Mixed year classes

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Sorry wasn't sure where to post...
We have just been informed by dd's school that due to them not having enough money and staff leaving etc that they are mixing years to reduce the number of classes. Infants are staying the same as is Yr 3. Yr5 is being split into 3 classes, 1 mixed with Yr 4, 1 just Yr 5 and 1 mixed with Yr 6 (should have said there are already 2 classes for each Yr) my dd going into Yr 5 is thankfully going into the class that is just Yr 5 but as they've mixed the classes she's upset that some of her friends are going to be in a different class to her. However my dd going into Yr 6 is in the class mixed with Yr 5. I'm really angry as are the majority of parents, I have not yet spoken to a single parent who is happy with this change. They have sprung it on us on Friday with no warning. I'm worried that dd and friends won't be getting the standard of education previous years have had and the other yr6 group which is just the one year will get. How does 1 teacher teach 2 different age groups, will they get the attention they need for their final year??? The school can't or won't give us any answers. Has anyone else been in this position or know how it will work??
Sorry its been long and rambling but I and other are really angry and worried!

DS was in mixed year classes at primary school twice - once in Y1 and a mixed Y1/2 class and again in Y3 in a mixed Y3/4 class. His school used to have two classes each year for foundation, Y5 and Y6 and then three for Y1 and 2 combined and three for Y3 and 4 combined before increasing intake from 50 to 60 the year below him which meant they had to stop the mixed classes.

It didn't raise any issues (although I think some parents were a bit if they thought their child should be in the "clever" class and weren't - not that it worked like that anyway, all the classes had a range of abilities) but I'm not sure it would work well for Y6, hence why his school always separated them into year groups by that stage.

With such an emphasis on KS2 SATs, I can imagine it would be hard to cater to a mixed class, and that's before things like Secondary transition, leavers' events etc...

Mixed year classes are standard in lots of schools. As long as there’s a reasonable mix of each year group it’s not really an issue. You can run into problems where there are only a few from one year or they haven’t thought through the curriculum organisation but as long as that’s not the case there shouldn’t be an issue.

First and second line should say in a mixed Y1/2 class not and

My daughters school only has 4 classes: r/1+2/3+4/5+6. It’s always worked really well, and as they have a ‘teach to the top’ format it usually means the younger ones end up ahead/taking in more than they really need to for where they should be. It’s certainly never caused any issues, and we have a few passing the 11-plus and heading to grammar each year. All you can really do is see what happens and keep a close eye on how your child is progressing, but honestly i wouldn’t imagine it will cause any issues.

I can understand your shock at the late notice and reasons for change but our school has done this for years and not due to money constraints.

You start reception then from yr 1 onwards you are in yr1/2 then yr3/4 then yr5/6.

They keep a teacher for two yrs so are really close to that person. The ones who are more able join in with the upper yr work and ones who need a bit of help stay at the lower level a bit longer but the kids don't notice and so the less able ones don't stand out. The more able get access to higher levels. We all love it. Works really well and the kids get to mix and make so many friends.

Hopefully it'll work out for you. We have 3 mixed classes per year each with a teacher and ta so they do separate sessions and joined up sessions and independent work as well.

I teach in 5 different primary schools (peripatetic MFL teacher). Every single one of them has mixed year classes. My ds is in year 6 and they have 4 year groups in one class! That is admittedly not ideal, but 2 year groups in a class is fine imo.

It will be fine. My daughters' school has all mixed age group classes including years 5/6. All of year 6 have just passed their SATs...

Composite classes can be a good thing - it’s not necessarily the case that single year classes are “clever” and composite classes have poor teaching standards.

My DD was in a composite class for primary 2 (p2/3) and primary 3 (p3/4). I don’t Knute how it works elsewhere but in Scotland composite classes are smaller, she had more scope to work across the 2 year groups at her own pace and did really well. She’s in a straight p4 class this year which is fine too.

I know our head teacher uses composite classes for s whole range of reasons, to support social skills, with children mixing across a wider age range, to give some kids space to work ahead of the curriculum, to give kids wiggle room to consolidate previous years learning etc etc. I don’t consider it a bad thing at all.

My DC’s school do this. I’d never heard of it before they moved to this school. It’s a small school with one class per year but to squeeze more children in there’s a few mixed classes too. There’s a year 1/2, 3/4 and 5/6. Two of my DC are going into the mixed classes next year. AFAIK they put the eldest from the younger year and youngest from the older year together iykwim. So my DD is a June baby, she’s going into year 3/4 in September but is year 4 really.

Anyway, the system seems to work without hitch so I’m not questioning it.

Composite classes are fine in my experience. My last two years or primary were spent in composite classes and they felt no different to previous classes.

Standard here in our small village primary, and our SATs results are consistently some of the best in the county. If you have good teaching, mixed groups are fine, if not you have bigger problems.

Parent frequently get upset about it for no reason - it can work really well and there's also not much choice in the matter!

We just have an infant class and a junior class, so teaching 4 years in KS2 (25 pupils). No issues with SATs results, or being 'behind' when they get to secondary.

I think the issue is that people equate year group and ability. They automatically assume that a Y6 child will be at a higher standard than a Y5 child. This is not necessarily the case. In primary, the range of abilities in a year group can be vast. For example, in a Y5 class this year, there was a child performing at the same level as a Y1 in literacy in the same class as a child who could easily have done her Y6 SATs this year. Teachers have to adapt to a huge range of abilities and age isn’t as much of an issue as it is in younger years.
The likelihood is that stronger Y5s will be pulled up by Y6s and poorer Y6s will have the Y5s.
If it’s well organised, mixed age classes can be really beneficial. I taught a mixed 5/6 class 10 years ago and loved it...and I don’t think any child suffered because of it.

Give it a chance.

Also, your dd might be upset about not being in the same class as some friends, but realistically, she’s not going to be in the same classes in secondary school...they were never going to be together forever.

In the current climate, I believe schools genuinely try to make the best of what they have.

People never like change and assume it will be bad before actually seeing what happens.

Financially the school won't have any choice.
The key is how they handle it.
By year 5 the 'range' in ability will be quite wide so teaching shouldn't be an issue provided they think about it.

I would want to know how they handle the social side. How do they stop those in with the y4s thinking they are 'lesser' than those in with the y6s? How do they stop those in with the y6s from being 'superior' to the others. How will they manage the y5/6 class when y6 are doing SATs practice etc.

Also there will be parents. 'Oh my child is so clever they are in with the y6s'. That will probably be the hardest bit.

I would want to know how they handle the social side. How do they stop those in with the y4s thinking they are 'lesser' than those in with the y6s? How do they stop those in with the y6s from being 'superior' to the others.
I can't speak for anyone else but there was none of that at my school. Those issues simply didn't exist. It really did feel like any other class and we mixed freely. There was no feelings of inferiority or superiority and I'd came from another primary school were composite classes didn't exist at all but honestly it didn't feel at all different

My children's school has a split year 1/2 and in juniors its even more confusing as a straight Yr 3 and 5 class but 2 year 4 and 6 classes that have a small number from year below. Because of split classes run a 2 year curriculum.
I was initially bemused and concerned... However it has really worked... School pick classes really well... My child that is a summer baby gets to not always be the youngest, shy children get put in classes away from more dominant personalities and my bright child gets stretched by being put with year above...
An advantage I hadn't thought of is they get exposed to children in year above and below... This has really helped them make more friends and helps school feel like a great community.
Parents are generally happy once ask for explanation of why in which class and always put with some friends

Teachers have to differentiate anyway. There will be some year 5’s working at a higher level than some year 6’s.

They also have to follow a curriculum and show the planning for both year groups and the range of abilities they have.

I’m not concerned about composite classes.

All of the classes at my DD's primary are mixed years. There are obviously pro's and con's but it worked fine.

At my DC’ school they split into phases - reception, year 1/2, year 3/4, year 5/6 - so they are often in mixed classes but only within a phase. The planning and curriculum is done by phase so it doesn’t matter if they’re in a year 3, year 4 or year 3/4 class, for those two years they will all be reading the same books, going on the same trips, covering the same periods in history and so on. My DS is one of the youngest in the class although very able and it’s never had an effect that he’s usually been in a class mixed with the year below. In fact he often finds it easier to make friends with people from the other year group.

All of the classes at my dc school are mixed year, including year 6. It works really well both socially and academically for our dc.

This has been the norm at our infants and juniors for years. Year 3 and 4 are together, and years 5 and 6 are together. Three classes for each "Year" group. So the kids that are year 3, get to work up to year 4 if ability allows them. Within each class they work in ability group's. Seems to work well. It also means by the time they get to High school, they have friends in year above them. My child is in the older age range in her year so made a lot of friends with kids in year above her.

My eldest had a composite class for every year until secondary. Sometimes it worked brilliantly sometimes less well. It was never teaching that was the issue as classes have a massive range anyway. It was sometimes socially difficult. He is an august child so some mixes he was mid range and it was great for him to have some children younger than him in class. But other mixes he was 2 years younger than the eldest. This meant stuff like he was still into cbeebies but older children werent. Or the big one was mobile phones, gaming, going to town alone which obviously the older year 6 children were all ready for but the august year 5 ones werent so there was a bit of teasing. It did help with secondary as he had fruends in the year above and was used to each year being a different mix.

Hope these posts have reassured you, OP.

Yes thank you it has. Maybe it's the shock of it being so last minute, like I said we weren't told about this till Friday, we weren't even given a hint of an idea that things were so bad or that this was even something they were considering... The school has always been shit at communicating with parents so I don't know why I'm surprised by this!

I went to a primary school with only 3 classes in total. I know of only 1 child who didn’t attend university and get a good job, instead they set up their own business and is doing really. Compared to the other 2 x 200 pupil schools in the town, who only a few from each year attended university and are doing really well- I’m all for mixed classes. But that’s just my experience.