Be honest… would you be ok with your child in a classroom like this?! Apparently common in state sector

[Mrppp]

our daughter is due to start school next September. We learned today that the classes are merged from ages 5 to 9. So 5 and 6 year olds in one class, 7 and 8 in another etc. This means in some instances children with be two years apart, depending when they are born, but in the same class?

surely this is crazy? Development is huge over a year at that age?

It was a huge selling point for us!

DD’s school has 68 kids in 3 classes. Reception and Y1, Y2-4 and Y5 & 6 all together.

Tiny classes, and the ability to stretch the more able kids.

The school has a lovely family feel, the big ones support the little ones and it’s much nicer than a huge school with multiple class intake.

Did you just expect that a state school with half as many kids per age group would be able to fund a teacher for every 15 kids?

Its absolutely common/unavoidable in small schools. A state school budget is hammered by having to fund a teacher even if they don't fill a class and only have say 27/28, they can't afford to fund a teacher to take a class half the size of normal.

We had this in the 80s and 90s when we didn't have large classes. Never an issue

Waldorft schools often have mixed learning and good outcomes

They are not all doing the same work

Yabu

“surely this is crazy? Development is huge over a year at that age?”

Development can be huge between any children of exactly the same age.

I went to primary school in the 80s and it was 1.5 form entry so there were 3 classes of mixed yr3/yr4 and 3 classes of mixed yr5/yr6. So it’s not a new thing and from what I remember work was still differentiated, it was just topics that repeated every 2 years so you didn’t repeat anything

Mine were at first until we moved, small village primary only 4 classes in total

I had my year 1 and year 2 classes merged when I was a kid. I remember loving school and I thinking on it now, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you who was in what year.

I think it’s a concept that I would pull my face at if my children’s school suddenly started doing this ,but only because I’m not used to it and I like my children being in a class for their own age group as that’s just the norm around here.

But if it’s a little town where it’s the norm from the get go for, people aren’t going to bat an eyelid really are they?

Both suit different people. I personally wouldn’t choose a school that mixes all KS2 together, but that’s just me.

No, wouldn't be happy.

We visited one school with merged classes when ds1 was a toddler...although they merged right from nursery. We went into a huge classroom (a couple of large interconnecting rooms) which housed the nursery and reception rooms with about 50 or 60 kids in.

It appeared to be absolute bedlam. There were 5 year olds sitting attempting reading/discussions whilst just turned 3 year olds toddled around with toys and made noise. A couple of smaller dc were just wandering aimlessly.

Although there seemed to be quite a few TA's dotted around it was quite clearly difficult to manage such a large merged group.

The difference in size was enormous and the reception kids looked like absolute giants next to the nursery kids.

I've no idea if this was a particularly bad example but we couldn't wait to get out of there and made sure we chose a school with distinct and separate classes for each year group.

Forgot to add this was 1999/2000

My son started reception in a class with reception, year 1 and year 2 together. It depends on the number of children and the number of teachers and TAs. Mixed age classes have been great for my August born child who is the baby of his year group. Every other year he is one of the older ones as expected to look out for younger ones, act responsibly, and be a role model. I don't think he would have had so many opportunities to develop those life skills if he was always the youngest. Ive also noticed the mixed age classes can also offer more opportunities for advanced children to be working with the year above or for a child who's struggling to easily and subtly recap a particular topic with the year below. It's a big shame they didn't make you aware before you picked the school though as something like this is useful info when picking the school!

No personal experience of this, but my sister moved from a busy suburban school with age-differentiated classes to a small village so that her son, who was among the youngest in the class and really struggling, could join a mixed-age small school where he wasn't obviously bottom of the class by a long way. He was able to stay at the small village school for a year longer than would have been possible in an 'ordinary' school, by which time he'd caught up with the younger children. My sister always said it was the best thing they could have done for him. He went through secondary school with the year below his actual age group, got a good job and has never been out of work. Conversely, the younger children who were very bright, had the advantage of doing 'older' work. I have to say it sounds like a nightmare for the teachers though.

"Vertical learning " is a phrase used by educators to reinvent the wheel! I taught in vertically streamed classes when I first started teaching in 1987!

Mine too, all now in their 30s with super careers.

I went to school with combined classes in London in the 90s. The Older, Middles and Youngers were separated for some classes and together for others with some flexibility for ability needs, it allowed those higher achievers / those that needed extra support to work within their ability range.

When I was at school my reception class was mixed for reception and year one and I don't remember it being an issue (although this was back in the day of when the intake of reception children was over two terms).

Is this not similar to composite classes? I remember being in a P2/3 class for 2 years (one year I was in P2, the 2nd year I was in P3). Was never an issue for me growing up and it's still done today.

I know of some small village schools where there are only 2 classes - P1 - P3 and P4 - P7.

I'm in Scotland BTW so P1 is when children are 5, P2 is when they're 6 and so on...

In my primary school, the younger children from the year above and the older children from the year below were often in one class.

Didn’t you have that growing up? Very common where I’m from. Definitely not for YEAR 5/6, 7/8, but for infant children yes. Usually the oldest in the lower year merged with the youngest in the older year.

That was how it was in my primary school in the very late 60s/early 70s and this was in West London, so not even a small rural population. I didn't mind it.

Hardly. There are schools in rural villages up and down the UK that have classes like this. The school my sister works in has nursery and p1-3 altogether then p4-7. So 2 classes for the whole 3-11/12 age range. Very well regarded school too

Not true. Local primary merges years and there are 45 children starting each year. So not a to y school. And there are 4 other primary schools within a 1 mile radius so it's not isolated

My own primary school doubled up year groups. I made it to university and everything.

Completely normal and works well
here.

the more able academic kids can work on the next level and those less academically capable aren’t being held away from their friends and age peers.

Common in small rural schools. The alternative is often that they have to close.
It would be unusual though in an urban setting.
My children attended both, since we moved from city to country. I just admit I preferred the bigger, more age delineated setting.