Proposed "bulge" reception class:Help!!

[MariaFormosa]

Does anyone have any experience of so-called bulge classes? The great local school my dd is due to start in September (also have one there in Y2) has just agreed at v short notice to take an additional 30 children in September, as the LEA is desperate for places.

My concern is that this hasn't been properly planned, and may adversely affect everyone in the school, as it is at present fairly stretched re: playground size, no playing field etc ... also, one of the great strengths of the school at present is that it is pretty small (one class per year) so has a great community feel and manages a v diverse population brilliantly (32+ languages spoken by pupils at the school).

Does anyone have any experience of how this has worked out, either as a parent or teacher? Also whether there are any legal/statutory barrs to the LEA going ahead with it?

Thanks for your thoughts, SchoolsNightmare.

I guess I have to agree that if it were me who had missed out on a place, I would be entirely in favour of the additional class .... it all comes back to an over-all lack of planning and resources. And I am aware that the situation elsewhere is even worse than it is here (eg: in London) ...

September is not "very short notice" really - in my experience schools can organise themselves very quickly. I'm sure they, and the LA, will be busy planning how they are going to cope with this, they may just not be communicating it all to parents.

However if you are concerned there is nothing stopping you asking the head or chair of governors

We have it in our borough (SE London) now the second year running. Last year it was just 2 schools, this year 9! including our Infant school.

We have the classroom space thanks god. Obviously new teacher/TA/support staff will come as well and it will be carried over to the Junior school but understandably a lot of parents aren't happy.

In one school they had 26 out of 30 applicants with sibling status. Obviously for everyone but the council people are moving towards good schools.

Unfortunately this will be the same when last and this year's intake will move to secondary schools. But I hope they will take the next 5 years to do something about it.

This was a concern of mine, especially as I learned that the school originally opposed it, but were kind of forced into it by the council, and are now doing all they can to support it.

However having done a bit more research, it seems there is space and they are taking the opportunity to make other improvements that they have wanted to do for a while.
I think the authorities do a feasibility study before they commit, and honestly I'm not sure they would do it, if it would really disrupt the school too much.

The only consideration would be that you may get a new teacher? So wouldn't be able to meet the teacher beforehand.they might do an internal juggle but not assured.

the lack of planning is shocking, the authority know how many children are in the area, they know they need to prepare for them.
In our area we have a lot of schools that are having major renovations over the Summer holidays to prepare for these bulge classes, still unsure whether it will be just a bulge class or permanent.
It's ridiculous

Realistically the school can't oppose the LEA's bulge class plans.

They can refer it to the school adjudicator - but he will probably rule in the LEAs favour.

If they need planning permission to build a new prefab on the site then the school can oppose the building plans - but likely the LEA will bulldoze them through anyway.

If they don't require a new prefab, then there is very little the school can oppose.

We've had a bulge class. Playground was very crowded. Lunchtimes were rushed. Classes missed indoor PE lessons because the hall was always in use.

It is however, fundamentally still the same school. ie the important things about how good or bad the school was didn't change because of the bulge year.

Thanks, starfishmummy - maybe they will sort it all out in time, so that it runs smoothly.

We have had a meeting with parents, a governor and head of education ... it didn't really achieve much, as it was alarmingly clear that, while there are doubtless good intentions all round, nothing had been sorted out yet re: the nuts and bolts, how it's all going to work in practice etc ...

In some ways, having thought about it a bit, I imagine that they'll pull it out of the hat for the first year, and things will probably be OK while there's the initial enthusiasm/support from LA etc ... I'm wondering how it's going to work as the bulge year works its way up through the school? They will need an additional teacher and TA each year, as a minimum, and it wasn't made clear that anyone had really thought out how this would work ..

They only need 1 additional teacher / TA for the whole 7 years the children are at school

You don't hire a teacher specifically to work in one class. Next year they'll rejig all the teachers so they have 2 Y1 teachers.....

Maria,
Why do you not think it will work?
There are very many schools with bulge classes or that are 2 form entry or above, which are outstanding schools, so there should not really be any issue providing that there is sufficient room. In some schools the new mobile is the classroom all the staff fight to get in because it is better equipped and nicer to work in than the other classrooms.
The fact that you say the school currently copes well with such a diverse population would make me believe that the school will easily cope with what is a relatively minor upheaval in the life of the school.

Thanks all -sorry, x-posted...

Reassuring to hear that the school is fundamentally the same, IndigoBell, but also a bit worrying to hear about the day to day probs - pretty much as I'd feared..
lostboysfallin and noramum - totally agree that the lack of info the LEA seem to have re numbers is incredible: seems like they literally wait and see who turns up! It's like they have no idea what'sgoing on on the ground.

Incredibly, our school was oversubscribed IN the catchment last year by 27 places - yet the guy from the LEA said they hadn't done anything about it at the time as they were able to accomodate these pupils elsewhere! Actually, what they did was to scatter a local neighbourhood's worth of kids all over the place, in any school that would take them.

Same issues in the lea where I am.

Year on year the problem is becoming more of a problem as the birth rate rises.

Our lea has said that each school will have to take a bulge class, but a lot of very old schools here simply do not have the space to accommodate a porta cabin.

What the stupid, stupid council did was to close and Paul down several primary schools and create fewer "super primaries" to accommodate those children from the demolished schools so essentially two schools into one, occasionally 3
Schools into one. Then, and this is the brilliant part, gave planning permission for family homes on the sites of the demolished schools! So more families, more children and no new schools! Genius!

IndigoBell - my fear is that he re-jigging of the teachers might not work out so well ... maybe we're all too set in our ways? There is a brilliant Reception Class teacher that everyone wants ... but of course, I appreciate teachers do move around all the time anyway.

Starting to feel a bit spoilt ... ! But can't help wanting something special to be maintained (ie:the school as it is) rather than upset a litttle thopughtlessly, with minimal consultation/planning ... I do realize that I am actually very fortunate to have a good school for the children to go to at all ..

I'd be more concerned if teachers stayed in the same year group for years and years and years

It's normal 'good practice' for teachers to change year groups every so often.

Hermione, this is going to sound stalky - your name stuck with me - but aren't you in the NW? Which LEA are you? We are in Trafford & I've been hearing talk in the playground of bulge classes but not sure if it's just rumour.

All sounds familiar, hermionestranger - similar situation here. Lord knows what's going to happen in the next few years, especially with secondary schools ..

I'm from the same school as Mariaf... Yes our School is lovely, but it is a small Victorian City School with a small Playground, that is over accommodated already. I have 3 boys the youngest starting in the Bulge year, 2 other Yr3/5, they are so so restricted on playtime physical activities & boys need fresh air & exercise! Doesn't help the behavior!!! Can I move them? Not really going into yr6 & yr4 has dyslexia, would he cope with upheaval? Feeling really let down...

I an in the North West, I am in Tameside. From what I hear the secondary situation should come to a head as the 2010 yr intake go up.

SE & its been a nightmare for years!

We're in the same boat - 4 of the town's primaries are now 3 form entry and some of the juniors are in one classroom with a curtain down the middle. Goodness knows whether there is any provision for the secondaries once all of these bulges come through the system. We also have schools which have taken bulge classes for the past two years, and won't be doing so next year, which means that siblings will probably not get in......the schools that have taken bulge classes are still excellent schools -they just have to become better organised at logistics. And on the upside, when your child gets to secondary school, they won't feel swamped by being at a big school if they're already used to a big school (that's what I'm hoping - my children's school has an annual intake of 90).

The situation nationally is terrible - which is part of the reason I am actively trying to open a free school where we are - it's not the ideal solution, but it will help a bit!

hermionestranger I am also in Tamseside and have heard the same.

Littlest Manky started in 2010, luckily we have a sibling link to the primary and got in, but lots round me didn't....I shudder to think of secondary school when his time comes.

It sounds like are children are going to the same school MariaF.
I am also having all these doubts as well as relieve that he got in as I don't think my DS would have gotten in to the local school without it being a bulge class.
We too have had very little information from the school but I think that is to do with the fact that at the moment they don't really know what they will do!
I'm still in two minds whether I look for another school for him that don't have all these issuses.

Exactly the same thing happened in my ds's school last year, when he was going into reception. They had to put up another classroom in the playground to house the extra class, although fortunately the playground was fairly big to begin with. I think they also cut down the number of preschoolers they took in, as they have a very large foundation year classroom which has a mixture of 3-4yr old preschoolers and younger reception children.

They used to be one form entry, now two form.

I honestly don't think it has affected my ds at all - can't speak for anyone further up the school when it happened (is only infants so up to Y2). They employed extra staff, were fortunate to have a fair amount of outside space anyway, they still all just about fit in the hall for assemblies etc.

The same thing has happened to most schools that were physcially able to take on more children in this area.

Manky eldest DS was one of the unlucky ones in 2010. Ds2 is one of 8 siblings for his year intake so far, with another 3 intakes to go and it's only a 15 class intake because of space issues that already exist at the school.

School asked to extend their numbers after recent building work but were old no as there is no space to accommodate more children in higher years! Brilliant!

We have a two class intake and in youngest DS year 2/3 was made up of siblings .

We do have space on our fields for more classrooms, but I think the governers and head would fight that. And we are becoming an Academy very shortly, so I think they will avoid bulge classes that way.