Moving from English to Scottish schooling. Help!!

[cizzababes]

My 10 year old daughter has just finished year 5 in Buckinghamshire and we are moving to a new school in Fife where she is being placed in a 'composite class' P6/7.
Just wondering if anyone else had 1. Made the move from English to Scottish system and 2. Had experience with a composite class!

Try Scotsnet. There will be parents who can give their experiences.

I’ve not had a child in a composite but have had composite classes in work where the staff are very experienced in them.

Yes my ds was in 2 composite classes at primary school. Did fine in both

Thanks 🙂 Had a look there first and couldn't see anything about composite classes.

My son has been in 2 composite classes, and going into his third for p3. The bonus is that they are capped at 25 pupils, unlike other classes which can be up to 33.

My son has absolutely thrived and is pushed on to working at a higher level than I think he would have in a straight p1 or p2 class.

I'm also in Fife, and a teacher, feel free to ask anything you need to. Your daughter will cope just fine, the Scottish system is far more laid back than the English system, there are no huge formal assessments and whilst it's not a perfect system (!) It should be very child centred , with scope for your daughter to thrive at what she's good at.

Did they repeat the same curriculum for two years running as presumably when it comes to the next academic year she will be in another P6/7 class.
The exams and assessments she's had so far puts her above National standards and scared she will now fall behind 😬

No, the work will be tailored to the year group she is in. They wont all be at the same stage or doing the exact same work

Composite classes have the advantage of being smaller numbers (usually 24 or 25 max) so that may be easier for your DD to settle into new school.
Most schools put their more experienced teachers in composite classes too.

Is it a small village school with inly 3 or 4 classes in whole school? Or a larger town school?

As PP said in you post on Scotsnet there are people who have made the move English to Scottish school system

The biggest issue your daughter will have is she's going to have very short summer school holidays this year!

A fairly small village school. I think I'm just worried she'll get lost in a double class

My son is going into 5/6. I don't foresee any issues as my daughter plus me and their dad also were in mixed classes. They give each year separate work.

Luckily she's not concerned about this at all and she asked to finish the English school year rather than having a longer holidays 🙂

Why would she get lost?
Composite classes have fewer pupils in them than a straight primary class.
Work is tailored to the year group/ability

If it's a small village school they'll be very used to this and the teachers will be experienced at differentiating the year groups.
My sibling and I went to small primary with composite classes and teachers very experienced in this. In fact when my sibling started there were only 3 classes in whole school

Your daughter is likely to be ahead of her peers when she makes the move. I used to teach the English Primary Curriculum and it is very focussed and thorough. This is not the case with the Scottish 'Curriculum for Excellence' which both my children have experienced in a number of different schools in Scotland. It is a far less thorough/rigorous approach and there is a lot left to the individual teacher so there is huge variation from school to school.

I was actually shocked at how little my own children learned in Scottish schools and we had to do a lot of gap-filling at home. Other people I know who have moved have reported that their children went from below average in English schools to top of the class in Scotland! This is particularly applicable to mathematics.

Hopefully others can tell a different story but this was our experience.

Composite classes are very common in England as well - generally known as mixed year classes. The children don't ever repeat the same work as they generally run on a two year cycle of topics (if two year groups together, three year cycle for three year groups etc). In England, you don't get the benefit of the 25 cap. I teach a mixed year class and would have no qualms about my children being in one.

My dd1 had 4 out of her 7 years at primary in composite classes - in P1 it was 1-7 (small school and Gaelic language all in one class). She did fine and I think it really pushed her in her good subjects, like doing Art with the P7s really encouraged her and she's now doing art at uni.

After moving house she was in composites for 2/3, 6/7 and 7/6.