Dilemma around school place for September- very different cohorts.

[Foxgloves]

DS starting school in September. Since being a toddler, he has been involved at two local playgroups- one very close to home, the other about 15 mins away. Both are attached to good schools- both are small with a PAN of 15 and mixed age classes.

Our first choice was the further school but didn't get in on distance. Got second choice- the one closer to home. Really pleased with the given school bar one factor- the new intake is nearly all autumn/winter born girls- most of them seem quite mature (i know them quite well through playgroup). DS is a Summer born boy and seems young in comparison and usually teams up with the younger boys at playgroup out of choice while the girls have also tended to naturally play together.

Obviously this is not a problem with the school itself, and the girls are all fab, but was concerned about friendships. We came to terms with it though and now DS has been for some visits, likes the teacher, though not really talked about the other children as yet.

The dilemma now is that it is looking like a place might become available at our first choice school. Not definite but likely. The intake here is a more even ratio of boys and girls and a wider range of ages across the year if that is the right way of explaining it. However DS has now not attended any inductions here.

So question is, how much would you let the better ratio of boys/girls affect a decision to move? Would you see how he got on a nearest school (i know being nearer has many benefits too) or do you think the better mix among peer group would make him happier in the long run despite the distance?

Are you in an area where there is a lot of movement? We are -- lots of staff on short-term contracts. If so, you might find that the nearer school cohort changes quite a bit over the years. No school is likely to preserve the whole class intact from reception to year 6.

I see you said mixed age classes as well, so from year 1 he'll be in a class with boys close to his own age at least some of the time.

Hi Lancelottie,thanks for replying.

No, very little movement indeed usually. Yes there are mixed aged classes, however reception group tends to work together in a separate area in both schools. There are playtimes of course where DS would be able to mix more freely. I guess I am just thinking about his day to day happiness really.

I would definitely move to the one with more boys. But then again I would be horrified at having to choose a school with only a PAN of 15, its too small in my experience.

Induction sessions don't mean that much at this age. the time between now and the autumn is a very long time to them.

Thanks Mummytime.

There are many schools in the area with PANs of 15. A few also of PAN 30, and one or two much larger schools but they had less going for them in other ways. I agree its not always ideal but these two schools were the ones we liked the most. I have heard so many people say that going to your most local school can be such a benefit to the child, but not sure in this case.

What does PAN mean?
It would never have occurred to me to choose a school based on where the children's birthdays sit within the year.
I might have taken into account the boy/girl ratio.
But most people I know wouldn't really know the details of the class, I'm guessing you are in a small village?

I chose a school where ds vaguely knew one child. I could have chosen the school where all his pre-school friends were going. that sounds awful, but he's made lots of new friends, girls and boys.

With such a small cohort, I would choose the school with the more even ratio of boys/girls to widen the potential friends pool.

I wouldn't worry about not having attended the inductions.

Our school is a small school but not quite as small as your options (but not 30 to a class either) and we don't have mixed aged classes.
My dd is finishing Y3 and her class has almost 2 boys each girl and most of the children have first term birthdays. Dd is youngest girl with a may birthday, 2 boys are younger then her but no August birthdays. He class has problems. The girls can be really catty and there is always at least one girl struggling with friendships (luckily my dd seems to sail through in a world if her own friends with everyone!). The class started out in reception almost equal. The area has very low mobility however for the few children who have left have been replaced by only boys. The class is one that has problems with disruptive behaviour, nothing huge but they can be a lively roust bunch.
My ds's reception class is the opposite, almost exactly. Ds has SN and is in the process of being officly diagnosed with an ASD so he has a hard enough time socially anyway so the fact his pool of male peers is so restricted is a bad bad thing. It hasn't been great for him at all.
The school it's self is amazing and fully deserves its amazing reputation but it is luck of the draw when it comes to the make up of a small cohort and there is nothing school can do. They manage the issues extremely well and although the small amount if boys in ds's class has been a problem they have gone above and beyond to come up with creative ways of managing the situation. Same true to a slightly less extent for dd's class.
There are times I really wish we had more even cohorts, especially for ds however I think at the end of the day, given a choice I would stay with our school as it is our village school, a part of our tight knit community and the school as a whole has so much to offer it makes up for the down side.
Things could change again and swing the other way like dd's class did so I think choosing a school based on the cohort at entry could be misguided.

Hi,

Yes Veuveandlilies both are small village schools and know both cohorts quite well as have attended both playgroups, chatted to other mums etc. I guess it's not so much the birthdays but the gender divides and down to individual personalities really. It just so happens that our allocated school has a large group of girls who happen to be fairly mature-seem ready for school. Not every single one of them but the majority. They are lovely, but it just happens that naturally they tend to play together while DS has mostly played with the boys in the cohort below.

At the first choice school where a place MAY come up there are more boys, a more even balance generally and a larger number of children- boys and girls-who I can imagine DS would click with.

PAN- planned admission number I think?

Thanks for your replies pyrrah and roadkillbunny. Pyrah I too am worried about friendship pool. roadkillbunny- I think you are right that basing decision only on cohort might not be wise. Cohorts can be very fluid. But historically there is very little movement in either school. It is very much luck of the draw,you're right.

As a teacher with a summer born boy I would definitely choose the further away school with the more even cohort. I understand your concerns!

Thanks shootingstar, what would be your main concerns if you don't mind me asking or what are your experiences as a teacher that would make you have that opinion?

I would go for the school that's further away.

Not all summer born boys struggle but ime almost all the children I have known to struggle with school are summer born, and most of them are boys.

The sad thing is that by Y2, by which point most are 'caught up' - with attainment/behaviour/attention span/whatever -they already have such negative views of themselves - as not good at work, as naughty or whatever.

Maybe that too changes in time - I hope so.

The friendship pool would also be a concern. My rule of thumb is that you need a minimum of 6 of each gender per class, ideally 8+.

I would echo Barbarianmum's comments.
The extremely narrow Friendship pool -particularly considering it is mixed year groups so his class would change each year, the constant being the 15 made up of many winter born girl - would be a massive issue for me. This would feed in to the self esteem issues that BM has mentioned. You know your son best of course, but if I had a choice and it was my son, I wouldn't give it a second thought and pick the further away option in the situation you have described.