To be worried about a small school

[Frazzledmum123]

More of a question really, posting for traffic

Just wondering if anyone on here has experience of coming from a really small village school? I currently have 2 children at one and the class sizes are tiny although they mix years so we don't get the benefits that would normally bring. We have the opportunity to move them to a much bigger school but I'm having a wobble. Our reason for considering this is that we feel it may better prepare our children for senior school having more friends to go up with but we do like their current school so are torn

So people that went to small schools, do you think it helped you or held you back later on?

Out of curiosity, are you in the East Midlands?

@Mintychoc1 thanks. They seem happy but it's how long that will last that worries me. A few have left from dd's year and if more go I worry she will be lonely, in fact I'm worried about that now as she spends so much time on her own. It's sort of now or never too as the space for ds in the other school wont be here in 6mths, I'm sure of that

I went to a primary school of around 90. It had mixed age groups and 5 classes in total. I then went to a secondary with a roll of 1400. It was absolutely fine, however, the majority of my primary class went to the same high school.

If your children are fairly resilient I'd leave them where they are. When high school comes round most children are nervous and generally they will only put 2-4 from each school in a form so most people don't know each other and are in the same boat (if that makes sense?).

We live in a village a few miles south of Cambridge. Primary school in the village was small, 20 per year intake. It had about 120 kids in total, 5 classes for 7 year groups, some years mixed.
Secondary school (11-16) in the next village had an intake of 240 per year, 1200 students in total.
6th form in central Cambridge has an intake of >1200 per year.

Eldest DC has finished 6th form, and honestly navigated through all the different types of schools with no problem at all. I think they are nurtured well at primary then they gradually spread their wings.

@HellYeah90s that's interesting, I can see it being a bit like that. My son has a small bit close group of friends so will be fine, my dd has a best friend but if she doesn't want to play the same thing, shes on her own.

It cN be brilliant for small kids. People fight tooth and nail to keep their village schools because of the close community.

@Mintychoc1 no, a little more central and a little more south

Sorry, didn't articulate well there.....
I meant to say that students are quite adaptable, so moving to a bigger school isn't necessarily a problem, even if you've been to a tiny one.

@SluggishSnail that is so.something we wondered today actually, watching the kids sing and talk with so much confidence made us question if actually small schools are better at that

Thanks everyone, going to sleep on it tonight and try and discuss it with them again tomorrow x

I have 2 DC, 1 in y5 and the other y7. Their primary has less than 50 in 2 classes. Transition to large secondary has been no problem at all for my shy eldest. I think it's because they're used to having to do stuff - there's no way of not having to join in in a tiny school. They have to speak in class, they have to have parts in every school play, they get to know their teacher (who they have for 3 or 4 years) really well. They've also had a great education with a mix of ages, and it really has felt like a family as they know each other so well.

Exactly there is a small buffer of friends but ime if there was.a falling out after a week or so normal friendship would resume, because like I said there is limited people to play with so you suck it up and get over yourself. Fwiw I am still close with two of the girls I went to primary with after 20 odd years.

And it is easier to sort out bullying, teachers can easily see if there is problems / falling outs.

Oh and better parent-teacher contact, my teachers knew where I lived! they had a full understanding of my parents weird circumstances so they supported me in that.

No. They are not necessarily better. Confidence is built up in bigger schools too. It’s just that you don’t have experience of one to see it in action!

However larger schools often offer more opportunities for music and performance and definitely for sport. Children often don’t want a family atmosphere at 10 years old even if parents do. Few DC, when asked about school, will talk of the family atmosphere. Larger schools have families too and should encourage family participation. Sports day and Christmas events are full of them!

Mixed age classes work if the teacher is good. That won’t bring about a decent school orchestra or sports teams but it won’t be a disaster for academics.

I feel sorry for your DD. It seems that a very small cohort isn’t working for her. On that basis, I would move them. If parents are leaving, you’ll get the places back if it doesn’t work out!

I went to a very small school. Less than 40 children in two classes. Yes very family feel and the chance to work at your own pace in a mixed age group. Also I remember being very much more confident at that age, probably because of the small peer group.

At secondary school we were all separated in to different classes but I think everyone made the transition easily. It was a lovely start to school when I think back. Very Miss Read.

I totally see where you're coming from - my dc are in a village school, only 27 children from nursery to Y6, and I see issues with children who literally don't have peers to make friends with (I am admin there). My ds is leaving in a week for high school (only two going) and is terrified.

On the other hand, it is great to see the children mixing together, the older ones are great with the tinies, they get a very individual education with fantastic staff ratios and the school has a reputation for turning out well-rounded individuals who do well in the high schools they move on to.

I am doing a lot of soul-searching at the mo, wondering if I made the right decision. My awkward, shy ds thrived in the small setting but it is a bubble and had to burst eventually. Should I have 'toughened him up' earlier or let him enjoy the bubble? I don't know.

I do have less worries about my dd in y3 as she is far more confident, is getting a lot out of her tiny-school experience and will probably sweep into high school like a visiting monarch. This probably isn't very helpful, I'm just feeling bad about my decisions right now.

There were 8 of us in my primary school. We had 2 classes of 4. There was only me and one other boy in my year. It was great! We were just one gang of mates and didn't have any issues going to the large high school.

@ohgod I felt exactly the same about them being in a lovely bubble and was really worried about my DS moving up, but for him it's been fine (and he really isn't naturally very outgoing or brave!). My theory is that he's had 7 really lovely years to start off school life. He could have gone to a bigger primary which may have been great too, but it also might not have been, and I know that he loved everything about his school, so wouldn't change a thing.

I work at a small school and my kids attend it. Largest year group is 13. Largest class size is 23.
While children may be limited in their year group for friends, there is much more friendship between age groups than I remember from my own (large) primary school. I was one of 60 in my year - all my friends were in my year group and I don't really remember having much to do with other years. In the school I work at, there's none of that division by age. They might not have 60 friends of exactly their age but they have a decent number of friends, and because they are in mixed age group classes, and classes often do things together, they spend lots of time with these friends even if one half of a 'best friend pair' is in Year 4 and the other in Year 5.

I guess it's the 'family feel' thing that a PP kind of dismissed - what that means to me in practice is that (for example) all the Year 6 kids know all the reception kids by name. Lunchtimes might see a Year 6 child sitting next to a Year 1 and helping them cut their food. The children can sit wherever they want for lunch, we don't ask the older ones to 'buddy up' with younger ones, they just do it and you get a mix of ages all on one table, chatting over their meal. Which is much more representative of real life than the 'I am in Year 5, you are in Year 4, therefore we cannot really have much to do with each other' which I what I experienced at school.

When I moved to secondary, loads of my year group came with me. I ended up in a class with none of them. I knew only one other person in my class, from an out of school activity. So in the end, going to a big primary didn't mean I went up to secondary with loads of friends.

As someone mentioned, there is an issue with sports - we do football and cricket clubs but we don't have a school team playing sports fixtures against other schools. If your child loves that, then the small school may not be the best fit. We don't have an orchestra. We do however have a great music teacher who comes in and does keyboards and choir, and we have a lot of sports like dance and judo - all of which my kids love.

Ultimately the question is not 'small school vs big school' but which school is the right fit for your child?

I’ve worked in two extremes: small village single stream school with approx 20 pupils per class. Large town triple stream school with 33 pupils per class.

The village school has a lovely homely atmosphere. All of the teachers know all of the pupils (irrespective of what year group they are in) and their families (often having taught siblings/cousins/or even parents!). Pupils get a LOT of individual attention and relationships are strong.

In the town school pupils in the same year groupings don’t know one another. No sense of community. Pupils are a face in a crowd. Teaching is tricky and some pupils (typically your well behaved middle plodders) are unfortunately overlooked. Pupils don’t know many of the other teachers in the school and vice versa.

I have a friend who has 3 children. She sent them to a local school near her with small numbers. This is what I have noticed re the small school. Her first child had problems with speech, fine motor skills and coordination. Due to the small class size these were noticed quickly. Because of this the child got help quickly to improve these from both in the school and via local out side services. This child is now happy and doing better school and socially wise.
Her next child has a relative in the same class in a different school. I noticed the child in the small school is a better reader then the other child who is in a bigger class and a far bigger school.
I know in a small school you has smaller classes so children get more attention. If something is wrong or a child has some problems it's noticed quicker.
Along with this a teacher can give a better grounding in English, reading, spelling and maths. They are not spending their time watching 20/25 young children or dealing with a few trouble makers among them.

I have seen that large schools can have kids from the less nice areas of a place. You can see the parents from the poor areas who want their kids to do well. If their child is causing trouble in school they will step up and deal with it. If the child is struggling they will spend time reading ect to help them improve.
Then you get the parents or single parent who don't give a dam if the child is struggling in school or causing continous trouble once they don't have to deal with it. If a teacher says anything bad about the child the parents refuse to listen or start to give the teacher verbal abuse because their john/Paula can do no wrong. Of course John/Paula don't need help with their homework despite the fact they are struggling in school due to any number of reasons. Then John/Paula have a few friends like themselves so they can up disrupting every class they are in.

If I was in your position I would leave you children in their current small school because they should get a good grounding in English, reading, writing and maths. If they are happy in their current school they will have friends and should do well long term.

I went to a small village school with 54 pupils and mixed classes. Also went to a few other schools and the small one was by far the best.
Imo moving from a small school to a big school is a bad move.

@OhGodWhatTheHellNow and @Bubblesbuddy you are like the two thoughts in my head lol. I totally see what the people who love small schools are saying, it is all the things I love about their school too but equally what Bubblesbuddy said, I think big schools offer more... variety perhaps is the word. Little things like when we looked round the big one they were talking about how they were going up the playground from money raised whereas the little school doesn't even have a pta anymore and the equipment cant all be used as it needs replacing. I want to them to stay there though, it feels like a home from home abd I know all the parents so feel comfortable with play dates etc but I'm just not sure I am denying them a more rounded experience.

I asked them this morning how they would feel if we stayed and it's so strange, ds who has a lovely group of friends and is going so well, and is shyer, wants to move desperately, he says the other school seemed exciting when he looked round. Dd who is who I am worried about, who has hardly any friends even though shes the outgoing one and who doesn't seem as happy, is the one more keen to stay!!

If the children want to move then I would give them the chance. it sounds like there's plenty of space in the smaller school to move back again in a years time or so, if it doesn't seem to be working out at the bigger school. I think the small school, whilst a presenting a nice family atmosphere, sounds quite neglected. The fact it doesn't have a PTA is quite sad.

My DCs have all gone through the village primary, age 3 to 11 (France), mixed classes, the works. DC10 spent this year in a mixed class which had just 6 girls. Overall it’s been really good for them and my two older DC transitioned to huge secondary and are doing really well there. I think the small primary was quite good for building confidence.

My two DDs went to a tiny village primary (100 kids total), then a state comprehensive with 1200 pupils.
Both were excellent, and the DDs have since graduated uni.
The wee primary meant fabulous teacher:pupil ratios- 12 kids in a class - and lots of individual attention.
DD1 has an 1Q over 160, so didn’t fit mainstream teaching - the head gave her one to one teaching for part of each day, and got the comprehensive to send their secondary school textbooks along for DD to study from.
The head had a strong Christian ethos (she has since retired and trained as a lay preacher), and that was reflected throughout the school in the kids being encouraged to support each other and develop Christian values of compassion, honesty, sharing etc. Which was easier to achieve in a tiny community where every child was well known and valued personally.
I think a small supportive primary, followed by a large secondary (to ensure a wide range of subject choices, and exposure to a wide social mix of kids) is the best way round, OP.