AIBU to be concerned about DS in school...

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He starts reception in Sept. 28 intake - he is one of two boys. Is this an issue? DH concerned it'll affect him growing up only having the one male friend before high school. They do mix between years and of course there will be playtimes etc.

He's now the only boy in preschool - there was another but parents pulled him out to go back to nursery during lockdown.

I don't know how I feel to be honest, I'm on the fence...

Is DH BU to be concerned? Does anyone have any experience?

@BlueCherryBlossom

Wow, that's a crazy ratio?!

How do you know the numbers?

I asked the head. It's a small school. I asked after the applications what were his chances and he said as we live in the village he'd be fine and there were 28 boys. I asked him this morning were there any other boys apart from DS and this other boy I know of.

I get it's favourable from a teacher's POV but putting myself in DS's shoes I think he may struggle. He's very social and gets on with everyone but I want him to have a good balance. We would obviously get him in some extra curricular stuff.

I hadn't even thought of the covid stuff and limiting mixing of the kids.

Primary school allocations won't be announced for another 2 days. Exactly how do you know this information before other parents and schools have bern told?

If it helps - I am in Wales. Not sure if that makes any difference with finding out so soon.

Whereabouts are you? Primary places in England don’t come out till Friday, so are you sure about this or are you speculating?

@Plumbear2

Primary school allocations won't be announced for another 2 days. Exactly how do you know this information before other parents and schools have bern told?

I have a letter from school confirming his place. We got it yesterday.

@skeggycaggy

Whereabouts are you? Primary places in England don’t come out till Friday, so are you sure about this or are you speculating?

Not speculating. I'm in Wales, I have a letter from the board of governors confirming his place.

My son was the only boy in nursery for 9months by reception around 10 boys joined and he's now got friendships with all the girls & boys in his class if anything it just gave him time to bond with the girls in a way he probably never would of had he had a fully mixed class from the start it's had absolutely no other difference.

Good old mn, the very idea a small school might not be in England

2 boys and 26 girls? Nope, I wouldn’t send my son there. I wouldn’t send my daughter to that class if it was reversed either. I wouldn’t care about perfect balance but that’s a very unusual mix. My son very much gravitates to playing with boys, and has since reception. He’d be horrified by what he would see as a girls class. I’m not sure I’d move house over it, but I’d certainly drive a bit further for example.

@3babylady

My son was the only boy in nursery for 9months by reception around 10 boys joined and he's now got friendships with all the girls & boys in his class if anything it just gave him time to bond with the girls in a way he probably never would of had he had a fully mixed class from the start it's had absolutely no other difference.

Realistically 10 boys are not going to magically join the OPs sons school though so it's sensible to presume it will become an issue especially if the other boys parents decide to move him.

They started out with 6, the maximum they ever got to was 8. What happened a few times was a boy started, parents decided there wasn't a wide enough choice of friends, and they moved to a different local school. So not having many boys was self-perpetuating.
This would be my concern! New boys aren't going to come because of the lack of boys.

I had 15 dc over lockdown in my year two class and only three of them were boys. One didn't arrive until 30 minutes after the others because of staggered starts and the other two were on hot bricks waiting for him.

Goodness me, I work in a primary school and that situation is not ideal!
How did it come to be that way?

So, have I got this right; it’s a one form entry school with 28 children in reception (26 girls and 2 boys)? This would scale up to a school with approximately 200 children - small bit not that small! How is this possible?

I asked the head. It's a small school. I asked after the applications what were his chances and he said as we live in the village he'd be fine and there were 28 boys. I asked him this morning were there any other boys apart from DS and this other boy I know of.

I'm confused. He said 28 boys had applied? Or were within catchment? Who are the 28 boys?

Is it a one class school?

Are you sure you understood correctly that there are only 2 boys and 26 girls? Presumably the head isn't at liberty to divulge the genders of the whole class? Did he/she just confirm that yes, your son and the other boy you know had places?

The odds of a small local primary having that kind of ratio are beyond minute. I can't help wonder whether this is a communication issue.

If you can change schools then I'd be getting onto that straight away

That's a very exceptional ratio and no, I would not choose it for either my son or my daughter, not at age 5.

Well he'll get a good part in the Nativity play at Christmas!

Places aren't allocated based on gender, so it would just seem to be luck of the draw with the gender mix. Where I teach has always been boy heavy, one year I had 19 boys and 9 girls.

I'd give it a go and see how he gets on op. If you are not happy you could move him if you can get a place elsewhere.

We had a similar issue, and moved schools. I'm glad we did. It's been great for ds. Boys can be quite ermmm unpleasant at times. Better to learn how to stand up for yourself 5 or 6 than first come across it at 11. Sport is another one. It's rubbish if there aren't enough kids for a game of football, and yes I know girls can play too, but realistically most of them don't want to.

@BlueCherryBlossom

I asked the head. It's a small school. I asked after the applications what were his chances and he said as we live in the village he'd be fine and there were 28 boys. I asked him this morning were there any other boys apart from DS and this other boy I know of.

I'm confused. He said 28 boys had applied? Or were within catchment? Who are the 28 boys?

Is it a one class school?

Are you sure you understood correctly that there are only 2 boys and 26 girls? Presumably the head isn't at liberty to divulge the genders of the whole class? Did he/she just confirm that yes, your son and the other boy you know had places?

The odds of a small local primary having that kind of ratio are beyond minute. I can't help wonder whether this is a communication issue.

I explicitly asked out of the 28 allocated places were there more than two boys. I'm not confused. The head said he's not known a year like this.

It's one intake of a year. My primary school was four classes for each year group hence me saying it's a small school. In my experience it is.

This wouldn't be an issue for me, as long as there were other opportunities for him to meet and interact with boys, if he wanted to (e.g. sports clubs, youth group etc). I would enrol him in some out of school activities so he starts making more varied friends now, as it can be hard to break into groups once you get to early teens and later.

I think it might be an issue. As they get into older primary, boys and girls generally do play differently.

DS was friends with lots of girls in nursery and reception but these friendships have generally withered now he's yr 3.

He's still friendly towards the girls but definitely plays with the boys at playtime and doesn't want to invite a girl for a playdate on purpose.

My eldest doesn't really associate with girls at all (age 11), he says they're strange! I'm sure this will change in time but for now his male friends are who he gravitates to.

I have seen some older boys and girls (primary) having a good friendship but generally they sex- segregate. This is a larger city school.

@BlueCherryBlossom

I asked the head. It's a small school. I asked after the applications what were his chances and he said as we live in the village he'd be fine and there were 28 boys. I asked him this morning were there any other boys apart from DS and this other boy I know of.

I'm confused. He said 28 boys had applied? Or were within catchment? Who are the 28 boys?

Is it a one class school?

Are you sure you understood correctly that there are only 2 boys and 26 girls? Presumably the head isn't at liberty to divulge the genders of the whole class? Did he/she just confirm that yes, your son and the other boy you know had places?

The odds of a small local primary having that kind of ratio are beyond minute. I can't help wonder whether this is a communication issue.

I'm sorry I've just read this back. There are 28 places for the intake, two of which have been allocated to boys, the remaining 26 girls.

28 and only 2 boys!!? That is extreme.

I wouldn't send my girl to an all girl's school(I know many would and don't judge different people's decision) and this is essentially sending your boy to an all girl's school.

Except it’s not because other years are likely to be more balanced.