Smaller village school VS larger town school

[wombpaloumbpa]

What are the pros and cons?

Would love to hear from people with experience from both?

Thank you

We’ve always opted for the smaller village school. It’s been a more personal environment with less behavioural issues. I think where you live is a factor though, having local friends is important, all other things being equal.

Depends how big and how small. Mixed yeargroup classes small?

How small is the small school?

I have to admit my years of teaching I've come across so many children who started at the small school because they were 4 and the big school seemed so big but then they quickly outgrew it. So this would be my biggest worry.

I agree that the size of both is important. I moved my DC from small village school, 2 classes, 30 children to a larger school, 2 form intake around 400 pupils. The larger school still had a lovely feel about it and the headteacher knew the names of every child.

The small school to high school jump would have been awful for my child. As we have a large high school locally.

I think you need to go on a school visit for both and get a feel

my ds' started at a tiny village school - just 3 classes to year 6, with mixed age and ability groups and classes. My eldest son thrived in this situation, Oct born, confident, sporty - while my younger son struggled, young in the year and dyspraxic. After a couple of years I moved them to the larger school in town when it became apparent they were always going to lump my sons together, so the eldest could support the youngest, with neither thriving independently.
I think if you have an entirely NT, average child, they will do fine in the tiny school.. but anything outside the norm, you need bigger groups of children / more funding provision for G+T as well as SEN.

How big is each school?
And how far away is each school?

Personally, minimium 1 form entry - and ideally 2 or 3 form entry.
Ideally walking distance.

Those 2 might not be compatible!!

I moved my dc from the village school to the town school. The small school had too few friendship options for dd, no lunchtime / after school activities etc, and were completely hopeless at supporting dd's dyslexia as they just didn't have the breadth of experience.

DD was at a small village school. Reception class and then mixed Y1/2, Y3/4, Y5/6. (About 90 kids in the whole school). She has SEN and the school was perfect for her. Very supportive head teacher who sorted out an EHCP. She had lots of support and when it came time to move to secondary we had loads of help from the head and SENCO to get DD into a special school which the LA were fighting against.

I don't know whether we were just lucky but she was always included by the other kids and got lots of support from teachers and TA. There were lots of options for learning instruments. DD briefly took up drumming!! The school also had quite a number of after school clubs and opportunities for the children to do outside trips such as a visit to the local Premier League football club. They also had an "exchange scheme" with a primary school in the nearby city where the kids visited each other's schools.

For DD it was perfect. She still often says to me that she wishes she was back there.

We did both. Mine started at a small village school which was amazing when the children were small. Really nurturing environment, all the families knew each other well, all the staff knew all the kids etc.
However... by year 3/4 (age 7-8) the small school was becoming an issue. My kids were / are very sporty and it's tough to get proper sports experience in school when the year group only has 15 kids as there aren't enough kids to form a team for playing in inter-school matches. Also for things like music / cooking / art, the bigger town primaries are much better resourced for this. Also the dynamics between the pupils have potential to be tough. DD was one of only 4 girls in her year and she didn't especially get on well with the others (no big issues, just the others were very girly girls into dancing / make up and pink and these interests didn't appeal to DD at all). In a bigger school, it's easier to find a friend that shares your interests.
We ended up moving the children at the end of year 4 to the bigger town school (450 pupils vs the 100 in their old village school). This move gave them a lot more extra curricular opportunities and helped the transition to secondary too.
I have no regrets about either school. I'd probably do the same again if I had a little one.

I thought I'd like a smaller school but mine ended up at a big school just because of where we lived. I really saw the benefits of having lots of children to have friendships with, children with different interests, a wide range of abilities etc. It still felt personal and part of the community.

Mine went to a tiny village school and thrived. It was like a family. All the kids knew and looked after each other. Parents and teachers knew all the kids. Older ones took a lot of responsibility for younger ones. Mixed age classes meant it was easier to work above or below their level if they needed to and in general the classes were significantly smaller. It’s more limited socially but actually that was a positive for mine - they had to learn to get on with a range of kids. Moving up to huge secondary schools they were fine and already had a lot of the emotional and social maturity they needed. For mine there were lots of extracurricular opportunities, although we did supplement with clubs anyway.

I would get a feel for the atmosphere of the schools and see what you think.

I've worked in both.

Small village:-
Pros - family feel, everyone knows everyone, older support younger etc. Depending on the school, they may even do whole school trips.
Cons - smaller friendship pools, lack of resources, maybe mixed age group classes

Large school:-
Pros - more diverse so better opportunities for learning first hand about different cultures, languages and beliefs, much more scope for different friendships, a bigger mix of people prepares them better for secondary school/'the real world', generally better resourced, more clubs and sports teams etc, children more likely to be taught in same age group.
Cons - can seem more 'intimidating' to young children as far more children and staff to het to know and busier playground, less chances of staff knowing all pupils in the school (although some will make an effort to), classes may be mixed each year (personally I see this as a pro, as it means opportunities for new friendships and mixing with different people, but many parents on here seem to see this as a con if their child is separated from their best friend).

All children are different and will thrive in different environments. Personally I would advise visiting both during the school day to get a true feel for them.

One mistake you don't want to make is assuming small school will mean they will get 'more support' as smaller classes. They'll likely be in mixed year groups if the intake is small so still the same amount of children in a class, but with much less budget as less pupils on roll so poorer resources.

So so grateful for all your responses and you sharing your experiences - it's really useful. Thank you

Our village school has 13 places per year. We're not sending him there because it's just too small. I was a teacher and found that even one form entry schools could get quite cliquey and claustrophobic for many children, so I definitely wouldn't like half form. And the transition to larger year groups in high school is intimidating for many kids at normal sized primaries, never mind tiny ones.

Our other options are a 2 form entry or a 1 form entry. I much prefer the former.

I personally went to a 3 form entry primary and think that's a little too big but I'd still choose it over a half form one.

Smaller than one class per year - avoid. Limited friendship groups, clubs etc. Two classes per year is fairly standard around here and would be fine.

What’s the travel like to each school? That can be an important factor. If driving, what’s the parking like?

Breakfast and afterschool clubs. Are these important to you?

Cons of small village school.
Not good for shy/quiet children as it’s harder for them to find their tribe and make friends.
Classes can be overwhelmed by SEN children as any challenging behaviours are not diluted by larger pupil numbers and the small schools just don’t have the facilities/funds to cope with the extra challenges and needs of SEN children. SEN children’s needs often aren’t met and their parents are isolated as there aren’t other SEN parents to support each other.
Before and after school clubs and childcare can be very limited.
If you are coming from out of catchment other parents often aren’t keen on play dates due to inconvenience of needing to drive further afield.
Classes can have more than 1 year group making teaching the curriculum patchy. Bright children often just end up bored and acting as teachers to peers.
Less funding so less equipment and facilities.

My DD went to a very small village school where they only had 2 classes. It allowed DD to work above her age group with others in her class, then move into the higher class. She went on to get a 50 percent scholarship to an independent school at 11.

What’s the travel like to each school? That can be an important factor. If driving, what’s the parking like?

And what are your actual chances of getting a place at either school in the first place?

We can walk to the village school, it has mixed classes. 110 in the school in total.
Would need to drive 3 miles to a bigger school.
DS is just finishing reception in a 2 form entry but we are moving to a new area. He hasn't had the best experience at his current school. Behaviour issues have effected him in the playground and I don't think he feels very 'seen'.

We have visited the village school last week and it has such a lovely feel, they were big on emotional wellbeing, had lots of clubs and seemed very empowering for the children. Think it would suit DS. He's a bit overwhelmed in his current school. Some concerns about small friendship pool but think we will give it a go.