Any experience of tiny village schools?

[pyjamababe]

I'm looking for a school for DS1. Would prefer a church school (we are Catholic but there are none locally, nearest 20-30min drive with a poor ofsted report). However, our nearest CofE school is in the next village. 5 min drive, chocolate box type place, maypole in the grounds, etc etc. BUT there are only 50 pupils in the school, so different year groups are put together.

They have a good Ofsted and the school has a lovely feel to it, very nice staff too, it just feels like a big home really.

Alternatively, there is a community primary school which is walking distance, 250 on roll and an outstanding Ofsted given this year.

So, anyone out there with a child at a very small school who knows the pros/cons?

I went to a small village primary, there were only 24 children in the whole school when I started! The DC's school has 85 pupils, which is still quite small but seems huge to me.

They have mixed classes (2 years to a class) but it seems to work well. They have lots of after school clubs, mainly run by very hardworking teachers and a band of amazing parent volunteers. The community feel is brilliant, everyone gets involved with everything.

we have an intake of 15 each year. Reception remain on thier own which gives them a fabulous start, from then on year groups are mixed right up to year 6.
It is an incredibly caring school and because each year half the class move on and another 15 join the friendship groups are less cliquey? (is that a word)

Only drawback we have found is that if you are not keen on the teacher you have to put up with them for 2 years.

Kids I know moving onto the local secondary school find it less daunting because they already have friends there from primary school and despite being in different year groups they maintain there friendships.

OMG. I went to a tiiiny school. 8 in my year and we were the baby boom years. Big minus is if your best friend leaves (mine did) and then you have the grand total of 4 to chose from and they are already a happy foursome. Still afects me to this day. I find it difficult to get close to peopls as I sense they are going to leave.

Am watching with interest as I am hoping to move to village with a lower school of about 60 pupils - it is a three tier system here. DS would then move to a middle school of about 600 (big jump!)

my son goes to little village school - 3 classes from Rec to year 6. Has been larger with 4 classes. TBH it's too small for older children - lovely 'family' feel for KS1 kids, no doubt but could do with bigger pool of mates. Fall-outs with friends tend to rumble on/get intense because no one else to play football with.

Academically might be 'slow' for able pupils because aren't enough to set the pace.

I was moved to one when we moved house aged 9. About 45 children in 3 classes, I was in the upper class which had 18 in three year groups. The teachers were lovely, and it was part of the community and everything, but I didn't like it at all. When I started they asked a girl to look after me, we quickly became friends, then her "real" best friend (who I did not know existed) arrived back from holiday 2 weeks into the term and hated me for stealing her best friend. Some of the other girls were quite nasty but in a low level way, name calling, teasing about my accent and stuff, I never felt like I fitted in (many of the children were from families who had been at that school for generations) and there was no one else you could be friends with. I went to a bigger middle school for my last year (4 classes per year) because of the system changing and then very happily moved on to secondary school and never looked back. Probably fine if you went there from the start, but as an incomer it was pretty dreadful. I found the bigger schools very liberating after that.

Also, my DCs are at our local primary which has about 250 pupils. Everyone pretty well knows everyone, it doesn't seem big at all to me. It is 5 mins walk from the house, I love being able to walk, as Loopymumsy said, it would have had to be pretty bad for me to choose a school that I had to drive to every day for 10 years (or walk half an hour including very busy crossings) instead. There are lots of TAs, an after school club on site, lots of extra curricular activities, big playing fields and my two are very happy there.

The ideal size for me would be 2 form entry ie 60ish children per year. I think bright kids suffer greatly at the top of a very small school, and I have huge reservations about how well children cope when moving to secondary. Reception need their own class. As a teacher who has worked in various classes, can't believe my dd in class 2 of a mixed class would be up to spellings like jealous, dangerous, filthy and horriblr.

We were supposed to visit the closer school today but he has a high temp so have put it off until next week. One thought in the meantime: the preschool there has class sizes of 26 whereas the little CofE has 12 or less. What do you think about starting in the little preschool then moving him when he goes into reception? Too mean to let him makes friends then switch? Not sure I like the idea of a preschool class of 26 aged 2-4, seems too many.

Edging towards the bigger school based on everyone's posts so far. loopy I'm not as practising as I should be I'm afraid, if you mean actually going to church, full of good intentions though!!

I went to a school like that. It was good, but the teachers treated it like a vocation not a job and I don't know how good it would have been if the teacher had made less effort.
Downside - less likely to win any inter-school sports competitions. Risk of getting too small and being closed down. Smaller pool from which to find friends.

The risk of closure / federation becomes a problem only if the school falls below a certain threshold of numbers - and that varies a lot! Loopymumsy says it is 200 where she lives - where I live the crucial number is 25! It depends on the LA.

My child is at a tiny school, with just over sixty children. It is hugely nurturing, and like a big family. All the children and all the teachers know each other by name. The classes are small and there are only 16 in R/Y1. Each year group is taught individually for at least half a day a week. Y6 are taught as a group every morning by the head teacher. It is utterly fantastic and my child thrives there. I can't imagine sending my children to somewhere with the same number of children in the reception intake alone. In a school so small, if a problem crops up it doesn't get lost in the noise, but gets addressed quickly. I'd recommend the school to anyone.

For what its worth...
Just pulled DS out of lovely village school due to lack of extra-curric. opportunities. (mainly music and sport - lack of)
Check what each school can offer and how they split the year groups - by age or ability.
It is lovely that everyone knows each other, and the staff know all the children too. But think what you want out of a school and see which one comes out best.

Personally I'd go for closest 250 school. Sounds perfect to me!!
Good luck!