Would you go for a small village school with 90 children or a large school with 400 children

[PinkMimi]

We have accepted our first choice primary school which is a small village school, I’m panicking now that we should have gone for a larger school? Did you choose a big school or small school for primary and why?

Big school. The birth rate is falling. The small school probably won’t be viable by the time your child gets to year 6 and you’ll end up in the big school anyway. I would start there and save the disruption.

Also, 13 children per year group isn’t a lot. I would like a bit more wiggle room for friendships.

So it's basically 13 DC per year? Does each year have a teacher or do they combine years?

400 is not a big primary school - it's fewer than 60 (2 classes) in a year group!

(DC's junior school had 120+ in a year group).

I'd go for big school - more funding for resources and more chance for like minded friends.

Is it three classes or four?

Both my DC went to small village school. It's been amazing!
Passionate staff and small class sizes was out experience, you can imagine what a benefit both of those are.

@LaPalmaLlama I would be amazed if there were separate classes. Many village schools are about this size.

Is it part of a Trust or stand alone?

I would go for the smaller school 👍

I went for the small school as hoped it would be nurturing, everyone would know each other etc. In reality there were too few children for my children to find their 'tribe' and the school was short on resources. We moved house so they had to go a much larger school - 4/5 form entry so hundreds - and were much happier which surprised me. It also made the transition to secondary much easier. Many more of the children from the smaller school struggled with the size of secondary as it was such a shock.

I wouldn’t necessarily choose a big school (chose a 1 form entry rather than a 4 form entry for DD) but 400 is less than 2 classes per year so I think that’s fine. All other things being equal I’d go for that one.

Personally, I'd always go for the bigger school.

As a teacher, I found that bigger schools were easier to work in. All the reasons for that are also reasons I'd rather my son go to a bigger school. Teachers less overworked as more people to share the load with. Better quality teaching as more people to bounce ideas off and to critique our plans. More funding for school trips and equipment, more chances of having a TA.

And things that matter as a parent: more kids to be friends with, not being in mixed age classes, a wider variety of after school clubs and activities.

I'll take a different tack: you know your child, and there must have been something about the school that you liked over the other svhool- what was it?

Dd went to a big school and it worked well. There wasn’t really any other choice, it’s all we have in the area. Many children meant many resources could be provisioned.

Mine went to a small village church school. All of the kids were known by the staff and other kids, it’s a cliche, but it was ‘like a family’. It was a fantastic primary experience, and the school was also very embedded in the local village community. Probably helped that the school was highly rated by Ofsted too. It was 16 kids per year, but this then expanded to 25 per year - it retained the small village school feel.

My DC attended a one form entry village school. It was fine, but if I had the choice now I'd really consider a larger school. More scope for escaping stifling friendship and teacher dynamics. More scope to grow, change and develop over the years without the school having a fixed view of them. Possibly a greater choice of sports and extra curricular activities too.

Bigger school . In a very small school it’s a very small pool for friends and years will end up combined .

If your child has SEND then a bigger school has more resources to support them. If your child doesn't then either is fine and you trust your gut over what you chose as when you went round you had a preference for a reason x

Personally as a teacher I would always go for the bigger school, I've taught in so many smaller schools where parents seem to forget a class in single digits is cute when they are 4 but they forget the child grows up and in the blink of an eye that class suddenly becomes claustrophobic where there's no escape.

Also side note but a school of 400 children isn't particularly large.

There are so many other factors. I went for a school which was in my community which gave me the best feeling when I visited it.

We had to choose the bigger school as we needed the before and after school provision it offered, however I think it’s been the right choice for all the reasons folks have stated above. DC is happy, doing well, has a diverse group of friends from different backgrounds and has had the opportunity to try/join lots of different activities and sports clubs (mostly free!)

The one within walking distance

My kids went to a primary school with 35 kids so 90 doesn't seem very small to me! They were very happy, the year groups were mixed, all the staff knew all the children very well and they did lots of adventurous and creative activities.

Are there any other factors to consider such as location?

Definitely the smaller one.

Our school has around 120 kids on roll and has been wonderful. They all know each other by name, HT is very approachable and in fact quite a few kids from the 'Outstanding' school in the neighbouring village have transferred to ours because of ongoing bullying and similar issues.

I'd choose bigger. DC now in Year 7, school was about 100 kids. Not enough choice of friends or 'tribes' as others have said. I assumed small school equalled more attention or resources per child but that was not the case in this school.

My child is currently at a very small village primary. It's fantastic. The teachers really get to know the children on an individual level, it is supportive, inclusive and offers tons of extra curricular activities too.

I'd pick the small school if I were you, OP. It obviously felt like the right choice for your DC or you wouldn't have picked it.