Choosing primary - class size question

[newkid]

My dd starts reception in Sep. We've been accepted at our first choice school but have since discovered that there will be 3 classes of at least 27 children. Our second choice school (which has very similar results but is probably in a slightly less lovely catchment area!) will have two classes of 17-18 children. I like both schools (and have been to visit both).

I think 22 is deemed to be the optimum

17 not many for making friends really..

IMHO it also depends on the child. My dd1 goes to a school with only 16 in the class (will soon be down to 14) as there are 10 girls she has quite a few friends, the boys are having more of a problem with friendships. However dd1 does not like crowds or noise so the other choice of school which had a 2 class entry of 20 in each would have been too much for her.

But could the numbers in the second choice school go up ? Allowed a maxium of 30 in a class .

Do the schools have teaching assistants in the classes to help with the numbers ?

My Ds attend a school that has 3 classes of 30 , the pupils are mixed around each year so lots of option for making friends and getting away from those you dont particluary like.

17 is IMO a lovely number. I would only be concerned if less tan 8 or 9 I think.

DD is in a class of 15, although one is leaving at Easter to go and live abroad. It is lovely. They are all good friends and all play well togther and bonded as a nice group too. They have plenty of friends between them, and also play with children in the other years.

My DD is quite shy with big groups so we felt a big class would have been harder for her - I was worried she;d have ended up like me, ne of those children who the teacher hardly noiced as I was so quiet and just go on ok.

The smaller class has encouraged DD to come out of her shell lots and she is much more cinfident, and one of the more active/leaders in class discussions/activities) in her class (in a good way).

Also remember that the reception class may only have 17 but other classes may have more. Our local primary has a reception class of up to 16 but then further up in the school there is 2 year groups in each class so in the rest of the school the classes are much larger.

dd is in a class of 30. Is 2 form entry, so 60 children in total with 2 teachers, and I think 3/4 teaching assistants. They have the doors between the classes open in general, and they only sit in class of 30 for registration purposes. The rest of the time they are divided into work groups of approx. 20 children, with the teachers and TAs divided between them.

It seems like a lot of children to me (!) but they seem to have dealt with this rather well IMO. Plus there are 2 starts i.e. SEptember and January.

Ds starts in Sept. There are 2 classes of 30. Have you had these concerns for some time? I have already handed in my acceptance form, becasue it needed to be in by march 14th.
How much time have you got left to think about this/ investigate ?

As a reception class teacher I would go with smaller numbers if you like the school. I can give much more individual attention with 20 children than I can with 30.

I don;t think that 17 is too small socially especially if there are 35+ in reception overall. But I would be sure of what the adult:child ratio is as well as the class size. Clearly the small class size means more individual teacher attention, but if there are no TAs say then a class with 30 pupils and a teacher and 3 TAs may offer better individual attention.

Our dd is in her reception year and is in a class of 30. We think that this is too many, even with 2 grownups we think our child who's naturally quiet and shy is being left out compared to the noisier, more energetic children. I think we would jump at the class size of 17 if the schools are of a similar standard