Experiences of small village primaries?

[CityDweller]

We are thinking of moving from city to a village with DC who'll start school in a couple of years. Looked round the village primary, which seems lovey but small. As in, small building/ classrooms (although tons of amazing outdoor space).
Year groups are small (11 in reception this year) and they combine year groups in the middle years.
Kids, teachers and other staff all seemed lovey and happy. But I was wondering whether it would end up being a bit claustrophobic/ narrow for the kids. I really have no idea as this is the first primary school I've looked at.
Anyone with experience of a similar sized school? How did you DC like it?

Yes, definitely, if we move to the village I'll check out all the viable schools when the time comes. Now we just need to decide whether or not to move there (whole other thread about that going on!)

I don't think this junior school has the older kids feeding animals! When I visited, the little ones in reception were painting pictures of fish with calming music playing in their classroom (having just come in from running around in the rain outside) and the year 4/5s were down the corridor doing something that looked quite 'serious', so I think they clearly differentiate the learning needs of very different age groups. And no sheep in the playground either sadly. I quite like the idea of a 'school sheep'

DS started at a small village primary, PAN 15. By year one he was working largely alone because there were no other children at his level. It was very socially isolating for him, and compounded by the small number of boys to be friends with. He was ganged up on by the other 4 boys in his year and was utterly miserable. We moved him at the end of year one to a PAN 30 school, and he's been transformed. There is a group of 4 or 5 children working at his level so the work is properly differentiated and he is challenged appropriately. The larger number of boys from whom to choose his friendships has been a revelation to him and he now has two very close friends who share his interests. So yes, I would choose large school over small any day.

Milly is right - all high schools near us are nearer 2000 - but most primaries are 3 form so 700+ total.
Lostintoys - one form is considered absolutely tiny in most cities now !!!

MMM our local secondary has its own farm and pupils up to A level love looking after the animals and gain so much from the experience.

One thing to bear in mind is that a small change in family make up of the village can change the dynamics in a school a lot. For example, at the school of a friend 3 families have moved out in the space of a few months. Taking their 9 children with them (as you do). This means that the previously combined 5/6 class is now 4/5/6.

I think some small schools are genuinely nurturing, family environments with everyone reaching their potential. But teeny tiny budgets make this very difficult.

Although if you look at the financial data locally, our small village primary school spends more money per pupil than all the other larger schools in the area as we have additional funding simply because we ARE a small school. Our income per pupil is over a quarter more than the national and local median. We are rarely short of money!

I don't really buy the idea that kids from small schools get swamped by the secondary transition. What I know to be the case at our very small school is whichever secondary you choose for your child there will be older pupils from the same primary already at the school. And because the primary is such a close knit community the older kids look out for the new year sevens so there is something of a support network. I've chatted to plenty of other parents at the school who have older children at secondary and the transition issues don't seem any different to others from bigger schools.

My children have been suitably challenged academically. It's ridiculous to assume that because the school is rural that the kids will somehow spend their time milking cows and feeding chickens rather than maths and English. About three quarters of the kids get level 5 in their year six says so they must be doing some work.

But they all know their trees and flowers and the countryside code, and also how to deal with playground sheep situations.

My ED attended a school like this to almost the end of Y2. It was lovely. She thrived academically. Seemed fantastic. She got 3s in Y2 sats, as did all the children in her small class.
We moved to a big village with a primary with 3 classes per year. I was worried she would be overwhelmed. She skipped out of class smiling on the first day: something I hadn't seen in almost three years at the intimate primary. When we talked about it later she told me all sorts of things I didn't know: in a class with only 5 girls she had been an outsider, moving from friendship group to group. In a bigger school she flourished and found somewhere to belong. She may never again reach the hot house academic standards she seemed to in KS1, but she is a bright girl and doing fine now in senior school (Y10). With hindsight I would not have sent her to such a small school. As someone else said: horses for courses.

spaniel how d'you find out how much a school has to spend per pupil? I looked on the Ofsted data dashboard, but it wasn't on there...

Small schools can be brilliant. But long term, their finances can be tricky. I would also ask why a school with 100 pupils only has 10 or so in reception. Check numbers in their preschool (if they have one) to see if this is a trend.

Politics around village schools can also be interesting. Personally, I wouldn't move in to a village with a small school and send out of catchment. Not if I wanted to be part of the village. Nor would I want to have to move my kids out if it didn't work out (and deal with those village repercussions). I do see it as 'essential to use' if you have kids and live in the village.

I love small schools, especially for the early years. But for me, a pan of 20-25 is perfect/minimum for funding, friendship groups, resources, staff numbers etc. I would be wary of one much smaller.

CityDweller
if you look at the schools performance data, there is a section on spend per pupil
www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/

Academies don't provide such information!

my dgc go to a small village primary. There are 15 in each year group and 4 classes. there are also 5 teachers and a teaching head and 4 TAs. The school has a lovely , caring atmosphere and all ability levels are catered for including one child with multiple SNs. On Sports day her carer pushed the wheelchair and the other pupils took turns to help her.
I was ateacher for many years and when dd asked me to recommend a type of school for the boys I said she should choose a small village primary if possible.
As well as normal lessond they do Tae Kwando [yr1 & 2], guitar Yr 3& 4], sports club, french club, football, drama, choir and Forest School.

Thanks spaniel that link provides really useful info. In your (or anyone else's) mind, what counts as a decent spent amount per pupil?

And yes, tilder one of the appeals of the village move would be so the kids go to the local school and we live a very local life. I wouldn't want to send them out of catchment. But I suppose it's good to know there are other options should the need to move schools become necessary for unforeseen reasons.

Going back a long way. Of my 7 schools, the village school was the happiest. Really suited me.

citydweller

It depends what it is spent on! We spend more than most on staffing so our pupil to staf ratio is lower than average ( 18 as opposed to 20.5 nationally).