Half a teacher

[beaksnout]

Would anyone on here consider sending their child to a school where Reception and Year 1 share a teacher, but in 2 different classrooms? There is a teaching assistant to help.

Obviously not ideal but not sure it's a total no-no either.

How many in each year?

If 30 per year then I don't think they can do that due to Infant class size regulations.

If 15 per year, then it still seems a bit weird to me. Surely would be better to just bung them all in the same room?

They're both tiny classes and the shared teacher is purely for financial reasons. I'd guess 10-15 in each class.

I would want to understand why they think having them in 2 separate rooms is better than just having a combined class with appropriate differentiation, like what happens in hundreds of small primaries across the country.

It does depend on how it is set up. It is probably a mixed age class with a teacher and a TA, who happen to have the luxury of two classrooms, not two classes having just half a teacher each. If you think about how EY units are set up they have multiple areas, including an outside area and each area doesn't have a teacher, so no the children aren't being short-changed with only half a teacher.
Done well I think it could be amazing. I would start the day altogether. Then break into groups, the reception classroom would be set up with a more EY approach, the KS1 room with more seats and Year 1 activities. Some activities would be child-directed learning, either independently or supported by the teacher or TA, some activities would be adult directed, some small group and whole class (so max of 15) teaching on targeted skills. If a reception child was ready they could access the Year 1 input. And the joy of space! We are always struggling to find an area for a quiet reading session, an intervention or a phonics group.

It could be really lovely and well organised. Is the class being run like that currently; if so, can you go and see what it's like?

I agree that this is not a 'half a teacher' situation. In fact, this is no different from what happens in my classroom, which is a year 1 class of 30. The children are taught altogether and then the TA takes a group for more targeted support and I take another. The fact that this can be done in two different rooms is a massive bonus - we would love to have that space!

Is there a maximum number of pupils allowed in a composite class? The maximum is 25 for one teacher here. I think it could be really good with the right teacher and TA.

sounds iffy.

I taught R/1 with 2 adjacent classrooms and an outdoor space accessible from both rooms. The children had space, they could move freely between the two rooms, although one had more tables/chairs for more "formal" work and the other had all the "messy play" equipment in. It was great as the children had access to everything they needed and the quieter room stayed that way!

Thanks everyone. This is reassuring