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?

This is us, 20 children in a school, 2 classes which vary depending on how many are in each year. Worked great for us!

I’m surprised you’re so shocked. This is the norm in small village schools and plenty of them are good and outstanding with great academic results and pastoral support. I didn’t even attend a small school but they still mixed some years. All fine.

This was common at small village primaries 30 years ago when I was at school.

Not surprised at all, there again two of my family taught in small primary schools and felt it rewarding.

There is a beautiful documentary about a one class village school in France made about 20 years ago, Etre et Avoir, which if you can is worth watching.

I’m in a town with surrounding villages, all in close proximity (5-15 mins drive between them all). 11 schools in all and 7 schools mix year groups – I’d call that common! I do not live in the sticks either, I’m 40 minutes from London.

Poor sports results though! No great music making opportunities either.

In larger schools, nursery classes are separate from YR. YR as early years curriculum is separate from Y1. They are quite different in approach.

If you have a good teacher it will be OK. I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand but would be interested in how they manage it. Also, reading etc at home so important in those years, so a little extra at home can go a long way

I do think we should differentiate between a tiny rural school with say two teachers, and the school years are divided between the teachers, and schools with 40 kids in each school year and have a P1, a P1/2 and P2 classes for P1 and P2. The annual upheaval as to who is in what class dominated the school year here, and was deeply damaging for my ASD child. They cried themselves to sleep for a full term once and the school’s attitude was that composts classes are good for them so they are wrong to be upset. My child then turned into a school refuser.

Not common in state school but is common in rural areas. I would feel the same as you OP.

Our small primary is like this & our kids loved it. From the 4 children in my ds year that moved to her secondary school, 2 are in the gifted & talented ‘group’. It definitely doesn’t hold kids back but enables the more academic, like my dd, to thrive. My ds has special needs and it supported him as groupings doing tasks were mixed ages so he didn’t feel so isolated. Also at playtime all the children played together regardless of which years they were in.

I work in a small rural school with 3 merged classes (KS1, lower KS2 and upper KS2) so the youngest class is reception/ year 1 and year 2. It’s hard work for the staff but the kids absolutely thrive! They make lovely cross year group friendships and teaching is tailored to where the kid is, not the age group.

If much rather this format than my sons two form entry.

As I'm sure has been stated this happens in rural schools, I'm from a rural area and it was done with mixed success. Some schools produced perfectly capable students, 2 in particular really let the kids down and eventually closed (for whatever reason, more likely funding tbh). I personally wouldn't put my child in such a small school.

My older 2 dc did this and it was fine. I wasn't keen on any of them being in the same class as a sibling but thankfully none of them were.

One local school we looked at was like this. The PAN was 26 but they only took on about half that per year for the past few years.
They said that it allowed more able students to be pushed but it did put us off the school so we didn't include in our preferences. Do you have other options?

I don’t think it’s uncommon, and actually there can be advantages - ie children can be grouped by ability over a wider range. I live in a city and our first choice primary does this and it is a very popular school

Sorry just read you don't!
Sounds like it will work fine from other comments

As a ‘bright’ kid - this was an absolute saving grace when I was at school- I could go up a few years without it being a big deal. My little one is only at nursery but they have a mixed room that she’s in and it’s the same for her - it’s nice she’s just able to go with big ones without it being a big deal as kids can be harsh when they smell difference.

I think there's actually some research that shows that combined ages/levels in one class is beneficial.

Personally, I'd say the teacher to student ratio is the most important thing.

I went to primary school in the 90s in a suburban area and they had yr 5 and 6 together. Not sure why.

I learned a lot faster at a higher level and had 2 years' prep for SATs by being a year 5 in what was effectively a year 6 class. To the point I took the KS3 English SAT as well as the KS2 in year 6. While I was shit at Maths, I did far better than I would have done doing a yr 5 and a yr 6 class.

I was in a combined class for a couple of years as a child aged 10-11. It hasn't done lasting damage.

It's been done for years

Normal at my kids’ school, works fine

Our son’s Montessori was like this and it was great! The big kids were asked to help the little kids ~ the big kids felt so proud and the little kids adored being helped by the big kids.

I went to a primary school like that and it was fine.