Am I right to be trepidatious about a 1200 pupil secondary school?

[tinseloatcake]

We are looking to move house to get into catchment for a good secondary school, and all the schools I am looking at are 10 form entry with 1200 odd pupils. I think that is a huge amount, and a far cry from the 300 including 6th form of my childhood, and my DHs.

I know school is about setting them up for life but am not convinced that something that big is part of an essential life experience.

Am I wrong on this?

(all good schools, or even ofsted outstanding in many cases)

Mine was 8 form entry and that was considered pretty average at the time (90s). 300 is absolutely tiny!

That's the same size as the comprehensive I went to in the 1980s.

DH went to a secondary school of 300 pupils. Rural area. That seems crazy small to me. My school was 6 form entry in the 80s/90s, nowadays that school is 8 form entry. Most other schools are 10 form entry including DC1’s who starts in September (blew my DH’s mind too).

DD goes to a secondary with 1200 girls Y7-11 plus a Sixth Form of around 300. The Sixth Form is a different building though, but they do share labs, sport and the dining facilities.

It works well. Lots of clubs, music opportunities, huge library, good equipped science labs and IT provisions. We just had to choose GCSE Options and the list was long and varied.

Only drawback DD ever complains about is the issue with getting hot lunch, too long queues and not enough time. The school acknowledges it but if it comes to choose between a second canteen or books/equipment the latter wins. So around 1/2 just brings in packed lunch.

I went to a ten form entry high school. It was great.

I've never heard of such a small secondary as yours

Mine wasn't that much bigger.

Private, like the OP's

10 forms of 30 is 300 pupils per year-that is going to be a lot more than 1200!

My DC's have been at one of the best state schools in the country and it is enormous. It's a high school - years 9 -13 with over 2500 pupils (800 in the 6th form)
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But they have a strong pastoral system, divided into 4 colleges. And they have the same tutor all the way though (unless someone leaves!)

It has genuinely never felt like a school of that size, they work hard to ensure that everything remains personal. My youngest DD starts there in September and I am really excited to be part of it again.

Normal. We are semi rural and local secondary is 1200 without sixth form.
Dd (13) is thriving. Higher numbers, more likely to find their crowd.

My secondary school had 2,200 pupils. It was a great school, and there were lots of subjects available at GCSE and A level, plus more flexibility in the timetable to take less usual combinations of subjects.

Usual number for a secondary school, many have upper & lower schools, so around 600 per site. Kids always cope with the change, try it to worry.

My DC all went to the local state comp. Huge school, over 2500 pupils. The economies of scale meant they could offer a range of subjects, activities and extra curricular options which a smaller school could not hope to offer.

Pastoral care was managed by splitting the school into houses which were largely self contained. Form tutors stayed with them from yr7-11, 6th formers were grouped into mixed year tutorial groups with the same tutor for the two years.

It never felt like a big anonymous school due to the structure and organisation and the DC did well there.

@ChocOrange1

However, a 10 form entry school is going to be a lot more than 1200 pupils. 10 forms, 25 kids per form, 5 year groups. That's 1250 - sounds about right.

25 is about average for a "form" although classes might be larger or smaller.

"Form entry" is an normally related to admissions though - and refers to taking the maximum number into a "form" which is usually 30 unless the school is constrained to have smaller groups by e.g. space. So 10 form entry would be 300 children, however they choose to split them into classes in school.

If the OP's school only has 25 in classes that sounds like a huge plus point :)

I hated my big secondary but I think the problem was that there wasn't really any pastoral care and the teachers didn't seem to be supported by their management when it came to things like discipline. It all felt a bit Lord of The Flies.

There are however lots of potential advantages like more subject options and opportunities for extra curriculular activities. I'd be open minded and find out as much about this side as you can.

That's smaller than the secondary I work at

Rural areas so a fairly large catchment

It's not that unusual. Many of the top schools in Surrey are this size. Ds1 and Ds2 are at the local Catholic school, it's fab, with very good pastoral care.

My kids school is about 1000. Size wise it’s good, actually brilliant academically and pastorally but it doesn’t offer as much As the bigger schools. In addition the choice of A level subjects is really focused on the traditional core ones. Eg you’re fine if you want to do STEM, maths, English history politics economics etc but no music, D&T, drama etc at A level

If the OP's school only has 25 in classes that sounds like a huge plus point smile

I have no idea on this point but will try to find out. Also I now know to delve into the pastoral system too.

It is a cracking school by all accounts, I suspect well known by some as the towns it is in always come up on "where shall I move in Birmingham" threads.

Interested in the tribe, subject combos and extra curricular arguments for sure.