Mixed age classes...good or bad?

[ButtonMoon]

trying to decide on primary schools and a few are mixed age classes....youngest from one year and oldest from another together. Not sure what the pros and cons are.

DD1's Reception Class did this. The oldest from her class who stayed all day, went into Yr 1 in the afternoons.
they did this until Jan when the younger ones stayed all day.
DD1 loved it as she got to sit with the older ones!

And KS2 are mixed at her school. Seems to be fine.

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Ds really benefited from being in a P1/2 class when he was in P1 because he could work with the P2s, but isn't having quite the same benefit now that he is in P2.

One good thing about a combination class is that the numbers have to be smaller - here only 25 pupils allowed in a mixed class.

A friend of mine had a very able, autumn-born dd in a completely mixed yr1/2 class, (i.e. children up to 2 yrs apart in same class). She had a fantastic time in yr1, but really struggled in yr2 iyswim.

Different age group but ds(3) is in a Kindergarten group with age 3-6 (not in UK). Seems to work very well, ie. younger ones learn from older & aspire to be like them. At same time older ones learn to be considerate towards younger ones.

Anymore for anymore?

Hate it as a teacher and a parent. Dd1 is very bright and did work when in Y5 with top Y6 group. Nothing left to do for her in Y6 - that's when we went abroad. Same was happening to dd2, now in Y5 - we've recently changed her school specifically because of this.
Ds is dyslexic but very bright. Because of his Specific Learning Difficulty he often ends up with younger/less able people - definitely not the right place for him. He'll be moving at the end of Y4.
Although there are some good points about our small village school, it is so dependent on the ability of other members of the year group. Dd1 was definitely on her own there. I'd always choose a 2 forms per year primary given the choice.

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All depends on the school! Schools need to have really good support in place for less able and more able to make sure that all children achieve their potential. It means that for example in a mixed year 1 & 2 class, more able year 1s are able to work with year 2s and be really stretched, while any year 2s needing more support can work with year 1s to consolidate any gaps in learning before moving on. I can honestly say that I teach by ability, rather than year group if you see what I mean. I never set a ceiling on a child's achievement based on their age or year group. The challenge is always the more able year 2s (or what ever the older year group is).

Socially it's also great.