Mixed Year Classes

[CURIOUSPARENT]

Hi does anyone have any advice/experience about mixed year classes.

As regular church attenders we would prefer C of E school, but our C of E school (and 2 others nearby) have small PAN's and therefore mix for eg: class 1 -reception/some yr 1
class 2 - some yr1/some yr 2
class 3 - some yr2/some yr 3
etc

Other alternative is a 3 form entry school but not C of E.

Any thoughts/experience that anyone might have would be greatly appreciated!

TIA

Local school the same

Love the family feel of the place, kids know most of the other kids, younger helped by older, gifted kids able to move quickly, those needing more time given the chance to make progress at their rate.

It's just more of a shock when they move to larger schools but it's a price worth paying

It works well for children who are born in the second half of the academic year and those who are naturally more immature than their year group.

DS was in mixed-year classes all through primary - it worked very well for him. I think if the whole school always has mixed classes, then they will be very practiced at making it work, and probably quite flexible - in DSs school they could move children between classes for some subjects if they fitted in better with the work level in another class.

The only time I warn people off mixed classes is where the school aren't used to it but have to do it for just one class, and I think that can be a problem because it's a learning experience for the teacher/school and the pupils can be a bit adrift while they get the hang of it. But that's not the case when the whole school is set up for it.

My primary was like this I went straight into what would now be called Y1 so I was one of the younger ones (Jan birthday). I actually really enjoyed it although I was fairly bright so perhaps not as far behind as I might have been.

I far prefer a larger school. 3 form entry is perfect in my opinion.

Because they are so much better resourced.

And they'll have more kids like your kid (whatever your kid turns out to be like)

Our school does this. It worked very well for DD in reception but the wheels have come off a bit in year 1. She was sent up to a mixed year 1 / 2 with half of her yeargroup. She has found being with older, very able children daunting and overwhelming (despite having excelled in reception) and it has dented her confidence greatly. WE are currently working on a strategy to manage this but she has basically lost half a term in which she has learnt nothing and been miserable. She's not the only one in her year who's experienced this, although some have sailed through.

I hate iy as a teacher and a parent, and specifically moved my children to a primary further away for this reason (well, teaching wasn't great either to be fair).

Partucularly didn't work at the top of the school for dd1 who is pretty bright at the top end of the school. She was bored and suffered hugely socially - very small group to make friends from. Obviously this depends on the intake in a particular year. Ds also suffered - is very bright but ended up with less able, younger children simply because he's dyslexic. Would never passed 11 plus if I'd left him there.

Xome small schools do have a great atmosphere, but I really dislike it when year groups are split - I've seen some children's confidence suffer greatly when they are left down and their friends move up.

Typos - sorry. Am typing in the dark with a cat on my knee.

I was always in mixed classes myself and my dc have been too.

It's always worked fine for all of us.

I've taught for most of my career in mixed age classes, and I enjoy it and think there are more advantages than disadvantages.

I think the small schools that tend to have mixed age classes usually have a good sense of community, and all the children are well known as individuals. Also, I usually get to teach any particular child for 2 or more years, so I don't have to spend time at the start of the year on getting to know them and their abilities, and I build up strong relationships with families etc.

I agree that it works best when it happens every year and the school is really experienced at planning and teaching in this way.

I disagree that 3 form entry is best - I would have been horrified and overwhelmed as a child at being in a year group of 90, or a school of 700, at the age of 4. Small schools are somehow just more human-sized.

And while big schools have more money, that doesn't always translate to better access to resources. Would you rather your child had one scheduled hour a week in the ICT suite (as is likely in a big school), or spontaneous access to the laptops almost whenever the need arose (because there are only 2 or 3 classes to use them) so that they can be used in a realistic way for research or maths or phonics games. Plus a scheduled ICT lesson of course. And the same argument applies to such things as musical instruments, access to the hall, or field, or wildlife garden.

People sometimes send their children to private schools to get small class sizes - the numbers in the classes in my school are (I think!) 17, 23, 21 and 15.

If you want a C of E school, certainly don't be put off by it being small.

Our local CofE school has all mixed year classes. It seems to work very well. (Particularly suits my kids as they have autism so two years with the same teacher in the same class makes them very happy!) Being a small school everybody seems to know everybody else children:children and staff:children.

Our school is like this,I.think it has pros and cons.Both ds (year 3) and ddi (reception are relatively able .ddi is in a mixed year R and year1 class , she sits with the year 1s, but still gets to socialize with her age peers ,which I think is great .ds is in mixed year 3, year 4 class.He is set with with the most able.for.maths .It worries me what will happen at the top of the school, as he is likely to move into a year 5/6 class for maths next year ,where he could potentially spend 3 years. If he were in a bigger school,.the might be a larger group of more able students who could be.taught together .However this hasn't yet happened ,perhaps I am worrying about nothing

Wehave mixed classes and whilst I didnt like it when my DC was in the older group it was great when in the younger group particularly on the academic side.

It really depends on the teacher as to how effective it is. Some teachers cope really well, some dont, but this also applies to same age year groups.

Benefits include: older kids can show leadership, support, nurturing and caring skills. THey realise it is not all about academia that other skills are also very important.
Kids have different levels of social skills at any time so again mixing age can really work. They learn to accept that it is ok to talk to children that are older/younger

On the academic side, the abilities are spread across a wider age range and the different ages means the child doesnt focus on age but on the topics concerned. They dont worry about he/she is a year above/below them and dont get the same anxieties or concerns that they might if they had to go to a different class for lessons.

Wow everyone thanks for all your replies, most helpful :)

One of the schools in particular we noticed how there were 'sub groups' being taught by ability and it did seem really good how they regularly assesed the children to be sure they were getting access to an appropriate level.

I have mixed feelings about mixed aged classes. My ds's school has 2 reception classes than one full class per year and 1 mixed ie year1/year2.
They split according to ability. Fine in theory but I have found that very often the younger ones are the quiet compliant ones and the older group are the ones who often disrupt the class.

I was having a look through older posts to try and find your views on this very subject. Ds is in Reception and attends a Primary school where every year is mixed, there are 15 children in his Reception class and the school mix Reception and Nursery and then Y1 and Yr 2 etc etc. I actually went to see the Head as I had a few queries about the mixed classes but it does appear to work, I think? Ds is a September child and therefore the oldest in Reception, it seemed a step back initially for him to be mixing with come children who were two years younger than him (nursery) but they are only mixed with nursery in the morning and I have been assured that there is no disruption so I have to go along with this and trust that this is working although I can see it benefiting the younger children rather than the older ones.

If the mixed class is working it will be reflected in the outcomes for children as they leave the school. Their results, demeanour, attitude to life will have been developed over their time at the school, however the classes/teaching is structured.