Tiny village school or larger nearby school?

[cagggie]

There is a primary school walking distance from my house in our village that has 32 pupils, 1 headteacher, 1 teacher and 1 teaching assistant and the pupils are split into 2 classes taught by each of the teachers. It doesn't have a nursery class or offer wrap-around care.

Or there is a primary school in the next (larger) village a 5 minute drive from our house which has 230 pupils. All year groups are separate with their own teacher and TA as opposed to being combined. It offers a nursery class and full wrap around care.

It's a difficult choice because the village school having two teachers and two classes, will kids get more one to one teaching and a more tailored experience? But then with the larger school there is so much more money in it, more clubs, trips, better equipment, the wrap around care, more choice for friends etc? It's a very tetchy subject where we live as people are very passionate about keeping the local school alive but a lot of people take their kids to the next village regardless.

The larger school sounds great to me. A tiny school can limit development if it goes to y6. Does it? Just intents isn’t so bad.

The limits as I see them are music, sport and all the extra activities you mention. A greater number of teachers means greater diversity of talent. Schools need specialist subject leaders. Teachers whose great expertise is Literacy, maths or SEN. It’s truly difficult to find this in a tiny school. Friendships are very limited. It’s inevitable.

Yes. Some parents want to keep schools open and it’s like a crusade. Others want quality. If the tiny school goes to 11, I don’t think it’s viable. If it’s CofE they won’t close it. 5 mins drive is nothing. Neither of my Dc would have liked tiny. Sport is truly impossible in terms of being competitive. I guess Dc get used to never winning. I doubt they can muster a netball team. Or an orchestra. In Y1 my DD1 was already playing in the recorder ensemble. Y3 she was in a string ensemble playing the violin. She was in the choir and other Dc did lots of sport. Some Dc need more going on from day 1. So you do not have to stay in the village of it doesn’t suit Dc.

Larger school 100%. The small one will inevitably close soon

I've chosen to send my child to a double form entry school but despite this I don't recognise so many of the things you describe in small schools. I teach at a 'tiny' school (smallest quintile) and we have a choir, netball team etc. It's really not very different to the 2 form entry I used to teach at, just with mixed year groups for everything. As I've already stated on this thread, our pupils take part in more sports competitipns and music lessons than most. And for the point of a pp up thread, I've never known anyone to leave to experience a bigger school as they get older. We actually attract a lot of pupils throughout KS2 - our Y6 exit numbers are much greater than our reception intakes. Around here, small schools are the norm and very much accepted. Often they are linked to other schools (e.g. Share a head) and as such share some degree of resources and expertise. I've also not heard anything to make me believe we will close anytime soon!

Larger school , to me it’s a no brainier

My DD went to small village COE school with approx 30 children, within 2 years numbers dropped to 10 and it was shut. The staff situation was the same as what OP described and both teachers were lazy, disinterested and just coasted.

@Whee
Running sports teams that are not competitive doesn’t suit the competitive children. It might be inclusive but sporty Dc are short changed. 32 in a school is 5 a year. Even if there’s 10 in some years, you cannot possibly have the quality of music or sport in depth. You might do things but, as I know many small schools, I know they cannot really do what bigger ones do. 2 classes, on the other hand, is just fine. Teachers with expertise and a bigger team is beneficial. I actually feel sorry for 11 year olds in tiny schools - below 40 pupils YR-Y6. There is no way they spread their wings as others can.