Composite classes (eg Yr 3 and 4 together). Your views please. Feeling wobbly!

[miljee]

I appreciate that with falling rolls, the schools have to act but am I right to get really fed up with this? My Ds is 7 and in year 3. There are an inconvenient 36ish children in the year. EVERY single year so far he's been in a different class mix!

R: class of yr Rs plus class of yr R/yr1.
1: different class of yr 1s (mainly less mature boys!) plus class of yr1/yr2.
2: all together- all 36 but nominally split into ability bands (best year yet)
3: (junior school) four classes of 9 x yr3 and 17 x yr4 each.
4: (next year) three classes of 21 x yr3 and 11 x yr 4.
5: (presumably) back with the same kids as year 3 but I'd imagine ability mixed.

Am I being paranoid in thinking my slightly immature, averagely academic DS may be being short-changed by this constant chopping and changing? I have no real issue with composite classes per se but perhaps not when they involve different kids EVERY year, swinging wildly from being the small group of younger, less able kids in a given class to being the small group of older kids in a class of strangers. Does this make them confident in the face of change or plagued with uncertainty?
DS seems happy enough but I don't think he's making much progress esp as I think the bench mark is being set at year 4 level seeing as they're the big majority in the composite. "Forgot" to change the library book AGAIN? 'At this age we expect the children to remember to do this for themselves' (thus the book never gets changed!)- maybe because the vast majority of the kids have been doing it for a year? If a large number weren't (ie if they were all newbie year 3's) the school would recognise there was a problem and instigate a system to make SURE the books were changed.
Sorry to bang on but we're in a position to relocate soon and I need to start thinking about whether to keep DS where he is or move him!

It depends on how good the teachers are ime, rather than the mix of children. There will be a mix of ability in any class, though it will be slightly wider in this instance - but presumably the teachers face a simlar challenge regardless.

PS Done the maths and out of a possible 36 kids, only 4 have been constantly in the same class as DS since reception!

I agree, LM. There have been some 'behavioural' issues in that my 7 year 4 month old has been coming home with some inappropriate stuff (language/allusions)gleaned from the 9yr 2 month old boy who sits next to him! MY gripe is with the constant change, really. It's not always a bad thing in that some changes have taken DS out of the orbit of the class 'bully' in his own year (but into the orbit of the year 4 class bully!). The ability of the teachers is crucial, I agree but I feel it does take a 'better' teacher to teach appropriately to such a wide range, esp when they can't get to know or get 'the feel' of a complete class as it changes every five minutes! I'd definitely be happier if his current class would stay whole til the end of juniors but demands of the cirriculum means a change every year from here on in.

But it is unusal for the same teacher to continue with the same class for more than one year - so from the teacher's perspective every class is new, regardless of who was in the class before (I'm assumign that the classes are stable for the academic year?). Some larger priamry schools regularly shake up the mix of pupils in ecah class within a year group for example.

Hmmm... Agree with ladymuck. It shouldn't matter academically if the teacher is good.. However for the emotional and social development then I think I'd be concerned too..
There is a big difference in age in just one year group. Two together is a vast difference, particularly in the younger years. A 5 year old can be a long way from a 7 year old in terms of maturity.

Yes, the classes do remain stable for the academic year, but there will be a new teacher every year. A composite class can be great for a bright child who can be streamed with the year above age group, or for an older but more academically average child who can go into a 'lower' mainly year 3 (in this case) group without the potential stigma of being 'the worst in year 4' but for my middle of the road DS there aren't any real advantages. For me, the whole thing is getting 'worse and worse' (excuse the exaggeration!) in that next year, DS will still be in the minority, will be surrounded by younger kids (OK, OK, will no doubt be in the upper ability group ie appropriate to year 4!) and will go from 26 to 31 or even 32 kids in his class! Arrgh! Can anyone see any benefits in that?!

It so depends on the teacher! I was in that position at primary school (one of the oldest Y4 pupils is a mixed year class of Y3 and Y4) and I have to say it was the turning point of my education. I worked in a small group and worked at my own pace mainly in fairly wideranging projects Eg in covering Time we not only made our own clocks, we wentinto Roman and Norse mythology (names of days, months etc), looked at the history of the calendar, looked at astronomy etc. Each of us decided how far we wanted to pursue each subject, and all of us loved it. It instilled in me a love of learning that continued long after, and when I moved school at the end of that year I went immediately into Year 6 (where I then had to stay for 2 years!).

Now personally I think that the teacher was key, but the range of the class forced us to learnt hings in a different manner from the way in which we might have learnt them in a single range class.

I'm assuming that even at present your son isn't actually tacking the Year 4 work, but is working at his own level?

Yes, I believe his work is 'at level' but there are 'issues' eg from being a bit above average in say maths, he's now in the 4th group out of 5 thus sees himself as failing (there are only 5 year 3 kids in group 3 and above!). Also, being in the minority, the social side of classroom life is geared towards the older kids who've had a year to learn the ropes and absorb the culture of the junior school. I too was in composite classes in a village primary- I mean, 3 classes spanning 4 to 11 BUT it was a smallish school (70 kids?) and we all knew each other and each other's families, had the same teacher for years on end (not necessarily a good thing though our 'senior' teacher was inspirational!) and were basically amongst the same gang of ability selected kids all the time in our 'groups'. With the arrangement at Ds's school, it's the endless chopping and changing of classes that bothers me, nothing seems to be able to develop, even cross-year friendships as they'll be kyboshed in Sept when the current year 4s become 5s and amalgamate with the new year 6s whilst our new year 4s sit around waiting for the (majority) year 3s to 'get up to speed'. I'm really sorry to bang on about this- I know in the grand scheme of things it DOESN'T MATTER, it's just that DS is a bit of a sensitive soul and I just want to try and make the 'right' decision whether we stick with this or jump- into a new school but one with either single age forms or a village primary.

My two have both had times in mixed age classes, and it really does depend on the teacher's ability to differentiate - I don't think it harmed my two at all. Having said that, the school has now gone over to single year classes & will do everything they can to keep it that way - especially for the upper school Year 5 & Year 6, because of SATs preparation. But it is hard to see what else they could do with a year group of 36.
As far as the changing classmates is concerned, a lot of schools - ours included - do this anyway.

My dd is in a mixed yr1/2 class and I have some concerns too. She has the same teacher as last year, and she is very good, but I worry on the friendship side. Only three of her class last year are in her class this year and if she makes friends with the yr2 children they might not be in her class next year. dd is a September baby so academically it's not a problem, but seeing ds with his bunch of friends that he has been with since reception (although they have mixed his class around a bit his core group have stayed together) I think that it's important to have some continuity. Having said that the price is that ds is in a class of 35! The school are now moving to single form entry to avoid this problem in future.