Are there really 30 pupils in a reception class?

[Serenjen]

I know this sounds dim. Our school is taking in 60 reception children. I mentioned to my mum that it means 30 children per class. So then we thought, isn't 30 four and five year olds in the same class a hell of alot for one teacher? I know they have classroom assistants, but how in the world can one teacher actually teach this many little ones?

There were 22 in my daughter's class, one teacher, an early years specialist and two TAs. Inner London. Fab school.

cazzybabe - I don't think they are allowed to have more than 30 in reception without another qualified teacher. Reception classes follow the 'infant class' rule which says one school teacher per 30 children.

Hocuspontas, The situation at Cazzybabe's school is correct, assuming that the 3 extra pupils were admitted by an admission appeal panel because of mistakes in the admission process.

They are called excepted pupils for this reception year, but as Cazzybabe says if they are not down to 30 by the start of year 1 in September they will have to employ a further school teacher in the class or if it is possible move some of the pupils to another class.

This is actually unfair on the school, assuming that they are a community school, as they were presumably not responsible for the mistake, that would have been made by the LA. So it is going to cost the school £25K for the teacher with only about £12K funding for the extra pupils. I hope that the school have had a suitable conversation with the LA about who is paying for the extra teacher!

Goodness - that's awful on the school. I happened to be reading the Practice Guide to the EYFS when I posted (not for fun, I'm writing an essay!) and just happened across chid ratios for reception classes. That didn't say anything about exceptional circumstances.

hocuspontas if you check out the previous page on this thread you will find a full list of the permitted Exceptions to infant class size limits

or the full document www.dcsf.gov.uk/sacode/downloads/ManagingComplianceSept08.pdf

we are very lucky, there are 25 kids in DS's class, and in every class in his primary school. Think it's because the year 4 classroom is small so they are only allowed max 25 kids in that room, it's really lovely, the have a teacher, a TA and usually a PGCE student as well.

My mum was telling me the other day, that when I was at infant school (under a Tory government) there were 42 kids in my class...

My DC have 30 in their infant classes and when they go to the juniors it goes up to 32 per class.

I currently have 34 Y1 in a class I teach. The extras all have statements and they have a lot of TA help.

Interesting link, thanks mrz. No, I didn't read the whole thread

My ds had 30 in a class with one TA between two classes. Throw in a couple of disruptive children and the result is one very unhappy boy.

My son is in a reception class of 16. Small village school. They usually combine classes, for various reasons this year they haven't, although they do share the classroom with nursery children in the mornings the nursery children have their own teacher.

Next year he will be in combined year 1 / year 2 of about 32.

I teach in an independent school, our prep school has maximum class sizes of 16.

The TA in my Reception class of 27 children is being funded throughfunding for a child with auism. The same situation is occuring with another child in year 1. I feel that this is totally unfair on the children involved and am finding it very difficult to support the rest of the class on my own as the classroom support TA I had previously has been removed and is now supporting an older year group. Any ideas can I do anything about this situation?

We have 15 in our reception class, with a teacher and full-time assistant. We are very lucky!

Misty- start a new thread, so that people will see your problem, and can help... this one is ancient.

There are 16 in my DD's Reception class, with a teacher and a FT TA. The other classes are bigger as they are mixed due to it being a small school (yrs 1+2, 3+4 and 5+6). They have 25-30 children in each class. The Yrs 1+2 class has a FT TA as well as the teacher, the other two classes just have a teacher (apart from 1:1 TA's, there are at least one of these in each class).

When I was in infant school back in 1965, there were 41 children in our class and no TA.
The class photo is impressive.

My DD went through Y2-Y6 in classes of: Y2:38 (all admitted as exceptions), Y3:36, Y4:34, Y5:35, Y6:36. With one teacher and one TA throughout. And every class had 2 statemented dc, plus my DD who wasn't statemented, was on SA+, but should have been statemented (she was within weeks of getting to secondary...).

Same primary, DS1 in reception was in a class of 35. For the whole year. With only one teacher plus one TA. Y1:17 (they split the class for one school year), Y2:34, Y3:33, now in Y4:32.

DS2 has been lucky at the same school, has been in a class of 29 all the way through. the other 2 classes in his yr are running at 31/32, but his class is smaller as DS2 and one other child have quite a lot of extra needs, so they have a full time TA, which most classes (as of this September) do not now.

Can anyone tell me if there is a minimum space per reception child requirement in the classroom?
My son started reception this week in a classroom which is TINY. It is crammed full of tables which you have to negotiate your way around, with difficulty and their book corner consists of 2 shelves squashed up against a table with no room to sit on the floor. Most of their activities involve sitting on a chair at a table, there is no home corner, no painting area....etc. Reception classes are usually more akin to nursery, with space for movement and choices of how and where to play, surely?

By the way, I've just joined Mumsnet - can anyone tell me what D, DD, DS1 stands for please?

Thanks.

No, LotD, there are no regulations. There are rules about square footage per pupil when schools are built, but nothing can be done about a present situation.

We actually had a new building 8 years ago - since then, the square footage per pupil has increased. We are left with pitifully tiny rooms, crammed with tables as you describe, and no storage space. In Reception, the teacher makes excellent use of the outside area to provide the things you describe - painting, etc. Maybe they do that in your ds's class too?

Ds - dear son
dd - dear daughter
ds1 - eldest son, etc.

Yes, the countryside is the place to be when it comes to school. There are 12 in my DS's class and that's the biggest they've had for years! There are 8 in Year 1 (and only one girl, poor thing!). Not a private school, but a rather rural one.

Fact- There are large classes in primary schools. Therefore teach YOUR own child and stop relying on the schools.