Does anybody have any experience of their 4 yo being taught in a space with 63 others?

[duchesse]

Been having wobbles about currently 2.7 yo DD going to our local primary school. They're recently remodelled their reception area to house all the reception-aged children (63 the last time we asked) in the same "space".

It's basically two classrooms and the wide corridor all knocked into one, with a half wall where the classroom walls used to be, but open at what was the corridor end. So essentially all the same area. Plus their own little separate playground to keep the little ones away from the big uns.

I'm just a little at the thought of DD, who will be 4 y and 3 days old, going into such a huge environment. They have 2 teachers and 2 TAs for those 63 children .

What do you think? My only previous experience with the older children was DS in a y1 class of 35 with one teacher and one TA, and that was not a good experience.

Yes, and it was great.

There will obviously be two teachers, two TAs, and maybe a number of additional TA for children with sn. Dd2 couldn't walk very well at that point, and was still using a walking frame, and I was concerned it was going to be too busy for her, but it was awesome. The space meant that they could use the full area to run different activity stations across the two classrooms, and the groups were mixed.

I can honestly say we didn't have any problems at all. At 'quiet' or carpet times, the two classes used opposite ends of the adjoined rooms, and there were never any problems with noise travelling.

It's great prep for yr 1, as most schools re- org after yr r and children get split up from their yr r classmates. This way they know everyone.

(why are there 63 btw? We had more than 60 but that was due to sn with additional LSAs)

Only 45 in our space, unless the pre-schoolers join in which they sometimes do but it works brilliantly. I'm sure there's a far greater selection of activities available as a result, more staff on hand.

Group time, as stated above, is separate but at the same time so no issues there either.

Dd's school is like this - p1 and p2 in one space, separated by bookcases, etc. Prob about 45 kids in all. It's lovely, w added bonus that she knows the p2 children and teacher quite well, as well as her own p1 group.

Our school has also just had building work and will have the 2 reception classes together in one space (previously they had been in separate classrooms).

My DD is due to start reception in sept (although one of the older/middling ones with a Jan birthday).

The teacher that DD currently has in the nursery school (attached to the school) is going up to the reception class with them and has said that there will be 2 teachers and 2 TAs and they will be on a rotation type system ie some will be doing carpet time, some will be outside and other groups will be doing various things so yes it will be noisy, the kids will rarely be all together at the same time iyswim.

Hi everyone my son is due to start in sept and has sen the school he has been allocated has 60 and i am very concerned as it will be noisy and he has sensory issues and hyperactive. the local one has 90 open plan in reception. I am trying to visit the village schools but they arent being very forthcoming.

There are 45 at ours and I have not heard any complaints, although in reality I have no idea what it's like on a day to day basis. I did feel it seemed a bit small for that many children when he started, but then they are very small children I am going in to help as of next week so I guess I'll get a better understanding then.

I was never worried about my DS1 starting school though as he's one of the older ones and knew about 80% of the children due to the preschool being on the same premises, which made a huge difference I suppose. I just remember it as a really happy time. So your DD will go in 2013? I can imagine you will be very worried with her being so little, but that doesn't mean she will be intimidated. So you have plenty of time to help develop her confidence and encourage friendships.

Hi, my son's Reception class is exactly like this (31 in each class). I had similar concerns before he started but it seems to work very well (I can say this with confidence as I volunteer once a week).

I think a lot more schools are working this way, to get away from the traditional classroom based approach to learning in yr r and more to play based with the new (well, not so new now, lol, but the building works take time ) curriculum.

Rachel, dd2 had v severe sensory issues too, but it was fine. I think actually better than a single classroom environment as there were always corners which were less noisy and busy, and a certain amount of the time is choice stuff anyway. Does he have a statement or an iep at nursery? Those sorts of concerns are dealt with well at the transition meeting for children with acknowledged sn.

Not sure why 63, but they're an academy and seem to be able to be a little flexible with their PAN. They said it was something to do with some children joining in January and some others leaving, so I guess that means that they didn't have all 63 on the premises at the same time.

dd started in reception in jan and theirs is an open plan class with 60 in 2 classes divided by the cooking and cleaning area, and she loves it being able to pop and see other class mates she used to be in nursery with, the nursery was also 1 large room with 75 children at a time, so i guess she is used to it, but have to add reception class is not as noisy and busy as nursery was.