Siblings in same class in small school- Help!

[MrsH2010]

Hi- I just wondered if anyone has or will have the same issue as me as when my DS & DD start primary they are only 18 month apart (son Oct so one of the elder in the year, daughter May so one of the youngest the year below, with number 3 still to arrive but will be 2 years younger than DD so will be 2 years apart in school).

We are looking at moving areas in the next 6 months, so the kids would have time in a pre-school, and then we'd go theough the primary selection for my son. My issue is that there is an AMAZING choice of primary schools in the new area- obviously each with their own different criteria for entry, including 3 C of E, 1 Academy, and 1 Community school. However despite the choice all bar the community school have a small in take (18-20) per year group, and therefore they double up mny of the years, whereas the ommunity primary has a 90 pupil intake so each year has several classes and no doublimg between the years. I personally don't want my son and daughter to end up in the (top and bottom) of the same class-

SO MY QUESTION IS: does anyone think this woukd be a valid argument with the local authority when we put in our primary choices?

The community primary is amazing, and they said this year they had an intake from 0.6 of a mile (as the crow flies) from the school. Our new house shows as 0.68 as the crow flies - merely done on postcode not like the LA do from a set ordanance survey point set the same for everyone. So in theory we could be in with a chance, but I just wondered if anyone has a similar experience of using sibling classes as a valid argument for a certain school? I know some parents don't mind their kids being together in this situation and that it can work,

No, I don't think it would be a valid argument I'm afraid. Where we live in the country there are schools everywhere but they are tiny and they all double up. When my 3 go to school they will all be in the same class for one year.

They will not be in the top and bottom of the year, the classes are split into years and taught different lessons. The teacher balances this by having less children to teach. There are only 5 children in DS's year, 16 in his 'class'.

I don't think the authority would give two hoots to be honest, unless you can prove a negative effect due to SN or similar. Sorry.

Erm it's not like that...

My two are in the same class this year for the second time. There are a number of pairs of siblings in the same class in each of the 3 classes. Y5 kids do y5 work. Y4 kids do y4 work. They do the same topics in history and geography etc but it's differentiated. It's not that the younger kids are at the bottom.

Have a look round the school and ask them how they deal with it. It's very common in the small rural schools round here. If you put it on an admission form as special circumstances they'd think you were loopy.

Would have thought the chances of being offered a place at the larger community school would be higher. In a year group of 18-20 a high percentage of places would be allocated to siblings!

I doubt they would take your argument into consideration to be honest as it is no different than having twins in the same class which is unavoidable in some schools. My own twins are in the same class - I don't really like it but there's not much I can do about it.

this happened to me and my sister all the way through primary school and quite a few other families as well.

Was just one of those things... me and my sister weren't doing the same work we just happened to share a classroom alternate years (e.g. we were together in her year 3 and my year 4, then separate for a year (her year 4 my year 5), and then together again her year 5 and my year 6.

The only thing I would say that its also quite common in that sort of set up that the older half of Year 1 will go in with the year 2s for a year straight from reception whereas the younger half of year 1 will stay in the same room as the reception class to complete year 1 and that year gets back together in year 2 - by which point the older year 2s have had a whole year already working somewhere nearer the year 2 level (e.g. joined up writing) than the younger half.

I will always remember the look on my DB's face when I arrived at the door of his classroom, 'box' in hand (where we kept our work, like a tray thing) as I'd just been sent up from the middle class (of 3) to the upper class at our primary. I was 8, he was 10, and we're almost exactly 2 years apart. The class also contained a couple of 'held back' 12 year olds.

I would like to say 'I didn't do me no harm'- which it didn't- I was bright and off to GS a year early; but there was no differentiation of lessons at all back then; there were 37 of us in a mobile classroom and god help the SEN DC- they got no support whatsoever!

Things have definitely moved on since then, I can assure you!

I have twins so we are in this situation and always expected to be. it is fine, although i think now they are in Y5 they are getting to the stage where they will be glad to be in different classes once they go to senior school.

It happened to my friend's sons who are a school year apart but nearly 2 years apart in age, and eldest son looks really grown up for his age. She was particularly annoyed about it because the school had 1.5 classes a year so they could easily have sorted it so at least one was not in the mixed class. The school said they had simplied applied whatever criteria they normally apply to decide who goes in which class and it was therefore essentially co-incidence. She thought about pushing it further but did not in the end as she would have had to decide which son to separate from his friendship group. And after all that it worked out completely fine.