Tips for helping children entering composite classes

[Badbudgeter]

Our school has always been a single form entry. Due to shrinking numbers they are going to composite all the classes. What this means for my children who are the oldest in their years is they go into the year above with another 3/4 children. It is a shame as they’ve known most of their classmates since they were 2/3 toddler playgroup and nursery. Dd 8 is gutted as her bff won’t be in her class anymore.

It is what it is but it’s not ideal from my viewpoint. Doing well academically but will it be a shock going from oldest/ top groupings to youngest bottom groupings? DS is quite an anxious child who can struggle socially, the kids in his class are a really nice bunch who are very tolerant of each other’s quirks and personalities. Which has given him a lot of support over the years.

I really want to build him up before the move but unsure how?

I'm confused. Do you have a son and an 8 year old daughter, both moving to the composite class?
In any case, I wouldn't worry about it until September - they won't be mixing up classes at this point. The teacher will be prepared for the change. If you try to 'prepare' your child/children, it's only likely to make them think it's a big deal.

Sorry, my reading skills can't be great. I missed the bit about 'my children.'

My kids are both in composite classes and I think it’s stretched them both (both are the youngest in their groupings)

try not to worry - they see their friends at break

Maths and English are taught separately so try not to worry (teacher splits the class in half)

We’ve only ever been in schools with this set up. I think it works well actually. They have a broader range of peers in their class but they also do things that are specific to their year group. And the class dynamics switch every year which I think actually is a nice shake up. There have been no downsides for mine.

One local school we looked at is just EYFS/KS1 and KS2. Two classes with R/Y1/2 and Y3-6. There’s only 30 kids in the whole school though! That feels like a stretch, but 2 year groups per class has worked well and lots of rural schools do it.