Experience of 150 pupil intake

[muminhove]

Hi, got our place at first choice school which normally takes 120 per year, but now heard that the school is adding a bulge class so there will be 150 children in reception.
We were a bit concerned as school is already pretty big and was expanded and rebuilt to take four classes about three years ago, though that seems quite common in Brighton & Hove but how on earth will the school cope with 150 4-5 year-olds?
Does anyone have DCs who go to really big primaries? What's it like? Do children feel a bit swamped?

That seems a lot to me. No experience myself. My dcs school was 3 form entry and I quite like the fact there are lots of children, but I was one of the parents who wrote to object to the proposal to expand it to 4 form entry. OTOH, if they are used to 4 form, I guess they must have been used to the organisation needed for a larger school anyway, so I'm not sure it will make a big difference?
Quite a few of the inner ring schools in my City have been 4 or 5 form entry for some time, not just in response to this recent bulge.

What is the EYFS setting like? Is it going to be 5 YR classes in 5 classrooms or 150 children in an open plan setting designed for 120 children?

If it is the former I really don't think it will make that much difference as long as they have a suitable classroom available.

If it is the latter it might be more of an issue depending on how spacious/ well appointed the setting was in the first place.

As I recall from the pre-application visit, there are four open plan rooms but with common spaces in between so they do have a class identity but not sure how they squeeze 30 more in without losing the common spaces.
There is a playing field so maybe they will stick a portacabin there, but then one class would be cut off from the rest.
Think it's the usual story of area getting more popular with families but LEA not having the money to build a new school.
I think last year there was a bulge class at another school and promises to reuse a former school building but they don't seem to have actually done it this year.

My DSs go to a rising 3 form entry school. It has worked well for them both - DS1 can find it hard to make friends and eventually found some other kids on his wavelength. DS2 has SN and, being a large school it was nothing the SENCO hadn't dealt with before. Reception and Year 1 are kept separate from the rest of the school in the 'infant' building and each have their own playgrounds.

Mine are at a juniors of that sort of entry numbers.

I wouldn't have thought 120-150 was a huge jump. 60-90 would (imo) be a harder jump proportionally.

There are advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages are more clubs, specialist teachers (eg sports/music) more variety of things like musical instruments/sports on offer. More children so more likely to find a similar friend.

Disadvantages are fairly obvious in that a child can just slip below the radar easier. For example I am certain if a child decided not to have lunch no one would notice and things like that. I wouldn't say bullying is more common, however it's easier for things to happen and just not be possible to notice for sheer numbers.

I'd look at the head. If (s)he is the sort of person who likes their little empire and hides at the top beaming about what a great job they're doing but not mixing with the kids. Worry. If (s)he seems to know every child by name, get down to the kids' level to talk to them, they come running to show her/him the drawing they've done/worm they've found etc. then I'd have thought they will be fine.

My DD is at a French primary school with a 90 pupil intake in maternelle (nursery, Reception, Y1 equivalent) and a 125 pupil intake from Y2-Y6.

90 pupils was fine, IMO (though the class size of 30 was too much by far) but 25 x 5 is too big a school.

So they go down in class numbers at junior level?

DC had a 60 year entry - four classes of 15.

That was absolutely fine. But you're proposing a huge jump...gulp.

There were 6 classes of 15 pupils in Petite Section (Nursery) for half days only, and 3 classes of 30 pupils in Moyenne Section (Reception) and Grande Section^ (Y1), and thereafter 5 classes of 25 (on average - in fact, it varies between 16 and 30).

My DD is at a 4 form entry school, so 120 intake. I have been really impressed at how the school manages the number of kids. For the nursery and reception, children have separate lunchtime and playtime and they are introduced to the school gradually so they eventually know their way around. For the Y1 and 2 they are positively to look out for younger ones, take the lead on buddy benches etc. DD is y2 and has friends in all years through clubs, being on school council and meeting different kids at playtime. Her experience of being at a larger school has been overwhelmingly positive as the school have good techniques for managing the size of the school.

son is in a 4 form entry school. It wasn't when we joined - it was a 2 form entry school and we were in the second of two bulge years (so 3 forms in his Reception). But as has been said, a popular school and poor planning by the local authority. As a result the school was split into two schools, an infants and a juniors.

We got a lovely new school building for the infants, and because it is in two different buildings it doesn't feel that big. Also the children are in individual classes, and that again gives it a smaller feel. I don't at any point worry that children will get overlooked.

The problem with buldge years is that they have a knock on effect. You can add that extra year, and it addresses the problem that year, but two years later you have another 'bulge' of sibling applications.

It is an absolute logistical nightmare for the PTA though.