How are Mixed Age Classes working out for your children?

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interested as am consdering a school with and without mixed classes, all new to me as first child to go school. Thanks

My 7.5 year old ds and 5 year old dd are in the same class - a p1-p4 composite. ds has been in a composite class since starting school at 4.5 - so all he is used to. I think it's fine. Most teaching these days is group based anyway. I would say that now taht he is in P4 it would be better if he wasn't in an infant class - but school are addressing this now.

sorry what is a p1-p4?

My dd is in a mixed yr 2 and 1 class (she's yr 2). Its working well. I'm glad she's gone in the mixed class rather than the totally Yr2 class.

Ds (7) is in a mixed Yr3/4 class. Loves it. Not many boys to choose as friends, though.

dd is in a reception - yr2 class and it's great. I think it's better for her than a single year class actually because it seems more inclusive (although perhaps that's just the school).

My dd`s are in mixed yr2/3 (shes yr2) & yr3/4/5 (shes yr4) its working out fine for them at the moment educationally. Bit scary to think they could be in the same class next year though.

awful awful awful
bain of my life
i dont think they work for
1, more academic kids
2,older age kids

schools ofsted said outstanding in every area but added as a footnote more could be done with more able children

This was one of the reasons I took dd2 and ds out of one school. Didn't work at all for able dd1 either - she spent huge amounts of time repeating work. At one point very able Y6 dd was in a group for lit and maths with able Y4 dd. Utter waste of time for both of them. Also not good for ds's self esteem - able and dyslexic, he always ended up with less able younger children. So glad I changed - wish I'd done it sooner. I'm a teacher btw.

sweedish yes i took dc2 out of school for this reason

Im a teacher and in my opinion Id definately go for the school without mixed classes - although i would ask the school if they would ever contemplate having mixed classes (sometimes due to budget and no. of children they have no other option but to have mixed classes).
I know from experience that Im a far more effective teacher when I teach to a pure year group rather than a mixed. And all of my collegues would definately agree with me.

This is ds1's first year in a mixed class. He's one of the youngest Yr3s so is almost 2 years younger than some of the class. He finds it intimidating, particularly after having problems with one of the Yr4 boys. The behaviour of the Yr4 boys is pretty disruptive too. Tbh I preferred it when he was in classes with just his own age group. A lot will depend on the individual child. My ds2, for example, would probably love being in a mixed class.

My dds have been in 3 primary schools (due to house moves) and the third (current) one has mixed classes as it's a small village school. I wasn't keen, it was a downside for me, but actually it seems fine. The school seems to put more effort into teaching children at the level they're ready for, as the teachers have to work with a wider age and ability range, so the work seems to be more differentiated than at their previous schools.

and my dds have enjoyed making friends in different years. I really wouldn't have expected to be posting so positively about mixed year classes but so far, no problems at all.

My children's schools have single year classes in every year except years 3/4. DD is now in year 4 and I can't tell the difference in her progress in the mixed class. She is quite an able child and has hardly progressed at all in the mixed classes compared to her previous years in school. This maybe due to the mixed class or just that children can plateau in year 3.

my 2 ds's are in a mixed yr class (2+3)..All classes in our tiny village school are mixed except yr6. Was worried sick as this year was the first of them together, but actually it's working out great. They cover literacy, numeracy in mornings and are split into seperate year groups and HT teaches yr 3..and then in the afternoon they get to do all other subjects, art, pe, music etc together. this term they are studying Egyptians and it's been great at home, because we can do most of the homework together, visit the BM together etc etc.

Dd2 is in a mixed Year 1/Year 2 class. She is one of the youngest Year 1 children in the class (March birthday - the very youngest of the year group are in a wholly Year 1 class). She seems to be doing well (parents' afternoon on Thursday so will know more then). She's bright (you know... bright-ish in a non-boasty way ) but being one of the youngest is certainly not being held back and probably just the opposite. She'll be in a wholly Year 2 class next year, as school has one Year 1, one mixed and one Year 2 class.

My ds1's reception class are age ranged from 4 years 10 months to 4 years 3 months.

It's great!

I agree that it depends on the child. Our primary school does an awful lot of mixed classes throughout the school. My dd was fine as a Yr 2 in a mixed Yr 1/2 class, but this was reallky bad for my ds as he was bored & not stretched enough, and consequently very naughty . I think they've learned their lessons with him as he's much better in a mixed class with older children, even tho' his birthday's in April & he's 18 months younger than some, & he's gone from Yr 3 in 3/4 class to Yr 4 in 4/5 class this year.

My DD is in a p3/4 (y2/3) and DS in p6/7 (y5/6) He was in the senior class last year as a p6 and this year as a p7 so has will have 2 years in the senior class which is great as they do lots of extra stuff and get extra responsibilities.

Both were not in mixed classes when they srated school and the school is trying to keep the p1 class soley p1 (reception).

Oh and our school seems to mix according to ability not ages which has suited my DD really well.

My children are in mixed year classes, and I don't think it is a good thing. Not so much on the educational front (it's difficult to know if things would be different if they were in single year classes) but because it is very disruptive. dd is in yr2 and only has one child in her class that she has always been with. Most years she has to start making friends all over again, only to find that the friend moves into a different class at the end of the year. It has really knocked her confidence, and she is a very outgoing child. The school only has mixed years because they don't have enough children. This year they moved to single form entry (previously had been 1 1/2) and I think they should have done it three or four years ago. However I do wonder whether when schools that "drift" into mixed years get it right, as one of the best schools round here has been organised on a mixed years basis. So I guess it can work, but I don't think it's ideal.

Very well. The school gets good SAT results and have always been organized in mixed years.

DS 1 is in a mixed year 5/6 class (hes year 5, july birthday). The school have 3 classes for year 5/6, 1 year 5, 1 year 6, and 1 one mixed - which they say are the most able children. He has been in mixed age classes since year 1, and it doesn't seem to affect him (although it must make life tough for the teacher). I do worry when he is with the younger class that he is being held back.
DS 2 (year 2) is in a single year class. He is less able than DS 1 and I would worry about him in a mixed class with older children.
DD (year R) is also in a single year class. I would worry about her being in a mixed class with younger children as she is also very bright.
Mixing years is purely a cost cutting/balancing class size excercise for the school. If it is managed properly then I don't think it does any harm - however it is implemented purley for the benefit of the school and does not enhance the pupils education in anyway, so while it may not do any harm (with a good teacher) I don't think it does any good either. Therefore, everything else being equal, I would go with the non mixed class school.