Class Sizes / Year Intake

[shaddupayouface]

Hi

My daughter attends a very small independent school (approximately 250) pupils in total from Years 7 to 13.

When she started at the school in Year 7 there were 30 pupils in her year group, so 10 in each form. Over the last 3 years her year group has grown to around 40. Small class sizes/year intake are a huge reason for some parents placing their children here (most have SEN issues although it's mainstream).

My question is do you think 19 pupils out of a year group of 40 should all be placed in the same Maths set (with just one teacher)? My daughter is working at a much faster pace than some of the other children in the top set and she is often given work to get on with independently with a handful of other pupils who are very able with the teacher spending the majority of the lesson helping the less able ones.

I have been in touch with the school to question whether or not practice of letting more able pupils work independently is appropriate. I have privately wondered if this is justified when I am paying quite a lot of money for my daughter's education.

Any views would be appreciated.

Just wanted

19 fairly able pupils in a class sounds absolutely normal to me. In fact it sounds fewer than average, even for private school. Maybe you can ask whether they could put on some kind of occasional extension classes for the most able children.

If there's only 40 children, top, middle and bottom will have wide definitions.
Theres just over 100 children in DDs half year... top set is Target grades 6/7- 9. It is a massive range (and there's 33 of them!)

I was talking to another mum yesterday who has a daughter in the same set and she told me that the Head of Maths had told her a lot of the children have tutors and that she can provide her with a name of someone if she wants to go down that route! I was a bit shocked as I assumed with the cost of private school fees,
tutors would not be necessary but maybe they are?

I guess it’s because there is so few of them and they wouldn’t have enough teachers.

For example in a state school you might have 8 maths groups across a year of 240. So you can have say a top set or two of 30-60 kids all aiming for the top grades. Middle to high sets aiming for just under and so on.

But presumably with only 40 kids you would need a class of maybe 5 -7 kids per set if you split into varying ability which isn’t really enough?!

DDs indy school Yr 8. Year group of approx 60 kids split into 4 sets for maths. So approx 15 per set but middle 2 sets more like 18 each.

I went to a great public school maths set 1 was about 25, set 2 20, set 3 15 set 4 10. Pretty much everyone in sets 1-3 got A or A* at GCSE. Those at the top get it. And 19 we’ll behaved bright kids is not a problem.

Your DD’s private school is very small. Many selective indy’s have 28 kids in a class during the early years and the classes gradually get smaller after year 9. The theory is that private school kids (especially in selective schools) are more focussed and able and less disruptive so the class can still progress quickly. How much extra work your dd obtains is of course dependant on her performance in relation to the 9 new students. Eg at the secondary in DS’ school you need to be top 1% in comparison to your cohort to get extra work. Otherwise they recommend tutors.

Yes I’m sure this is the case and because it’s not a select school there is a real range of abilities.

Well that’s the problem, not all of them are well behaved and the teacher isn’t strict enough.

I would be questioning what you are paying for then. Sounds like she would be better off (for maths anyway) in the top set in a bigger school perhaps.

When my DC was in (selective independent) school, the size of classes in maths was clearly related to ability, with about 30 in the top, fast paced set and only 3 in the bottom set, with most being in classes of 18-24. They all achieved good passes at GCSE.

DD is Y7 and forms are around 10 children each but they mix for lessons and around 20 for lessons.

She's moved from a state primary to selective indy so having 20 children in a classroom who are actually engaging in the lesson is like a whole new world to her.

To us 'just' 20 in each set is a huge improvement. Also good that they get to meet children from other form groups. But I guess having such small forms means their tutor really gets to know them well.

My ds is in yr9 at a minimally selective independent with about 100 in the year.
He reports his class sizes for different subjects range from 6-21. Just asked and maths has about 18-19 he thinks, he is in a middle set. His form has 9 but they don’t teach in that group really - more registration, pastoral and oversight I think
tbh I think 19 is quite reasonable
I would raise the behaviour rather than the numbers