34 pupils in a split class - please reassure me. worried

[chocolateismydrug]

DC will start y5 in September. it's one of the schools that went doesn't have enough money, we have been doing 4.5 days for a year now (Friday afternoon off, longer days Monday - Thursday). to save some more money, some more teachers have been let go and school created more split classes. So DC will be in a class of 34, with half of them y4 and the other half y5.

we have never had a split class before. Anyone with a child with such high pupil number and a split class set up who can assure me that things will be fine?

tried to change schools but all the other local school are full....starting to panic a bit now with September approaching.

It's the size of the class that is worrying rather than the split.

My dcs school has always had split classes and all this 'the older ones are held back' is honestly tosh, dd1 is high achieving and has had some of her best years as the older group.

But with a class that size and a 4.5 day week I'd be looking elsewhere frankly.

I wouldn’t worry at all, teachers will know how to adapt the curriculum accordingly.

They will in a school where mixed classes are routine - but if the school has always taught in single year classes, it can take a little while to adjust, and OP's child would be in the first year of this adjustment.

@cantkeepawayforever the same could be said for a new teacher joining a school with mixed year classes - or an NQT starting to work in any school - but in this case I doubt any questions would be asked or doubts expressed. Of course it will take adjustment but that doesn’t mean it can’t work smoothly - it really is not as complex as it appears.

Pixie,

Having taught everything from single year groups in a several class entry to all of Reception + KS1 in a 2-class primary, I would say that a situation with no organisational knowledge / experience (so a school just starting out with mixed year classes and therefore having to devise policies about e.g. how the year group curriculum in Maths is planned and taught; how topics are rotated to avoid duplication; how the same year group in mixed and single year classes maintain parity of experience) is different from a situation with no personal knowledge / experience.

In the latter, policies and procedures are known, and there is someone else to ask 'how do we do this round here'. in the former, it all needs to be decided and worked out - which I agree is not overwhelmingly difficult, but is something that needs to be done, and may not be done perfectly at the outset.

or an NQT starting to work in any school - but in this case I doubt any questions would be asked or doubts expressed
Have you never encountered the 'but I don't want my child in a class with the NQT, I want the experienced teacher' complaint? It is relatively common IME.

There are various issues here to be considered: 17 in a year group cannot possibly have a stand alone teacher. It’s simply not affordable. This isn’t about cuts to the budget, it’s about managing “wrong” numbers of children. I assume there have been children leaving which has affected funding. Children not joining the school will also have a major effect on funding. The GB should have been planning for this and would have had budget projections for 3 years into the future.

All the evidence I have seen indicates that very bright children continue to do well in larger classes. This is assuming good teaching and you have a job share and a mixed class. It’s doable and 20 years ago my DD was in an infant class of 33. She was in a combined Yr class of 66, with one classroom and 2 teachers. Several of these DC went to Oxbridge and 30 went to the local grammar. The teaching, and y2 was a job share, was excellent.

Your teachers will need to work hard but if they have a top set, then he should be set work that’s challenging so progress is good. The more difficult progress figures are mostly lower attaining DC where I am a Governor.

Your school doesn’t sound great and this reorganisation was vital. Instead of worrying about government cuts, the school needs more DC! Any school with 17 in a year group will struggle.

Forgot: the reasons it can be challenging for teachers is you can have DC in the lower group who are years behind and DC in the older group who are years ahead. The differences in attainment can be huge.

Is this change meaning a full 5 day week? How disruptive for parents to have reduced the school week! No wonder the other schools are full! Better managed.

Bubbles, tbh the difference in attainment in a single year group CAN be so huge that some mixed year classes will have narrower gaps.

I have taught a 3 year mixed class with an effective attainment range spanning around 7 years ... and a 1 year class with an effective attainment range spanning around 9. Equally I have taught a 2 year mixed class with an unusually low attainment spread (probably only 4 years in all) which is in line with the 'best scenario' norm for a single year class.

It genuinely does depend from class to class and school to school. But I would absolutely agree with you that a school with an average of 17 in Y4 and Y5 is in a difficult position and desperately needs more pupils - or for 4 more to leave, which perhaps seems more likely at present.

I would have to agree with bubbles that there appears to be evidence to suggest that this is a school and governing board that has failed to recognise that things were going wrong in terms of finances.
The fact that they moved to a 4.5 day week was an attempt to save some money but seemingly with out recognising the need to cut staff as well. Having moved to 4.5 days a week they then seemingly failed to recognise that they were losing pupils and therefore more funding until too late. Now they are belatedly cutting staffing and creating mixed age teaching and it is almost a self fulfilling prophesy that the school will now loose some more pupils because of that decision.

The school and governing board need to look seriously at their 3 year projections of pupil numbers and start to recognise that they are on a slippy slope which requires probably some drastic action.

OP sorry but to be blunt, the number of pupils in the class will tend to correct itself downwards as parents take the decision to move elsewhere. What I would be much more concerned about is whether the leadership of the school can turn it around academically as they continue to loose staff.

Totally agree, admission. They should have had 3 year budget forecasts too. We do. The management here seems woeful.

Admission has a good point. With the signals the school is giving there is a good chance that if possible some children will leave ...