Very small secondary school

[SheWoreYellow]

Any cons that I’ve missed?

DS could go to a school with just 50 in each year. It will suit him in many ways. The other choice is the other end of the spectrum, and really large. Both are private.

So far I am thinking small could mean:

Less choice of friends
Less chance of interesting after school clubs due to numbers
I need to check about whether they stream for maths

Facilities look fine.

Anything else I’ve missed?

Hello OP

I'm in a similar dilemma to yours- what did you decide in the end?

Any advice you can share? I'm utterly torn! But probably leaning towards the smaller school!

Thanks!

He went and loves it!

One thing I hadn’t thought of was sports teams - they’re never good enough really to play with the big schools.

@SheWoreYellow My DDs went to a school with 60 in a year group and it streamed for maths. It was also a sporting powerhouse. Especially tennis and hockey. National champions at tennis frequently. So if a school wants to coach to a high level they will attract dc that want sport. Rugby might be difficult but other sports should not be. The key is to choose one summer and one winter sport and coach it well.

Thanks @SheWoreYellow that's great news!
I was wondering whether for sports teams they'd be able to pilfer kids fro. The years above/below to boost numbers?
But agree with @TizerorFizz that it doesn't necessarily mean sports won't be good as there's always scope for individual players eg in tennis to shine.
I'm excited for him - the school looks so lovely 🥰

So @SheWoreYellow is he in year 8 now then? Do you think he's more involved in extra curricular stuff because it's smaller and they all have to contribute more?
I think my DS would love all that if he was pushed, but wouldn't bother in a bigger school. Plus I think he'd like getting to know kids from other year groups too. Less scope for meanness/bullying I guess too as they get to know each other better and teachers can more easily see what's going on?
Thanks - so pleased your DS is enjoying it.

@Festivfrenzy They ran tennis “teams”. I think they had 27 tennis courts! Obviously not all schools can have a couple of specialist sports but for a small school it can make sense to coach in a couple.

DD is in a approx 60-70 pupil entry split into 3-4 forms per year. She loves it as went from small rural primary so the move to 150 per year just felt too big. It was 100% the right choice for her. The Headmaster knows every child by name and it is incredibly nurturing.
The school has an amazing sporting reputation, especially for Rugby (think England team across many generations), so smaller schools don't always = bad at sports.

At this age, can you be confident about that? A lot of students change a lot between 10/11 and 14 when they are picking options. He might well develop a passion for photography, for example. Obviously he doesn't need a GCSE to pursue that, but he might want to?

Do most students stay on for the sixth form? If not, I would imagine that is really small which can be limiting in lots of ways. Would you be open to him moving post-16 if he wanted to?

I would ask what the minimum number of students is that they will run a GCSE or A-level option for.

Turns out they do drama, PE and computing at gcse (equivalent, not in England) and he’s doing two of those. So that’s good.

Almost all students stay on for sixth form. Anyway, he’s there and loving it now.

I think the less bullying can be a thing because it’s so small they all have to get on. Obviously there’s the rare exception.
DS does the extra curriculum stuff because he’s just naturally interested and full of beans.

Thanks so much @SheWoreYellow @twistyizzy @TizerorFizz this all really helpful and reassuring. I'm really excited for him to go and visit after a lonnng time worrying if he'd be ok ☺️👌

DD went to a tiny - 20 per year group, (private) secondary school and it worked out really well.
For any others contemplating the pros and cons of small schools, this is what we found….
Good points:
-Any bullying is much more prominent and dealt with quicker.
-Teachers genuinely know each pupil's learning styles.
-Pupil's can't get overlooked or left behind.
-More opportunities for extra curic stuff they wouldn't normally get selected for like public speaking, sports, drama etc
-school runs subjects even if only one pupil wants to do it
-site not overwhelming
-pupils have to learn to get on with each other
-trendy/popular cliques tend not to happen

Bad points:
Sport teams not competative
Drama/music not always a great standard

That's about all we found really! Neither of which were too important to DD.
She picked a small university as a result of going to a small school, as she knew it worked for her, and she was, and is very happy in smaller invironments.

Good luck to anyone choosing schools - glad were through it all now!

Thanks so much @blanketsnuggler - this is all so helpful 🧡