Small prep- 30ish at Reception going down to 15 in Y6 - is it too small?

[Lily7050]

The school my DS start Reception in September next year has told us they had accepted 32 children in Reception class.
In Leavers 2022 section I counted 15 children only. So more than 50% of original intake leaves the school between Reception and 11+ results.
Good Schools guide says "School has traditionally seen some leakage in the higher years from those looking for a larger scale and/or more ruthless 11+ preparation, but there’s really no need."
I think for the moment a small school is better for my DC because he seems to be a bit lost/frightened when he is in a large setting.
32 pupils seems to be a good number but I am not sure of having 15 children only in higher years.
Anyone has found reduced year groups being advantageous for their DC?
I understand there will be more personal attention from teachers but not sure it is good for social skills.

My DD is similar numbers and we never gave it much thought, but also we are in London so there’s a lot of flight from the state schools too as people move out for more space as the kids get older. I’d only really be concerned if it’s creating a gender imbalance e.g. there’s a big boys school locally that takes from 8 so it’s leaving mostly girls in the later prep years.

It creates issues for team sports and group activities such as drama and music. It does seem a high drop out rate. Do those 15 get scholarships or do brighter pupils move to 7+ schools? Is there a year 7 and 8 so the balance stay on after year 6?

Thanks @FlounderingFruitcake and @LIZS .
Not many of those 15 get scholarships. There were no scholarships in 2022.
First I thought the big drop in cohort was COVID related but then I found some old reviews, like 8-6 year old reviews of the school and the situation was the same then. The school goes up to 11+ only.
It looks like many pupils move to 7+ schools.
On the one hand it is good because the school is used to loosing many pupils at 7+ so should not cause issues (like bad references) to those who wish to leave.
I guess we will see what is going one when DS joins the school.
At the moment I do not know any current parents personally.

If it seems like the school you want him to attend for now then go for it. As he gets older you can start to think about which senior schools would be a good fit for him and then see where year 6 leavers go from his current school. If they don't go to your chosen senior school then maybe move him for years 3-6.

It's a bit rubbish if all your mates leave and then the transition to high will be a big shock too

There are several things going on here. My DD was in a cohort of 36 YR. They ended up with 4. Yes 4 in y6. Poor management, very average teaching, too many SEN, people moving at 8 to much better preps, moving to preps that went to y8, moving to grammar crammers. people not affording the fees and definitely poor music, drama and sport. What seems great at 4, isn’t great at 10/11. We moved too!

Private prep children end up in different high school anyway. Even from our nursery pre-school group no two children going to the same primary school.

@TizerorFizz : 10/11 year old can commute longer distance than 4 year old.
I hope teaching and the rest will not be too bad. This school survived Covid lockdowns and it is promising. Another local small prep had to close even before the 2nd lockdown.

But if all your mates have gone and you are left behind that's still tough and DC don't transition with mates

@Lily7050
Distance had little to do with it. I think many started intending to stay. However there were better schools and people found them. At DDs next prep, people were passing prep schools to get to the better one. From nursery age.

Are there 32 Reception children in one class? I wouldn't be paying for that.

My kids' prep is like this, in my experience lots of kids leave early (older siblings moving to secondary independents that have junior sections, some leaving early to avoid entrance exams later). My eldest started in a 2-form reception and ultimately moved from a Y6 year group of 14 to a Y7 year group of 180 at his new independent secondary with no problem at all, and he's quite reserved. The 14 went to 6 different secondary schools but all have fantastic bonds and still see each other socially. Sports teams were fine as they mixed up Y5 and Y6. He had loads of opportunities (roles in school play, music performance opportunities, volunteering) that he wouldn't have had in his prep had the year group been bigger and roles more spread out.

That would be too small for me and definitely too small by Year 6. If you think it's the right school for now I would go for it, but be prepared to consider that you will want to move your child at 7 or 9.

I think the point about transition was more that going from a class of 15 and a small school in general then moving to a big secondary school is going to be a huge shock the system.

I understood there will be two classes of YR.