overcrowding - tiny reception classroom

[LotD]

Is there a minimum size of classroom space per reception child? My son is in a TINY classroom where the children can hardly move, with virtually no clear floor area. It is a temporary arrangement (lasting all year) whilst new reception classrooms are being built but it is a shock to my son who complains every day that his class is so small and that there is nowhere else to go and play. It is horribly overcrowded and physically restrictive. I am going to arrange to speak to the head and want to have some solid facts to present.

Thanks.

Yes there is, I can't remember what it is - try googling.

The school may be allowed to circumvent rules during alterations.

There are guidelines. The old guideline said 48 sqmeters for a class of 30. The newest guidelines which go back to 2006 (I think) say that a small class is 56 sq metres but that there should be supplemented by some specialist practical space like a wet area or book corner.
If new rooms are being built then have you got temporary classrooms in? Whilst they are never going to be large I would expect them to be 48 sq metres.

Are they spending time outside? They should have free access to the outside during free play and hopefully this will alleviate some of the overcrowding.

If this happened in my school, they would've swapped classes with one further up the school, especially as it is for a considerable length of time.

Not ideal, I hope you get somewhere.

Thank you for your responses. Our problem has been solved - my son was made a late offer at our other local school whose reception space is over twice the size of the previous, he started today and didn't even bother to say goodbye. I'm new to mumsnet and delighted to have had such helpful feedback, tell me though - what does DD, D1 etc stand for?

dd = dear/darling daughter
ds = dear/darling son
ds1 = dear/darling son 1 (ie. the first son in the family)

I answered all this on your other thread!

Other thread? Didn't realise I had another thread. Thank you for clarification though. I'm getting there.

here