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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Would you send your children to a primary school with only 48 pupils?

42 replies

MamaG · 14/11/2007 08:33

Thinking of moving

Not that far from where we are now, but much more rural

Local school for 4-11 year olds has 48 pupils and two classes. Excelletn ofsted report

What do you think?

OP posts:

OrmIrian · 14/11/2007 10:08

Don't know . Yes the teachers will know all the pupils well and there may well be a good standard of teaching.

But will there be all the facilities that you would expect at a larger school? Mixed age classes aren't always universally popular. And if you are living in a very small village and going to a very small school, your DCs opportunities to socialise are going to be very narrow (but I do have a bit of a terror of villages anyway ).

How will the DCs cope with a move to a much larger secondary school when the time comes?

I'd be tempted I think but I'd need to have a good look round and a talk to the head and the other parents.

portonovo · 14/11/2007 10:15

That's one of the problems KerryMum. My relative has to teach reception right through to year 2 in the mornings and reception through to year 3 in the afternoons. That's a huge spread in terms of academic ability, maturity and the ability to do anything independently, so it is very stressful for the teacher and not very good for the children.

HairyIrene · 14/11/2007 10:45

i would think its very lucky!

if you are living in local village makes sense really

its difficult if it doesnt look like you think a school should, or your school..

lol orm i have village fever sweats too
grew up in one!!

OrmIrian · 14/11/2007 10:52

Me too, hairy. I recognise the signs

I quite like it now - perhaps a mums-eyes perspective is different from a teenagers - but I still wouldn't want to live there. I'd happily live miles from anywhere or in a town...just not a village.

EmsMum · 14/11/2007 10:55

Visit and see what you think. If your dd is bright and sociable she'll probably be fine wherever she goes.
As she's 8 you ought to be able to see the actual kids she'll be with and get some idea of what they are like. Also check the facilities.

When we were looking for schools the only non-church one anywhere near was tiny school in next village. Excellent reports, DH visited and impressed by headteacher... but the reception intake that year was 2 which just didn't seem enough and also there was absolutely nowhere for PE if they couldn't go outside. That alone ruled it out...it rains a lot in lancashire!

HairyIrene · 14/11/2007 11:09

village life tis not for me Orm,
oh your barney's daughter... you are cruella's little sister then are you...

arghhhh
city anonimity has big advantages for me..

Marne · 14/11/2007 11:14

Dd will be starting school in september next year, her school has roughly 50 pupils and her class will only have 10 children. I think it's great, the children get more time spent with them and there are less kid's to have to get along with.

nimnom · 14/11/2007 11:17

Yes I would

littlelapin · 14/11/2007 11:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

portonovo · 14/11/2007 11:52

Article doesn't sound that positive to be honest. That's exceptionally small for a secondary school too.

Marne, how come your daughter will be in a class of only 10? All the schools I know with 40-60 pupils have only 2 classes, so you still get up to 25 children per class. Your situation sounds very unusual. I also feel having fewer children to get along with is not a positive thing necessarily...

Original poster

MamaG · 14/11/2007 12:34

Great replies, thank you, certainly a lot to think about.

One of the things I was worried about was how they would cope at secondary school, if they went to such a small school.

DD would still keep attending the same Brownie pack, dancing class and swimming club and I will encourage DS to do similar when he's a big older, so that (a) DD keeps friendly with her current mates and (b) they know other children when they go to secondary school.

OP posts:

throckenholt · 14/11/2007 12:47

the head of the small school I mentioned earlier said she had never had any problems with her ex pupils integrating into the senior school.

Maybe their self confidence and sense of self worth we boosted so much by the small school that they just took it in their stride.

geekgirl · 14/11/2007 12:54

my dc go to our local village school, which is also pretty small (80 kids or so). There are of course many positive sides, the staff know all the children well, the children all know each other etc., and they do mix with older and youngers ones a lot.
I guess the main drawbacks/gripes for me are the lack of extracurricular activities (precisely zero _) so we have to go elsewhere after school for things like drama or singing, and no before or after school club.
Other than that I have been very happy with all the positive aspects of it.

FluffyMummy123 · 14/11/2007 12:56

Message withdrawn

bobsmum · 14/11/2007 13:10

I'm a city girl at heart, but ds now goes to a rural school with 30 children in total.

6 children in his P1 intake and loads of staff. tHere are 3 teachers and plenty learning support/TAs etc as well as peripatetic music teacher/PE specialist etc who come in weekly.

Also has very good HMI report. There are 2 classes P1/2/3 and P4/5/6/7, but P7 often gets taught alone too.

The secondary school has all rural feeder schools, so all the children will be coming from a similar background when they eventually move up.

DS loves his school and like others have said, the family atmosphere is great. The older children look out for the younger ones and there are friendships across all year groups.

The parents also have more opportunity to be involved in school issues - the parent partnership (Scottish equiv of PTA) is very active.

It's a totally different experience from the average bog standard primary, but all for good reasons in our experience so far

bobsmum · 14/11/2007 13:14

Ours does have a breakfast club and 2 after school clubs for football coaching and games, but I really think a lot of rural schools hav to rely on parental involvement to make it work - in an ordinary primary school I could lie pretty low and be anonymous. I'm expected to contribute to the life of ds' school, but I quite like that tbh.

choccieholic · 15/11/2007 10:55

My daughters go to a small school, and it has done so much for there confidence, my elder daughter was so shy when she started there but now is sooo confident. It is lovelly how the older children all help the little ones, plus being small there is no problem with bullying as every one knows every one else so any hint of trouble is picked up so fast. I am dreading the day she has to go to senior school which has 3000+ children

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