School changes.

[Pat123dev]

To be annoyed with our school. It's a small school and because the number of children is falling in sept, it often fluctuates rurally, they're going down to 2 classes an ks1 and ks2. And trying to tell us it's a good thing. That's 4 years together in ks2. They'll be 30 in the class.

It will be purely finance based. They cannot fund another teacher. Its likely that the alternative is to have a teaching head which is not great either. Sadly schools this small aren't really viable and whilst our local one seems to do reasonably well they are always fundraising.
The question for parents concerned is is it better to be in a mixed (sometimes smaller) class or better to ship the kids to neighbpouring areas with higher population... only you know your child.

They will have had no choice. The school is financed per students and they will not be able to afford smaller classes. The alternative is that is closes altogether and kids get buses to the next nearest school. We have lost dozens of rural schools around here. Lots of houses are second/ holiday homes so not enough families with young children.

It’s not the school’s fault. They won’t want to do this but they get money per child so if they don’t have enough children they won’t be able to afford to pay another teacher. And they won’t want to lose the children they do still have so of course they’ll try to paint it in a positive light. And there are positives to small schools, but there can be negatives too.

I'm sure some schools make it work but I vividly remember the kids that joined our school when theirs finally closed. They'd had one KS1 and one KS2 class by the end. They had been thoroughly failed.

I would be looking for alternatives for my child.

This is the problem with small rural schools. People think it will be great due to the small intake, but in the end it's a crowded class with 3 different year groups.

This is often how it was with smaller village schools back in the 50s... An infants class and an older class. It may not sound ideal, but your average class has children with abilities that span at least 3 year groups anyway.

Presumably they'll already have a rolling curriculum so children aren't doing the same topics every year. It'll be easier to have older/more able children working independently to give time to those who need more support, just as those exceeding age-related could potentially be stretched beyond their own year group. Plenty of opportunity to expose children to higher-level talking and develop social skills when working alongside children of different ages. As a teacher, it's a class setup I'd relish!

Just to offer some positives!

Please don't blame the school. Perhaps if many families had not been priced out of rural living it might be different.

Be annoyed with the situation, not the school. I’d look for an alternative.

If people look for alternatives the school won't be around for much longer.

It's very common in rural schools. We've got schools round here that have less than 30 in the whole school.

@Pat123dev

To be annoyed with our school. It's a small school and because the number of children is falling in sept, it often fluctuates rurally, they're going down to 2 classes an ks1 and ks2. And trying to tell us it's a good thing. That's 4 years together in ks2. They'll be 30 in the class.

The problem is that school funding is predicated on 30 pupils per class. 80% + of school funding goes on staff, so you can see hat creating e.g. 2 classes of 15, with the doubling of staff costs, just isn't possible.

There is some additional funding for tiny schools BUT they do have additional overheads - for a larger school, the cost of e.g. a head or someone in admin is divided over 7 classes not 2.

A school this tiny really isn't that great educationally (I have taught in one of a very similar size and it isn't something I would want for a child of mine, particularly in KS2 when horizons are widening). Though the staff are no doubt skilled at teaching multiple age groups, it is really hard to meet the needs of every child, particularly when the wide age range is in no way compensated for by a smaller class (the 4 year 'physical' age range will probably be closer to 9 years in educational terms).

What other schools do you have locally?

@ineedaholidaynow

If people look for alternatives the school won't be around for much longer.

It's very common in rural schools. We've got schools round here that have less than 30 in the whole school.

The question is whether a school not being around much longer is a good or bad thing.

The educational experience for children in very tiny schools can be compromised, and in some cases it may be better for several to merge into a larger and more sustainable entity.

Obviously in extremely isolated areas, there is no alternative, but I know of areas where 3 or 4 tiny schools are close enough together that merger, or at least federation, is a good option for children.

Another way of looking at it, is you've historically had above the state school norm of teacher/pupil ratio, lucky you; now you're going to be the same as others.

Thanks, interesting responses. The thing that's frustrating is them trying to say it's a good thing. Why not just be honest and say we can't afford it.

@arethereanyleftatall we know we had a good thing. But 4 year groups in one class is not the same as others. Before it was 2 years 15-20 pupils to a class- that was a good thing. No Teacher assistance just class teacher.

To be honest I would have thought it is obvious they can’t afford it and they are trying to put a positive spin on to avoid any more DC leaving?

As long as the kids were grouped on tables by age, and the classroom had a TA to help share the load, I'd just crack on.

What's the alternative? Move house?

Down to finance.

4 years in one class is probably awesome for the brighter, younger dc who can work 'up', and shit for the older dc.