To send my extroverted DC to a tiny village school?

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I'm thinking of moving rurally.

We currently live in central London and eldest DC goes to a 2 form entry school with classes of nearly 30 (school is undersubscribed). She is an extrovert and very social and active.

We are thinking of moving very rurally, where the entire school will have less pupils than in her year. There will be small (circa 10-15 pupils) composite classes.

To me this sounds great to have such small class sizes, but I'm not sure how she will find the change, and the social side. I also wonder what the reality of such a small school is.

Is this an entirely nutty idea?

With mixed classes one year the child will be the in youngest half of the class and if bright can work with the older half, but the following year they will be in the older half themselves so can't work with older children (although could work with the younger ones helping them to understand etc)

We moved to a village with a school of 63 pupils... Dd was 6 when we moved and an extrovert. She fitted in very well and loves it! If she’s generally friendly and gets on with other children she’ll probably be fine, though there’s always some risk with a move like that. I wouldn’t let this be the reason to stop you from loving.

No, not a nightmare! Her current teacher is very fond of her and she has won awards for good behaviour. (I'm not quite sure why extroverted would equal a nightmare!)

London to very rural is a huge leap. They won't thank you as teens. We moved out of London to a pretty smaller city with good state schools. The estate agent said most of her house moves were Londoners moving very rural to one of the villages outside the smaller city - then 2 years later moving into the small city.

Kerala is it really that bad?

Most of the larger houses in this area are bought by southerners, as locals can't afford them, and they do settle (then move as they are old and need to downsize).

My worry is if we stay in London she wouldn't thank us after being pressurised to join a gang at eleven.

We have a small village school, 3 classes for the whole school. I love it. The big ones look out for the little ones. It's genuinely lovely. A new child is always a source of excitement and they seem to fit in quickly.

However, I'm sure that able children still do the work for their year, they don't go and work with the year above. I'm not a teacher but I think that's how primary education is now, whatever school. I'm happy to be corrected! The more able children do the syllabus for their year but in more depth, rather than moving on to a new topic.

Personally I’d choose a house nearer one of the bigger schools. I think that children can struggle socially in very small schools as they have less of a choice of peer group, so I’d see composite classes of 10-15 as a negative. That’s just my opinion though.

My DD is extrovert and she went to a very small primary with just 10 in her class. She loved it, the only issue she had was being “made” to be friends with the other 3 girls in the class as it is so obvious if someone is being left out, she used to really dislike 1 girl in the class, (so did the rest of the class) but they were not allowed to dislike her. It will be fine unless your daughter is that 1 girl the others don’t like. Hope this has made sense!

I think I'd avoid somewhere that only had two classes for the whole school, but 3 or so will be fine, as long as the school is decent. I think friendly is the most important thing at primary, beyond Ofsted results. I don't think I'd view tiny as a special positive though.

There are entire communities and secondary schools full of rural kids - you don't need to somehow avoid the entirety of the countryside for an imaginary problem. You have to accept that they'll need driving places sometimes, but it's generally okay. I grew up in the country and my brother is still growing up there. You spend time out on your bike or in the fields, yes, but villages still have football clubs and dance classes and the such like. They're young enough now not to miss the city and the freedom they may (or may not, if there are gang problems) get.

They will probably be ok but the secondary school would worry me more. My kids go to a secondary that's twice that size and there's so much opportunity in a bigger school to explore hobbies and interests and different subjects.

It's just such an extreme move. Why so rural? There are plenty of decent smaller cities and towns outside London.

I grew up in a village so coming at it from that angle. Sod all for teens to do, a lifetime of driving. I still get a thrill from being able to walk to cinema, bars and restaurants! Villages can be insular everyone knows you and all about you. Well they did in my village. You might all love it but ...I wouldn't!

Have you considered what the public transport is like, and opportunities for extra-curricular activities once they're at secondary? We moved from a large town to a tiny very rural village when I was 11 and while there were some benefits (safety, beautiful countryside), it was pretty dreadful as a teen, (90 minutes on a very infrequent bus just to get to some clothes shops etc). The school was also fairly poor and there was no alternative unless I wanted a 45 mile round trip every day. I know that wasn't what you asked, but it's worth considering the long-term implications. Although if the alternative is gang-membership and kids at school with knives then definitely go rural!

Every single family bar none we met and befriended in our small city had just moved from London

Socially gregarious children tend to fit in everywhere This.
I went to a tiny rural school and we all achieved well. I taught in one and I actually believe that children were better able to cope at secondary.
There's nowhere to hide so everyone has speaking parts in the school play. You have much more chance of playing in the school team. So confidence is developed. The only downside is a limited social group.

My dgc are in a village primary with composite classes. There are 4 classes Nursery/Reception, Yr1/2, Yr3/4, Yr5/6. Each class has between 25 and 30 pupils with a teacher and TA in each class.
The school was ranked Outstanding by Ofsted and is a lovely, happy place. I was a teacher all my working life and I have never known a school where pupils are so reluctant to leave at the end of the day.
When I meet dgc (3 times a week) they greet me with,”Can we play?”
The school field has lots of equipment including a low climbing wall and a running track round the edge. It is also feeder for an excellent comp.
It is on the Cheshire/Shropshire border and I would recommend it whole heartedly.

My tiny village primary was on reflection pretty crap. My poor sister only had 2 other girls in her year one of whom was an evil nutter she was stuck with for 7 years. But it was years ago. Composite classes def held people back but people that went to the school have ended up at Oxbridge (not me ha!) so fine in the end.

I went to a school like this, 60 kids total, composite classes. I hated it. I was always an odd one out - awkward kid, and not enough other types of children to find good friends. Badly bullied. Always bored because class work catered to the lowest common denominator, often sent to work in the library alone. At one point was moved up a year group (which took me over the threshold to the next classroom) to make the work a bit more challenging; bullying got worse. Nobody cared. So... hard to recommend!

Another relevent point is that dd is academically very able. I wonder if composite classes (mixed year groups) would allow her to work with older children on more advanced work.
And then every other year she will be in the oldest half with lots of younger children.

I live in the catchment for a very nice 15 per year intake village primary school. I have put it on my application as last choice (because it is catchment) and put two larger intake (60 and 30) neighbouring village schools first.

My DD is an introverted only child and I think she needs a larger class, she is thriving at nursery where there are always 30 in her room. Plus I have heard stories about there being 12 boys and 3 girls and 2 of the girls not getting on so its not really balanced.

That's a great age to move your DC.
Rural life is fun for kids.
I'd stick to the country over London any day.
Small schools can be great too.

Another relevent point is that dd is academically very able. I wonder if composite classes (mixed year groups) would allow her to work with older children on more advanced work.
I had Years 4 5 and 6. They were setted for maths and literacy not age.
Top maths pupils worked at Secondary level then but now you have to work 'at greater depth' within Year group curriculum. I just ignored all that tbh. maths planning was a nightmare but very able always did well. Main challenge was unconfident middle ability as always.

My DC went to a small village school and thrived. DD1 is extroverted and very academically able (now at Oxford), although she would probably have been what pp described as a 'nightmare' (very chatty, disruptive when bored etc.). The small school meant that she had lots of extra attention and so was kept from being bored with TAs constantly stretching her, something that didn't happen at secondary in the much larger classes.

IMO small schools suit every child, as the introverted are among a smaller group and so get more opportunities to build their confidence, and truly extroverted children are able to thrive anywhere.

I do think that it is important for DC to be involved in extracurriculars with children outside of their school group. Mine did brownies in the next village along for this reason, so they got to know a lot of the girls that they would be at secondary with

Also, make sure you choose a village with a bus service- this is more important than the primary school. We have one every 3 hours in our very rural village to the nearest town, and this was invaluable with secondary age DC. Teenagers can feel trapped in rural areas aged 14-17, until they can drive, and this meant that they and their friends from other villages were able to have a common meeting place without us having to drive, for weekends and holidays

How secure is the financial future of such a small school & could it be at risk of closure? I think that would worry me more than whether my child would fit in.

That forum of tiny village school was so good amazing and very helpful for me.....

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