Infant Class Sizes

[Scottie04]

The new admissions code allows 'looked after children'(I understand the need for these children) but now children of servivce personnel will be admitted to schools even if the class size is 30! I live in an area with lots of military personnel, what is this going to do the schools in the area? Also schools will no longer have to employ an extra teacher if class size is above 30! This is one way Mr Gove is filling up the schools and not having to build new ones. Lets just have our children at school, bursting at the seams. I know this doesn't affect most schools but I am worried about how some schools here will cope.
Just wanted to rant really, becasue I don't agree with it.

If there are lots of service families, then presumably there will be children leaving as well as departing. The evidence of damage to the education of forces children arising from their frequent moves is well accepted now, and their entitlement under FAP is long overdue as a mitigation.

Considering that most schools can cope with 31+ children in juniors I do not think that 31 in a KS1 class will always be a bad thing.

I do not think that it's unreasonable to exempt military families from the infant class size regulations as they are working on behalf of the nation and have to move when ordered. I think that there are other groups like people who work at embassies who should get similar treatment too.

I totally agree that Gove is using this as a way to avoid building schools and dealing with the national shortage of school places and it's not really a solution.

Scottie I can understand your annoyance but as a military family this will have such a positive effect on so many families. It's such a missive struggle getting primary school places for DCs every couple of years and up until now we have either had to take what's left, have DCs attending 2 primary schools or travel. I chose the latter and now have a monster school run but it was the only way I could get both of my children into a reasonably school. To get to school we pass 5 schools we applied for places at all of which were turned down.

Apologies for the typos

I'm just concerned what will happen to a couple of the schools here that have good and outstanding ofsteds as lots of the other schools here are underperforming. I had to move due to DH work, and had all the troubles of finding schools, so I do know what thats like.
I think I just have visions of 40 kids in a classroom with no extra teachers, its the fact schools are not getting any extra resources really that I find awful, just wanting to rant at Mr Gove really.

crazygracieuk younger children require much more adult support to meet emotional, social and physical needs than older children. Personally I find Y6 much easier than reception in terms of demands of teacher attention.

If it takes the stress out of the families of military moving around it is a good thing. Generally similar numbers will leave as join, but if the stress levels are lowered it will be generally helpful for the children, and probably help them settle easier, which will in turn help the schools.

I'm not military btw, but live in a military area and see the stress it causes.

Making the children of service personnel excepted children will not mean they are automatically admitted to schools that are already full. It will, however, make it easier to find them a place. At the moment if they move into an area where all schools are full to the class size limit the school allocated has to employ an extra teacher immediately. The funding for one additional child doesn't get anywhere near covering that cost, so either the school runs at a deficit or it has to find money from elsewhere.

Similarly, at the moment a school that finds itself with a class that is one or two children over the class size limit (after deducting excepted children) currently has to find an additional teacher but will not have enough funding to cover the cost.

So these changes actually ease the strain on school budgets a little.

The changes to infant class size rules will not make any significant difference to the shortage of places as far as I can see. New schools will still be needed.

I agree with PRH, the new admission appeal code around infant class size regs will not have any significant effect on the shortage of places. New class rooms and new schools are what is required not a minor rearrangement of the deckchairs.
As the infant class size regs stand, until Wednesday, an extra pupil taken on as an excepted pupil will not mean an immediate increase in the number of teachers, they can run as is till the end of the academic year. The regs from Wednesday mean that any pupil who is considered an excepted pupil will not generate an extra teacher at any time in the infants. However the infant regs still exist and there comes a point even with excepted pupils where no further additions to an infant class would be contemplated by the school, the LA or an independent appeal panel.