Small schools- as in under 50 students. Any thoughts or experiences

[twinsetandpearls]

Seen a small rural school with only 30 students. Good ofsted, good feel from website so will visit. But i am not sure what i think of such a small school.

I think there was a thread on something like this recently twinset.

I went to a small village school (probably nearer 70 kids though). I had a great time but looking back on it I wonder if that was purely because I was one of the 'popular' ones. It must be much more difficult if you are shyer or less able to make friends since there is clearly a much smaller pool of kids to choose from. And everyone tends to know each other and each other's family, which can be really nice but also claustrophobic too.

As a mum of a child in a small school (there are 88 kids), be prepared for gossip and for every other parent to know your business as you can't blend in with the crowd here. It can be nice and it can be annoying.

I teach in a small school (about 250 pupils from 3-18, so much bigger than the one you are looking at). I love it because I know all my colleagues and almost all the pupils. Because we are small, everyone gets involved in teams, play, music etc. No one is left out because they aren't good enough.

I would imagine the school you are looking at has mixed aged classes, so there will be an education impact (good and bad) that you would have to judge. Pastorally, I'm sure that it will be great.

I would think that the main problem is that you have a very small pool of potential friends.
I would agree with ScienceTeacher that a good point is that no one gets left out.
Very often small schools group together for some activities. For example my DSs small village school used to join with others for history theme days.
I went to a small school myself and loved it but I found it difficult to join a large secondary school. I also found it a disadvantage in some things e.g. the first to join the choir were those who were in junior school choir and we hadn't been big enough to have a choir so I had to wait and take a voice test.

I would imagine the school would team up with others, it is an infant school so they do for example use some of the facilities of the middle school. As it only covers the infant years the classes are combined across two year groups.

Still am not sure what I think though, we visit and see.

DD's school only has about 30 pupils in the infant years (preprep); about 80-90 in full school I think.

Works fine, although the preprep and prep classes do mix a lot, and use one anotheer's facilities - two building son one site; so one school not two seperate ones. And for us, each year group is seperate classes too.

Ummm ... I attended a v. small village school - 40 total. There was only 1 other girls in my 'academic' year, my other friends were a year older or a year younger. Socially it was OK but received appalling education - though things have moved on since then.

Would not want same for own dc's I admit. They are in what is locally deemed a small school (1-form entry of x30) but which to me seems HUGE! Far more opportunities.

It's not necessarily true that your child won't get left out.

The first three years are mixed together in a composite class.

The teacher said, and I quote here, 'I need the 5-year-olds to just get on with it when they're set a task, because I have the P3s to deal with'.

This has a good rep as well.

But my children won't be going there.

I have similar concerns PrimulaVeris, the school has an excellent ofsted and I will be visiting.

Dd is clever but needs pushing and is very involved in extra curricular activities. One of the reasons we are moving is so that we can be around so dd can do more sport etc.

I know compared to my secondary friends who went to larger village schools we did not get anything like the amount of music tuition, sport, visiting drama etc that they did. There were some good points but these were down to the particular personality of the headmaster.

Message withdrawn

Another possible neg IF there are composite classes: Obviously personality clashes happen. If a DC doesn't hit it off with a teacher, they can be stuck with that teacher for up to 3 years!

It is just an infant school and I think I am right in saying they are taught in classes with two year groups together, but yes you are right two years with the same teacher could be hell - or heaven.

I could see when SATS are coming that other kids will not be a priority expat.

'If a DC doesn't hit it off with a teacher, they can be stuck with that teacher for up to 3 years! '

Precisely why we've put in a placing request for another school and if that doesn't work, we'll have to move a few villages down asap to wehre that other school's catchment is.

Because the teacher in our school has made it clear she finds DD1 a nuisance.

Now personally, if you're a teacher who can't be adult enough to rise above your personality clashes with a 5-year-old, you should be let go to find a new job.

But I'm not subjecting my child to her for 3 years, that could be detrimental, as my child already has confidence issues.

I agree expat speaking as a teacher who constantly has to overcome personality clashes.

my sister's a teacher, too, TSAP. and my landlord started as a teacher, became an OFSTED inspector and later a headmaster himself - at a school for boys with all sorts of problems. he's now in Africa with VSO at a teacher's college, training primary teachers and headmasters.

working with people whose personalities don't match yours is part of every job. i mean, i worked with lawyers for over a decade . hey, you're paid to do a job, and working with others is part of it.

i mean, my husband works with tourists and part of that job is that you need to be professional, even when you're having a bad day - that's not the punter's fault.

except when teaching, you're also talking about children.

fair enough with some children near adulthood.

but this gal's working with 5-year-olds.

and she 'need(s) them to just get on with it' when they're set a task.

well, what exactly is the point of her being there, then?

she said it was because she had the P3s to work with.

well, maybe if she bothered herself with the P1s she might not have so much trouble with the P3s.

and here's the pisstake: even with a composite class of P1-P3, there are only a total of 18 pupils.

my sister really fell out laughing at that! she has 41 and only one TA.

ten-year-olds.

We were laughing about something similar expat as dd has 32 in her class which is the size of this school. I think we worked out there is a member of staff for every four kids at this school.