 childminder and she’s booked up for years.
I so also worry that it’s a huge leap to secondary but there are more positives than negatives I think.

My DD didn't enjoy going to a small country primary. There was 4 other girls in her class who all lived in the same cul-de-sac and were in a very tight clique.

She was much happier when we moved to a bigger town where there were 90 other kids in her school year to choose friendships from

I am in my late 50s now but remember vividly the problems I had in a mixed year class in primary school. In the end my parents took me out of that school and sent me to a private school. I am fortunate that paying was an option for my parents.

I was adamant that my own children would never go to a school with mixed school age classes and rejected our local school on this basis alone.

DD was one of three kids in her year at primary, less than 20 in her mixed (yrs 3-6) class. Its not great for her socially, but she has lots of friends outside school. It has been really good academically as she's been able to work with older year groups and move ahead.

She's starting high school now and I was looking forward to her having more kids in her class but now she's one of 14!! So will have even fewer in her class, albeit all her age. It is what it is, there are pluses and minuses wherever you go.

Reflecting on this I do think a tiny primary school effected me friendship wise.

The two other girls in my class were very different to me. We weren’t really friends, with each other. I remember primary school being a bit lonely, and was really jealous of my cousins who went to big city primary schools and had lots of friends and were always at birthday parties.

I have struggled with friendships ever since. Never really get them right. It might not be related, but I remember trying to be someone different so upI could get on with one of the girls in my class.

Ten girls in my primary school year, twenty boys.

It was hard to make close friends with anyone - I got on with everyone but there was nobody I “clicked” with until High School.

No clubs except for choir, there just weren’t the numbers. No orchestra, no sports teams.

Limited sports in PE - we played a lot of rounders because team numbers didn’t matter. No facilities - everything was done in the playground, we didn’t have a gym or sports pitches.

No “sets” or stretch work, again because the numbers made it not worthwhile. So we went at the speed of the slowest person in the room. Which was slow. I went to a different school overseas for a year, and when I came back I was about two years ahead of everyone else.

Like some pp I went to a tiny village school under 30 in 2 classes- infants and juniors until my parents moved when I was about 10. I remember it as very idyllic, the whole school playing together or in a couple of different games/activities, all sorts of trips and fun outings including a couple of residential stays away, friendships across the ages even though I felt I was different and when new children came in they were accepted and absorbed even the one with very limited English from Scandinavia. Teaching wise I did well and was taught English with older children which I excelled in except when I moved I was behind in maths. I also found the transition into a larger (perhaps 40 in the year) middle school hard. I think it depends on the child and my dd is in a small class of 9 with about 18 in the year which I think is ideal.

I personally went to one with 4 composite classes in all; and one of my DSs experienced a lovely village school of only 70 in total but only for his reception year as we then moved abroad. I think there are likely more pros than cons. I personally found Maths very stretching as the headteacher used to teach us; and he had no hesitation in doing pythagorus theorem and bases at age 7/8 and I know for sure these were repeated in first year senior (Y7) several years later. I think he was just frustrated at staying at a lower level and it maybe isn't the norm. It should in theory be easier for a bright child to do more advanced work in a composite class, as it should have already been prepared for the older ones. I would suggest visiting the school and letting your gut reaction make your decision.

Some of these small schools sound big to me! 2-5 kids per year, 30ish total in 2 classes here

Good:
Friendships across year groups
Opportunities to do everything, everyone got a role in school plays etc
Mixed year groups meant teacher was flexible, if you were gifted you could work years ahead and vice versa
Strong community ties
Kids stayed kids for longer, getting to secondary school to meet people talking about boys was a shock
Really caring teacher relationships, you'd pay a fortune for that pupil:teacher ratio at private schools

Bad:
Sports teams were a laughing stock, if you're playing other schools with 11 year olds and you need 6 year olds to make up numbers
It got a bit boring by the end, same faces all the time
I had great friendships and am still close to some today but there's less chance of finding your tribe

@ChristmasCarcass

Ten girls in my primary school year, twenty boys.

It was hard to make close friends with anyone - I got on with everyone but there was nobody I “clicked” with until High School.

No clubs except for choir, there just weren’t the numbers. No orchestra, no sports teams.

Limited sports in PE - we played a lot of rounders because team numbers didn’t matter. No facilities - everything was done in the playground, we didn’t have a gym or sports pitches.

No “sets” or stretch work, again because the numbers made it not worthwhile. So we went at the speed of the slowest person in the room. Which was slow. I went to a different school overseas for a year, and when I came back I was about two years ahead of everyone else.

Do you mean there were thirty children in your year, so around two hundred in the school?

That’s not a small school - that’s huge😂

I didn't myself, but my now young adult/older teen children went to a very small primary school with about 40 -45 children across all years. They were all very happy and thrived there but of course there are pros and cons. Our main points woud be :
Pros
Lots of individual attention
Mixed classes made it very easy to be working at different levels according to ability rather than age.
Very happy family atmosphere- any behaviour issues sorted very quickly as its very obvious to the teachers what is going on.
Everyone took part in everything. As the numbers are small its not a case of picking teams for sporting events etc, everyone gets to participate. I found that this led to my children doing things that they wouldn't necessarily have chosen to, and then discovering that they actually liked the activities. It has carried on as they've grown up too as they are all very good at having a go at more or less anything. In fact one of the teachers at their secondary school commented that it is a feature of pupils from our village school that they tend to be more prepared to try new things and are often the first to volunteer for stuff.
From the parental point of view, you get to know the staff well which makes it easier to deal with any problems.
Cons
Lack of choice of friends is the big one. We didn't find this an issue at all with 2 of our children but one of them is a bit quirky and didn't have a lot in common with the other children around the same age. It wasn't really a huge issue but he certainly made more friends at secondary.
If they (or you!) don't get on with a particular teacher, child or parent its hard to avoid them. We didn't find this a problem ourselves but know one of two people who did.
Transition to secondary can be a bit of a shock to the system but generally kids adapt pretty quickly and especially if you are in an area where there are lots of small schools then the secondaries are usually well used to dealing with the transition.
Overall my children were very happy and did well academically in their small village school and if I had the time again I wouldn't change anything. By Year 6 they had all "outgrown" the school and were definitely ready to move to secondary where they have also thrived. For us, tbe pros of a small school definitely outweighed the cons, but I can see it wouldn't suit everyone.

Thanks so much for your replies I’ve read every one of them with interest.

• and I still don’t know what to do

Lots of positives and negatives really.

It kind of boils down to do I chose better Chance of learning or better chance of friendships.
And I think both are very important.

I'm not sure more choice leads to better more stable friendships. In a village friendships transcend your own year. You are friends with who's there. IME at least.