Split age classes in KS1?

[MillieMoodle]

DS1's school are likely to have split age classes in KS1 from September (specifically years 1 & 2). Is this still a fairly common thing? I know it was when I was at primary school but didn't think it was so much now.

If you're a teacher, how do you feel it impacts on the children's education and social development (if at all)? How are the children taught at different levels in the same class? How does it work with SATS?

If you're a parent whose child is or has been in a split age class at KS1, how did you feel it impacted your child's education and social development? Was it good for your child or not?

Am really keen to understand how it will all work in practice and what the likely implications will be for the children. School says smaller class sizes will be a huge benefit, but I would think they would be aiming to fill the places up as quickly as possible so can't see that as being a long term benefit. Am mostly concerned that DS1 is a bit immature for his age and that putting him in a class with younger ones isn't really going to help that!

It's been great for my year 1 son , he often gets to do the year 2 stuff once he's finished his own work .. it's been great .

A local school had seven children admitted as exceptions 3 years ago so it does happen.

Our school used to do 3 mixed yr 1/2 classes and apparently it was a nightmare, so now they have yr1-yr1/2-yr2.
The mixed class has the brightest yr1s and the yr2s who need a little extra help.
Ds2 is in the mixed class as a yr1 pupil and he loves it, he's pushed a bit more because he does some yr2 work as well, and the class only has 24 kids which is a nice bonus.

Can't - that's it exactly; they are 1 child over having a multiple of 30. So in total there are 23, 38 and 30 = 91. Can't have 3 classes so must have 4! Will be interested to see what they do if people leave over the summer - there's usually quite a bit of movement especially with the new intake so I do wonder if it drops below 90 whether they'll split all 3 years across 3 classes, or whether the overspill/youngest from Y1 will be pushed down to class R.

This is massively outing but the school is scheduled to double in size over the next 6 years. There are lots of new houses being built nearby so it's anticipated that there will be a lot more children. The intention was that each reception year from last September would be a two form intake. They did it last Sept and but only have 38 children. This September coming they'll only have 23 children so can't justify a second reception class. The houses haven't been built/occupied as quickly as expected so they're left with a massive school and not enough children to fill it. They are also quickly realising that places are needed in other years. So whereas DS's year was meant to be the last year that had one class, it looks as though older years may also end up with split classes to enable extra capacity.

At the moment am seeing lots of benefits if your child is in Y1 of a Y1/Y2 split, but not so much if your child is in Y2!

Bear in mind my work in schools was specifically with children experiencing some difficulties in education, whether for educational or behavioural reasons.

I think, handled well, its a really good idea in KS1.

Briefly, because there's more chance of a child finding the right level if the spread of differentiation in a classroom is greater. And if they're put in different groups for different subjects, and even parts of subjects.

DS is currently in a mixed Y1/Y2 class. He's Y2 and above average ability-wise. I was very concerned. There was a lot of talk about the benefit to Y1 in being stretched but as an able Y2 I felt he wouldn't be stretched. However, I knew the teacher he was having was very good and there were 24 in the class instead of 30. Also, he's very small and was not very confident. He has really grown in confidence this year. They took the top students out in small groups for teaching regularly, which has really benefitted him. Academically, he certainly hasn't fallen behind. I am a bit worried about the transition to year 3 now as he is used to being with a younger cohort but the mixed class has been fine for him this year.

Thanks dancing and top it's reassuring to know that people feel that it works.
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Top* I'm glad it's benefitted your son; I would hope that they will do similar at DS's school with the more able ones in each class.

Millie, what you need to think about is 'is it a disbenefit to the Y2 children?' In other words, do the Y2 children lose out compared to a single year group per class scenario? I don't think that you need it to be better than single age group classes, just to be reassured that its not worse - is that right?

In a school with a single Y1/Y2 class, the Y2s may lose out a little - though not necessarily, as a poster upthread described - particularly perhaps towards the end of the year in the run-up to SATs and preparation for KS2.

However, if the structure that you have suggested comes to pass, there is capacity for the Y2s all to be brought together at some points, and if that is used imaginatively, the disbenefit to Y2s may be very small or nonexistent.

Can't thank you, your comments have been invaluable! Yes it is definitely about a split class not being worse than a single year class; very well put. I just hope that if it goes ahead as expected, DS gets an experienced teacher who teaches in the ways described above!

The replies so far have mostly been very reassuring so I don't feel quite so worried about it all. DS will be sad to be separated from some of his friends but I hope they will try to keep each child with at least one or two of the children they are friends with the most, and of course they'll still share break times.

I think if all children are in composite classes it is fair. It does mean high quality teaching is needed though.

An earlier poster said in her school the summer born Y1s were kept down with the YR children. This would have been over my dead body! My very bright August born would have been devastated and we would have removed her from the school. Summer borns are not all babies who have less development and ability than their earlier born classmates. They don't have a need for less teaching. They should not be discriminated against if they are capable of going into Y1 with everyone else who we already appear to think are ahead!

No-one would ever have any inkling mine was a summer born! She didn't need any longer in YR or be with YR children or play! Most of the other summer borns were just fine too! Some of them were reading books at 5!

I've had the opposite reaction from a parent when teaching a mixed age class. After a term mother insisted her summer born extremely able child was removed from Y1/2 class and put in my R/Y1 class ... she won.

For me personally it was a negative experience. We had to move schools eventually. My DS1 is much happier now in one class one year set-up. Admittedly there were other factors but the constant jiggling of classes did not help.

Bojo, my extremely able 5 year okld DS made much better progress in reception than Y1 p[in a Y1/2 class]. Free-flow open-ended activities meant that no cap was put on what he learned, whereas the Y1 diet of more limited 'taught' tasks was a real issue.

Thinking about it - it didn't arise because we had moved - DD would probably have made better progress in the Y1/Y2 class (because she likes to be taught stuff before doing it, and because she had no gap between what she could think and what she could put down on paper, whereas DS had significant fine motor skills issues), whereas DS definitely preferred the freedom to do his own thing (DIY football tables, reading complex non-fiction and doing large calculations on the blackboard in the role play area, mostly!)

So I don't think it's a given where able children will do best in this scenario - but the scenario in which some children are 'put up' and others 'kept down' from the same year group is one I would always seek to avoid. A whole year group experiencing the same type of mixed class is a wholly different thing.

The other thing that's worrying me is whether the teaching will actually be high quality or not. I'm not really sure how quickly they are meant to progress in Y1 but I have had to push for DS to be moved up reading levels when he is clearly capable of reading at a higher level than the books he's been given. But they never hear him read so they wouldn't know.

Also the standard of work currently accepted from DS in class (as evidenced by his exercise books which we can see at parents evening) is a hell of a lot lower than the standard I accept from him in his homework. I appreciate that I only have 1 child to deal with and his teacher has 30 but she doesn't seem to have a clue what he's actually capable of. He seems to be one who will do well if pushed, but if left to his own devices will do the bare minimum exactly like his father.