Would you rather primary class was 16 or 30?

[Roxietrees]

DS due to start reception in Sept- due to complicated situation (long story and there are other factors of course) he has a choice of two schools. One where they’ll only be 16 kids in the class (one form entry) and the other has 30 (also one form entry). Both schools are good and have a similar reputation. Which would you prefer? Smaller class are obviously beneficial but as small as 16, I feel there may be less options for friendships etc?

Smaller class.

Personally I’d lean towards 16, I know the friendship options can be a bit more limited but I think the smaller classes are more beneficial overall.

Can I ask, do you have any examples of how 16 is beneficial over 30? (Other than the obvious- more attention from the teacher) I want him to go to the 16 school and need some arguments as to why it’s better than the 30!

Smaller class. There are 15 other children to be friends with that is plenty. Expensive private schools often 16-18 in a class

I'd choose the smaller class every time, especially if both schools have a similar reputation. As someone who used to teach, I much preferred the time that I could give to my small class to when I acquired larger ones.

My niece is in Y1 and my DD is in Y2. Different schools and towns. DN is in a state school and has 15 in her class. DD is also in a state school with 30 in her class. We can clearly see that DN has more tailored learning and isn't lost in a class of 30. More individual focus too. 16 in a class are usually what you would pay £££ for. DN is flying with smaller class size. DD is doing okay, but we have to put in a lot of extra at home.

The smaller class would be better in terms of more interaction with the teacher, more time to correct misconceptions etc.
But I would also worry about the financial viability of the school have a teacher per half class - I would assume the school will be looking at having mixed year classes to make the class up to 30 per teacher.

I would want to know the future plans... Will they be combining year groups in the smaer school for example. If so how?

Also larger class = more money generally.

Saying that, I'm very pleased my DDs spent their first few years with smaller classes (biggest 25, smallest 14), although DD1 did have 32 in Yr4 onwards.

16 sounds nice in Reception.
But by y3 they may have split on boy-girl lines.
If your DC is at all quirky then there will be far less choice for friends.
DD1 was in a class of around 16 in y6. When there were arguments between the girls there was nowhere to hide.

undoubtedly i'd go for the class of 16.
Let there be less options for friendships! Kids can be friends with other classes at break time and kids friendships are fickle, often the real networking happens at playdates and the parents making it possible to meet up and do activities together over half term. I'd argue it's easier to develop friendships and maintain them in a smaller class. In a big class quieter children and those without friends can fall by the side unnoticed.

I agree with legoplaybook, school budgets are incredibly tight at the moment so I would be surprised if a class of 16 would be financially viable long term. This could mean mixed year group classes moving forward.

16 every time...
30 is crowd control. Been there, watched my child get lost, and left it behind

The reception class is strangely the odd one out - all other years have 27-30 kids per class. There haven’t been any big changes to the school recently so nothing to explain this really, other than maybe 2020/21 were low birth years?

16 is very small for a state school. Is their PAN 30 and they can't fill the class- that would sorry me!

Assuming yours isn't the only boy or one of only two or three I would go for the class of 16, plenty of children to get to know without being overwhelmed and the teacher will be more available for each child individually. And you can probably invite them all for birthday parties, if you want to.

Birth rate has fallen even more 2020, so if it isn't a blip the school may change a lot. Some councils are already closing schools.

The smaller class for sure. My DD was in a 24ish class for the first two years of primary and then was in a class of 14 for the rest and the difference in attention from teacher, quiet to work, ability to share resources etc. was massive. She really benefited from it.
DS will be in a class of 16 or 17 (two classes in his year, one has 16 the other 17) for the whole of primary and I'm very happy about that.

DS had 29 in his class, 17 were girls. And many of the boys really strived to be alpha. He had an awful, awful time, by the time his siblings joined it was 2 form entry and they mixed the classes up occasionally to deal with behaviour and friendship issues.

He's now nearly 20, at uni and fine but he still talks of his primary days with real sadness (he is 'quirky' suspected ASD but refuses to be assessed, as is his right). If your child fits in easily with others then a smaller class is great - if not a bigger pool of potential friends might be beneficial.

There were only 5 girls in DD's class (including her) so there were problems with arguments but the school really supported them to stay friendly. When parents reported issues to the teacher he arranged for them to have 'friendship lessons' with the school curator (counselor type figure) which helped them navigate their issues and remain friends for the rest of primary.
So yes, potential for problems but not insurmountable at primary age.

My child had some time in a school with small classes, about 15 per class. This sounded great at first as she should have thrived in a smaller, quieter environment, but the reality was that not only were friendships ridiculously limited, the most difficult part was that as a school with small classes, it got a reputation for being a good option for children with SEN needs. Absolutely fair enough given the woeful SEN provision available everywhere in general, however, it did mean that a disproportionate number of children in the school had specialist needs and meant that my daughter was largely ignored in class. The school was also on its arse broke having nowhere near enough funding for staff, let alone repairs or books.
We left for a slightly larger school which has transformed my child’s happiness at school.

I’d always go for the 30. I just don’t think it’s worth risking limiting your child socially. We’re deliberately choosing a 2 form entry school over our tiny village one because much prefer larger settings.

I’d also suspect that classes of 16 won’t be viable long term and they will combine years, which to me is the worst of all situations.

One form entry with only 16 dc, is this normal for the school? It may not be financially viable

No, not at all normal for the school - it’s a small village school but every other year has 27-30 kids per class (all one form entry). I have no idea why it’s so low this year, it’s got a great reputation and no recent changes

If you are concerned about the schools finances/viability, assuming it’s a state school, their accounts should be freely available.

Id go for the smaller class - my DC go to a tiny village school, with mixed classes which is amazing. Smaller classes have lots of advantages; more time & attention from the teacher and TA, more individualised learning, interventions & stretch where needed. More opportunities to participate in things like plays & sports.
Friendship problems can arise in any class size.

My gc are at a one form entry village school with around 17 per class this year. Academically it’s been great, no problems socially at all. However this is not financially viable and next year there will have to be combined year groups with around 27 per class. It’s difficult, the attention has been so beneficial but school funding is dire so the situation won’t improve. In the long term, who knows?