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Original poster

Private school and class sizes - would you pay for 24 in a class?

73 replies

Cortina · 25/03/2010 09:41

Following on from other thread. I am interested in how important class size is to private school parents?

Would you be prepared to pay for a class size of 24 in a prep school for example? (With a full time TA).

What would be the 'limit' of pupils in a class?

OP posts:
trice · 25/03/2010 09:45

I get annoyed if it goes up to 16. It's 12 atm.

Original poster
Cortina · 25/03/2010 09:49

Is it the most important factor for most do you think in choosing to go private in the first place?

12 is pretty unusual isn't it? The lowest I've heard, in a highly regarded prep school, is 16.

OP posts:
marialuisa · 25/03/2010 09:58

We are currently paying for 27 in a class (3 classes of the same size in the year group) and actually are happy to do so.

DD started at a school with the usual very small class sizes (2 classes of 10) which shrank to 1 class of 15. We had rejected 2 schools offering class sizes of 20. But for my DD the small class size ended up being completely unnecessary and a major disadvantage socially. Her current school is academically selective and splits the year group into 6 sets for maths and English with sport being taught to the year group as a whole (divided into the sport sequivalent of sets). It works brilliantly for DD and we are very happy.

It does sound mad that we pay for this when we could get smaller classes for free in our area (but not our catchment, she would be in a class of 34) but our reasons for choosing the school (and going private at all) are not really about class-sizes. Her current year will get no larger and will probably shrink back to 24 per class as it si one of those fiercely-disapproved of-by-mumsnet schools that lets parents know if the child will struggle the associated senior schools which leads to a few kids going.

trice · 25/03/2010 09:59

It's the recession - I think they would like to have 16. Suits me though.

Class sizes were very high on the list of why we chose to go private. Ds was struggling in the state sector but has totally blossomed in his new school. It is a lovely place where the emphasis is firmly on helping the children be happy and confident rather than on sports or academic work. They do a lot of drama and role play (they are forever "being" vikings or atoms or platonic solids) and the teachers are excellent. I think being free from the national curriculum lets them be creative in their teaching.

Original poster
Cortina · 25/03/2010 10:05

In our neck of the woods the recession has apparently affected class sizes very little. One independent school I know of actually anticipated the recession would hit them much harder than it has - this has led to them offering too many places and thus they have larger class sizes than usual currently. Many parents unhappy.

OP posts:
islandofsodor · 25/03/2010 10:20

Yes, ds in pre-prep is in a class of 20, dd in prep is in a class of 24.

I happily pay for those numbers.

Blu · 25/03/2010 10:24

No.

In DS's (state) school the class is 30, but they have 2 TAs in each class, so tables are supervised in different groups - helping some children, giving carefully tailored attention.

The reduction from 30 to 24 wouldn't be worth it , IMO (I went to a private school with 24 in the class), and 12 is too few for choice of friendships, different groups etc.

Horton · 25/03/2010 10:43

The secondary school I went to had classes of around 26. It is one of the best schools in the country. I really don't think class size is that important unless it is enormous (more than 32 or so) or so titchy that there's not much choice about friends etc.

Mum72 · 25/03/2010 12:19

3 classes in the year group of 12 to 14 children in each. The head refuses to go above 14/5 in a Form.

My eldests year group now has 4 smaller forms because of this.

Its personal choice but our village school here has 22 in some year groups but 32 in others. One place we lived, the local school had 17 in the class.

Although smaller classes are important to me - its not just about the class size, other stuff is important too.

traceybath · 25/03/2010 12:21

Well I wouldn't be happy at 24 to be honest.

We've got 18 at the moment and that seems a pretty ideal number.

Class size was a big factor in our decision to go private.

coldtits · 25/03/2010 12:23

My ds1 is at a state primary and there are 26 in his class with a full time TA, and that's year 2. There were 22 in his reception class, again with full time TA, so paying for a class of 24 seems to be poor value for money.

Alouiseg · 25/03/2010 12:26

Our dc's left independent school at 11 and go the local comp. Class sizes were one of the biggest bug bears, they started them off in little classes of 8-12 then by the time they were in year 3 there were 24 kids in a class. the classrooms were all tiny and to have big lads in those little classrooms would be horrendous.

They are both super happy at their state school and have form sizes of no more than 30 with setted subjects taught in groups of no more than 24!!! It's perfect for them they have better sports/music/drama facilities and its way better organised than the stupid independent (cognita btw) ever was.

bellissima · 25/03/2010 12:36

There's a maximum of 20 per class at DC's prep. Sounds about right to me if you are paying. The classes tend to have about 18 in. Much below 15 I think, ironically, can be a problem because particular groupings and cliques can dominate the whole class and I don't think it's great in terms of learning to socialise.

My secondary GDST had 20-25 in a class and that was okay at secondary level.

Litchick · 25/03/2010 13:30

I would be unhappy to go above twenty, to be honest. Class size did come into the equation to go private but it was by no means the most important thing.

RatherBeOnThePiste · 25/03/2010 15:07

Having taught this age range I do believe that a class can be too small, and that is not a good thing either....

squiby2004 · 25/03/2010 17:17

No, we moved DD out of state for several reasons and one of then was we felt 30 in the class even with a ft TA meant our DD didn't get much in the way of support when she was struggling. She is now in class of 10 and we love it as does she.

MillyMollyMoo · 25/03/2010 17:24

Ours is a max of 22, over that and it's a new class and another teacher is employed.

ReneRusso · 25/03/2010 17:26

I think 24 is ok. I certainly wouldn't like it any higher, but there are other more important factors affecting the quality of education. At my DDs school, the average is about 18, and the max I think is 22. Last year DD2 was in a class of 14, only 5 girls and I felt it was a bit too small.

gleegeekgleek · 25/03/2010 17:35

It would depend on how many TAs there were.

24 kids and say a teacher and two great TAs would be ok. 24 and 1 TA would be a bit pants.

Ds has a teacher and 1.5 TAs in his state class of 30 so it wouldn't be any different to that. Why would I pay all those thousands for that.

LIZS · 25/03/2010 17:43

The maximum we've had was 21 in KS2 but some subjects are setted so teaching groups smaller.

MillyMollyMoo · 25/03/2010 17:43

Ta's are a bit of a cop out in my opinion I mean who wants their child supported by the unqualified person v's the teacher who spent 4 years learning her trade.
And it's usually the children who need the expertise that get 2nd best.
TA's were the justification for 36 in my children's state school which quite honestly I thought was a disgrace.

eatyourveg · 25/03/2010 22:29

ds3 has 26 in his year (Y7) divided into two forms for all lessons except maths, drama DT and Food tech where they are split into 3 groups.

ds 1 has 46 in the year group over 3 forms but as its Y11 classes are split even further. Largest class he has is triple science with 9, smallest class spanish with 2

Thats the deciding factor in choosing to go private.

Builde · 26/03/2010 11:52

My dd only has 24 in her school state school. Plus they have two TAs.

But, I would never ever pay for an education...waste of money. Better off not earning it and having the extra time with the children.

jeee · 26/03/2010 11:56

I'm not convinced of the benefits of small classes. In my secondary school we had 33 or 34 in my maths set and 35 (once up to 37) in my english set. As you moved down the sets, class size got smaller. I think I had an excellent education despite classes that were manifestly too large (sometimes we didn't even have enough tables and chairs, never mind sharing books). I think it is possible to have good teaching with large classes.

Mind you, I'd probably be less laissez-faire about the issue if I was paying.

Journey · 26/03/2010 12:21

I wouldn't like to pay for school fees if the class had 24 pupils in it even although they had a full TA.

My ds goes to a state primary school and is in a class of 26 with a full time TA. Class teacher is very experienced and TA is great so don't know what i would be paying for going private, apart from it being a status symbol.

If, in the future, my DS needs any extra help with his learning I'm perfectly capable of teaching him maths etc so don't see the point of paying school fees unless the local state school is appalling.