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?

My own primary school was like this and there is no way I would send my child to a school like this. It might be fine for a child that is “average” in their year group but there is far too limited time and attention for anyone above or below the average standard.

Yep I went to one! I loved it :)

Most of the state primaries round here are like that. I worked in one, there were pros and cons, but it wasn’t awful.

I have said this on threads before but I attended Montessori schools and this was the norm - classes with 3 years mixed. Partly the philosophy was that it fosters responsibility and independence with the older children because they help the younger ones. The idea was that if you had a question about your work you would ask an older child first before the teacher. To me it was completely normal and it worked well.

The primary my DC will go to is like that. It’s common for smaller schools, it really doesn’t bother me. I actually think having different ages in class will be really beneficial for my DC.

Pretty self explanatory is it not?

Normal for small village schools or even a big schools where there aren't enough to make an additional whole class, but there are too many for one.

There's always a wide range of abilities. Regardless of age. Most teachers are skilled enough to be able to accommodate it.

Fairly common.
DS2 was one of six reception children aged four placed in a year 1 class. He was confident and bright and it did him no harm at all education wise. Quite the opposite.
Found it harder to gel with those his own age though as they were rarely together.

All the schools around here do it. Even the large ones of 300+ students. Do I like it? No. Do I have a choice? Short of paying for independent school, no. I went to a school with mixed years and my parents removed me because I didn’t learn anything. All the published SATS (or whatever they’re called nowadays) for the local schools are lower than national average. Schools near my parents and in laws (arguably “worse” areas demographically) that have single year groups are doing much better.

FWIW my friend teaches a mixed year group. Always has done. She says it is fine unless you have SEN children. About a third of her class do and she struggles to give the other kids any of her time.

It’s not just islands but most english villages too. But if it’s a small school and wealthy area you should be able to get the equiv of a private education. Eg in some of the villages near me, the state school teachers offer tuition for 11+/ private entrance exams.

My children went to a primary school like that. It was small, kind and extremely well managed. Although the classes were mainly combined they were very imaginative with the timetable to sometimes take year groups onto a different activity or differentiate the tasks.

Very common where I live. I taught 8 years in a school like this. Completely normal and children made the strides they needed to because the teachers were qualified.

Split classes are common where I am. Our school has almost 500 students from kindergarten to grade 5 (approx ages 5-10)
Starting in grade 1 the students are streamed in either English prime or French immersion. (the parents make this choice)

it’s expected that next year there will be a split grade 3/4 on the French immersion stream. There was one this year as well. It’s very common. Most students have no issues

This is normal in small village schools.

I appreciate what you’re saying about development and maturity; there is quite a gulf between the average five year old and the average nine year old. But on the other hand, I know that for some kids it works out very well from an academic point of view. My nephew was exceptionally good at maths when he was little and his mixed age class meant that he was able to do pretty much the same maths learning at five that the older ones were doing at nine. And I expect it could work the other way round too, as a child who was struggling with maths or English could work at the level of slightly younger kids if they needed to, without having to be singled out in class or kept down.

This happens in a few schools local to me, it’s called 1.5 form entry ie 45 kids in each year group. They then merge two year groups to make 90, and split it into 3 classes of 30. Sometimes they split by chronological age (in that case it’s only the middle class that is mixed years) and sometimes randomly, so yes in theory you could have one child (September born) with an August born from the year below. The school my kids went to did it by age so there was a maximum 8 months age gap within each class. Reception classes were 22/23 kids and after year 1/2 and 3/4 were back into ‘proper’ year groups with classes of 22/23 for years 5&6, which was great for the children.

However, it all (generally!) works perfectly well as these schools have a rolling two year curriculum, so for example they might learn about Romans or Egypt in year 3 or year 4 rather than a fixed curriculum per year group. Either way, they will still learn the whole curriculum like any other school child.

Hope that helps explain it a bit!!

YABU, it's very common, I was in a school like this and it made no difference at all.

Also kids naturally make friends within a couple of years of their own age. 2 years is not a hinderance to socializing together.

My three went to a small church school which worked like this. It was renowned for the children to move onto top sets at secondary level. Lovely family atmosphere.

Blended classes are brilliant, each kid basically gets taught at their own speed, in some ways it can be much more individualised than huge classes of the same age. One of my kids is quite far ahead in maths for his age so he gets to work with the “year above” which basically means just sitting at a different table in the same classroom, he doesn’t feel pressured, just enjoys working with different friends. Socially it’s great as well, they basically end up with 3 year groups as mates, the year below their year and the year above. I’d say go for it!

I went to school in London and the first two years were mixed, despite there being two classes per year (if not more). I’ve worked in schools where this is the norm and I’m happy my dc will have this as the children are taught to their level, not their age.

It works really well if the staff are good - younger children who are bright can progress quickly, children who need a bit more time to learn have an extra year to adapt. My DS goes to a special needs school and whilst it’s loosely divided by age - the children are all within 2-3 years of each other in a class, the classes are mainly split by need and ability. It’s harder work for the staff but done well, children really can thrive this way.

I work in a school like that. It's a small village school. There are pros and cons. My DCs also had vertically mixed classes at their school due to fall school roll. They ended up making more friends as they got to know people in the years above and below.

I mean, this was what my primary school was like back in the early 90s so at least in my experience seems totally normal. We all did fine

It's totally normal round where I live - big rural county. It's fine and had lots of benefits; does depend on ha ingredients excellent teachers though.

My child likes it. Reading is managed across the whole school. So they have kids up to 2 years older in their reading group and they've had the opportunity to stretch up. I'm fairly sure they'd have been held back to peer cohort ability elsewhere given they're ahead of what's required.

Pros and cons. I was worried in the beginning, but now I understand the huge range of abilities generally, I'm more chilled.

I love this set up. My children have enjoyed it and cope much better in it thN the typical 30 in a class, 60 in a year group model. They now play with children of all ages regularly and it creates a family feel.

The teachers quickly become skilled at differentiating tasks for ability level and age range.