Positive stories about village schools please

[wherethewildtbingsgo]

We are in the process of moving from our town to a village about 10-15 minutes away. This is largely due to the lack of houses on the market in town at the moment. It means that our children would go to the school in the village. We have two small girls at the moment aged 3 and 2 and another on the way. We have visited the village school and liked it a lot. The current reception class has 12 in. Then after reception they mix year groups 1/2, 3/4, 5/6. Generally each year intake is around 10 although they are expecting next year (when my daughter is starting) to be closer to the maximum of 15. They've had the odd tiny year group of 6.

Generally children come from the village, surrounding villages and even from the town and surrounding towns where we currently live.

I'm losing sleep over this decision to move to a village and send the girls to a village school. I've never lived in a village so I have no idea if it will suit us. Most of all I worry the school will be too small and the girls won't have enough friendship opportunities. It feels like so much pressure to get right. My worry has been made so much worse by reading some MN a threads about the issues with lack of friendship options in village schools.

Can anyone who has put their children through village schools give me some positive stories about them please? I'm so worried that I'll make the wrong decision for my children.

What do you mean it isn't viable? That's just not true. There are many hundreds of schools up and down the country with classes that are the same size or smaller. As I said in my OP the reception class would be 15 then they mix year groups 1/2, 3/4, 5/6 so the classes will be closer to 30 with two year groups.

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Mine are at a village school. Actually DS1 is in year 7 now so just left. It's a really lovely school with such a nice community feel. The teachers know all the children and there are lots of friendships across year groups. They have a 1 form intake which ups to 1.5 in KS2, so they have 3 blended year 3/4 classes, although there was lower intake for a few years so years 5 and 6 are currently still separate. It's very difficult for the school managing numbers and budget - deciding each year between 2 huge classes versus 3 smaller ones. The blending seems to work, as those years follow the same curriculum anyway. But our school are really on top of it. Friendships have always been great for my boys. However I believe the current year 6 have very few girls which did cause an issue for a friend of mine who decided to move her daughter because of this.

Yes this was an issue at the school we are considering...the current year 5/6 is only boys. There was a girl but she left as it was just her. The school assures me this has never happened before though and they seem to be increasing their numbers so I'm hoping full year groups of 15 going forward will mean it won't be an issue.

It's basically luck, not just in terms of the difference between individual schools, but even between what year-group cohort your child happens to be in, and how the school suits your individual child. We moved from a village with a decent-sized primary school to a more rural one with a very small primary. One problem with very small primaries is that the numbers can vary a lot from year to year. Dd's year had 12 children in it. Ds' had 3! Dd loved the school. Ds really didn't, and found it hard to make friends.

OP I played competitive hockey and netball with the nearest primary, it was fine! Plus there's other ways to get access to sports, swimming teams, hobbies, girl guiding etc. School isn't the only way to build a big social circle, I had no trouble doing so despite there only being one other girl in my year (and as I and others have said there's such a lovely community type feel, all the age groups mix. Two close friends of mine were in the year above and the year below me).

Your kids will be fine, don't let anxiety about this put you off your move!

I can't say that a lack of an orchestra has had any meaningful effect on my life 😆

OP you could be describing the school that I work in. It doesn’t feel small when year groups are mixed as the total class number will be 20-30. Chn often have friends in both year groups. There are lots of positives. At my school every child is known by all staff and there is a real community feel.

My child is in KS1 in a small village school of 90.

Social interaction is limited among peers BUT they do mix widely across the school.

Later in the school, they pair up with other village schools for trips and residential visits.

We have a large network of friends outside of school and my child has two hobbies and attends holiday clubs where they mix with other kids.

I personally only think small schools limit social skills depending on luck and how the children are encouraged to mix. My child will happily make friends in any environment.

The transition to secondary is more challenging apparently. But there's a lot of support in place given half the kids locally are in rural settings. They all manage it!

We moved from a big town when my child was 2, so had all of the concerns you probably have.

Compared to their huge nursery setting, they're doing so much better for being part of a small and nurturing community. Their confidence has improved greatly, as it would be well known by all and getting lots of focused attention. Academically, they're doing great as reading is grouped across the whole school. So lots of opportunity to work at their ability.

My DC are in a very small village primary - we have less than 50 pupils total & two mixed year classes.
It's fantastic - yes there are negatives, but lots of positives!
Regards friendships - mixed classes mean children aren't limited to just their year group - they make friends & play with children across the school. Both my DC have friends across the two classes.
We have whole school trips - this term will be two whole school trips to the theatre & to a farm park for a Santa experience, plus another school trip for KS2. Last year they did whole school trips to Legoland, as well as school trips for both KS's. They do weekly welly walks, forest school, music teachers who come in for both KS & private lessons. KS2 go swimming every week & do full-week residentials from Yr3.
Our Head is very good at managing the budget (all school accounts are available online if you want to check) & funds funding & grants for various activities. This means costs to parents are minimal - usually only £5-10 for a school trip if anything at all.
We have an active PTA (I'm the Chair) - we did our whole school Halloween party last week, where we did games that included our preschool children too - all the older kids helping the younger ones. It fosters a whole-school community, rather than siloed year groups.
We take part in local sports activities against other small schools & the good thing is no-one who wants to do it is left out or not chosen. Everyone gets a part or role. No 3rd Lobster etc.
The school community is really supportive & we actually get a lot of in-year transfers from other schools who then stay with our school the full time.
We make sure to nurture friendships & activities outside of school too; but we'd do that anyway.
Honestly, if the school felt right to you when you were going round it's right.

Our village school is great. DD is 6, in year 2. The class is about 25 at the moment, with a fair number of children coming in from other villages and the nearby town. We're in Kent. I love that the Head knows the name of every single child, and they're putting a huge amount of effort into optional activities. There are usually several clubs on offer and DD has had the opportunity to try out different sports, play in a 'band' and currently goes to forest school. We can walk to school in the morning in 10 minutes and don't have to drive. Wouldn't choose differently if given the chance.

I once read of a student teacher who did her teaching practice in a Yorkshire village school. She told the class of seven year olds the Bible story of the parable of the lost sheep. She asked the class 'Why was there more rejoicing over the one sheep that was found, than the ninety-nine that weren't lost?' One kid put up their hand and said 'Please, miss, happen it were the tup'.

Just to add I think school is only one influence that shapes your children.

Seeing your update and the benefits they will get from having a home that works better for you all will make more difference.

Like anything, it's what you make of it. I notice the kids that rely on school/family for social interaction do struggle a little.

Those that have lots going on outside of school tend to find socialising easier and take the inevitable school friendship fall outs (that happen anywhere) a bit better.

Good luck with the move!

Have you also checked whether the village school collaborates or is federated with another local school. This will make a difference.

We have many two and three class schools where they are federated with another - and in some cases up to 4 other small schools. Some of our schools have PAN of 5! The federated schools share a headteacher and governing board but also the federation provides opportunities for children to work with other children from the other federated schools both through shared learning and opportunities beyond the academic ( sports, music etc). Some children travel between schools too.

I work in education, a lot of the small village schools in my area are struggling financially, to the point where they may close or merge within the next couple of years.
That would be my biggest fear with a small village school.

😂😂😂If anyone's wondering a tup is another word for a ram.

My 3 Dc went to the village school, because it was our catchment one. PAN was 10 and they had 3 classes, with year 6 often taught separately by the head.

all three are now in secondary school: they thrived academically in the small school (both my eldest have 11 GCSEs, 9 at grade 9), and my eldest has done very well in music. The school had whole-class music lessons from visiting specialists and in a Y2 lunchtime club my dc picked up the instrument on which he later got a music scholarship to a major public school.

Because all the children were used to the mixed-age set up, there was no big deal when children were put in groups with older or younger ones to work at the right level. My dc are all academic and there was no problem with them being stretched - the younger two ended up at selective secondary schools.

I loved the freedom the kids had: the open space, the fact they all knew each other and the big ones looked after the little ones from day one, the excitement when sheep got into the playground, and the fact that at the end of Y6 when our children left, all the mums were in bits about all of our kids as we’d seen all of them grow up - there weren’t any invisible kids, or ones no one had noticed.

i sent my dc to do extracurricular stuff outside school as well as in-school clubs. The sports teams were small, but the school played football and netball in a county ‘small schools’ league, and they were good for cross country running.

i think that my children had an idyllic childhood. By Y6, they had started to grow out of primary school, but I think this is normal. They still meet up with the kids from primary even though they ended up at a variety of secondary schools. There was no particular difficulty settling into secondary either.

To the PP who said that classes of 15 aren’t viable - there is a funding formula which means that small schools are viable (although frankly all state schools are stretched at the moment). Ironically, because of the size of the school the kids had visiting specialist teachers for music, sport and French and probably got a better deal as a result.

I saw my friends’ kids at schools with 60 or 90 in an intake - it didn’t seem to be better or worse academically, just different, and noisier and a few more invisible kids in each class who never seem to get star of the week. Whereas at our primary, all the kids knew all the other kids’ names, and it felt like more of a family.

Yes, and much more expensive to replace than a ewe.

I think it sounds like you have decided on the village house and school and I say go for it.

My sons (one now at uni and one in Year 1) have both attended our village school. It has a PAN of 15 now but was smaller was my older son attended.

Our experience has been extremely positive. For many of the reasons already explained by previous posters - a great sense of community, mixing of year groups, whole school activities.

I think sometimes it is easy to get blinded by all the opportunites available at bigger schools and they do tend to have more groups and after school activities. However, don't overlook how small schools often allow all children to thrive in a different way. For example in the end of year play all Year 6 children get a decent part, all reception children get a big part in the nativity, children get the opportunity to represent the school in sports even if they are more enthusiastic than talented.

Having seen my older son now finishing university this year he looks back on his primary years with great affection. He finds it very easy to get along and make friends with all types and different ages. This may have been the same at a large primary, but a small village school does teach you to solve friendship issues and just get on. The boys and girls tended to play together a lot right through to the end of primary.

Going to secondary can be easy or hard regardless of how big your primary was. One of the sweetest things at the Year 6 leavers assembly is when the Year 6 students line up and the whole school walks past them stopping to talk, hug and give them good luck cards they have made. The big ones really look out for the younger ones and it can be an incredibly nurturing environment.

Also, having been at the school gates for many years now I've found that there are always some parents who will find something to moan about. You get these all schools and clubs. Enter things positively and you are much more likely to have a good experience. No school, teacher, student or parent is perfect but if your child is happy and learning then they will be fine.

I think it depends a great deal on the staff, especially the Head teacher though there is a degree of luck regarding how compatible your child is with a small group.
My children all went to a village school with a PAN of 10, though many years had less than the maximum so there were between 40 and 50 pupils in total whilst I had children there.
I don't feel that they missed out on anything. They did well academically and had loads of extracurricular opportunities. Their Head was an amazing woman who was very dedicated to ensuring her pupils had every opportunity she could possibly expose them to, so far from not taking part in sports etc, pretty much everyone did everything, often from a younger age than children in bigger schools. And they were successful too, winning various county sports competitions regularly. They also won a regional performing arts competition for several consecutive years, went to the national finals of a STEM competition and were then chosen to represent England at the international finals which was an incredible experience where they met children from all over the world. If there was anything going on in the community they'd be involved, they had loads of trips, went on residentials from year 3 onwards, were doing forest school before it was a recognised thing and had visitors coming in to demonstrate all kinds of things including regular visits from a well known children's author and illustrator and a former Olympic sportsperson. The school is part of a small schools cluster in the area so they combined with other similarly sized schools on plenty of occasions - it's not like they never met anyone from outside of their own school.
I do appreciate that we were lucky to have such brilliant staff but also that my children were fortunate to get along pretty well with the others in their year groups. It could definitely be difficult if there was a real clash of personalities. There was only 1 girl in my son's year group and although she had female friends in other classes and was good friends with a few of the boys I know that she was pleased to have more female friends at secondary. So it is a bit of a lottery. But then a big class doesn't guarantee friends either - for me it just gave me a wider range of bullies.
I would imagine there is as much variation within small schools as large ones so you need to look carefully at what's on offer at your local options. But whilst there is no guarantee you'll be as lucky as we were, nor is the picture of miserable lonely children deprived of opportunity that some like to paint necessarily accurate. Even if I had won the lottery whilst my children were at primary school I wouldn't have moved them elsewhere, they really did have a wonderful start to their education and were extremely happy.

What do you mean it isn't viable? That's just not true. There are many hundreds of schools up and down the country with classes that are the same size or smaller.

And probably hundreds more that have closed. A fluctuation in popularity or local birth rate can break a tiny school. Several have closed in the past few years around here. One unpopular teacher, some parents vote with their feet, cue mass exodus. Our village school benefited from this, as it got an influx from the nearby school which closed.