Mixed year groups

[Sunshinelife9891]

Hi! My Son is in a mixed year group school & we have the opportunity to move him to a single year classroom set up.

His school is smaller & our concern is that each year he will either be catching up or leading the way for the younger ones whilst they not only learn the lessons but also how to act in a classroom.

There are lovely things about his school but it's underfunded and we do worry the focus is always on the older children in the class because the younger ones repeat their time with the teacher the following year.

Does anyone have any positives or negatives to mixed year groups?

The school we could move him to is modern, improved facilities, tech etc but a very different feel as it is bigger than our current school.

We worry socially too, his year size is small so he is limited in terms of friendships.

Thank you for any thoughts.

We were in a small primary. There are advantages when your child is in the younger year and can work at a higher level if they are bright. The teacher was good at differentiating the work. But then they moved to 3 year groups in a class. Ds2 was 6 when a child was 6 when a classmate turned 9. I felt this was too much socially and he was being exposed to stuff that wasn't appropriate for his age and we moved him.
I think it's a tough gig for the teacher.. 3 years in one class..

My DD went to a tiny, mixed age class school.
Pro's were it was local, so she mixed with neighbours and it was a very nurturing school.
Academically she did well (but may have done better on certain subjects elsewhere - but the gap was closed in high school)
The cons - more stretched resources, less diversity of teaching staff and a more limited social pool.
She was happy there and it was the right choice for her.

My youngest is just finishing her time at a small school (15 per year group, two year groups per class) and it was what she needed after she got pretty lost under the radar in a larger primary and badly bullied. As a bright, compliant kid with some SEN issues - prime candidate for just not being noticed for her positive qualities - and moving her really helped with that. Having the same teacher for a couple of years as well helped her build up relationships with staff and have that stability and she has really grown into being the older half of the class with moves up.

Not the perfect setup for everyone - but it was the right place for her.