Class mixing

[fishfingersrus]

I work in a school which has grown over the past few years. We now have two classes in each year group.
Moving forward we as a school are unsure if we should leave classes as they are, only mix classes that have become unbalanced over the year, mix all classes every two years, mix classes yearly.
Does anyone have research in the benefits or downfalls of class mixing?

It's such a difficult science.

I think a reshuffle every 2 years can be very beneficial.

No research but surely it is better to mix on a set regular basis as if you do have a problem and need to mix it will be a possible issue if it's not expected while mixing even if you don't strictly need to is less likely to be an issue if its what everyone expects.

The primary school my children attend only mix the classes in year 6, it's awful when your child has to go through their primary years in the same class with a child who bullies or belittles them. My eldest was fine my second child had an absolute nightmare time in school.
Personally I think it helps the children to mix them up every year. All my nieces and nephews schools do this and it works well. It stops clicks and helps children to make more friends.

At DC's school they mix at the end of R, Y2 & Y4. Seems like a good idea to me. Get a good feel for the children in R giving you a chance to get balanced classes going forward; as it's only every 2 years, you get a chance to settle down into solid friendship groups within the class but also know you may be reunited with friends in the other class in the not too distant future. DD has had her second mix up and has made a great friend with a girl who has always been in the "other" class whilst maintaining a solid relationship with two girls who weren't in her class in R and with two boys and a girl from her original class, with one of the boys and the girl now being in the "other class".

At my DC’s primary they mix in y4 and y6 only so are together from YR-Y3 which was what they’d done for ever so the parents and kids knew what to expect

At my current school they mix as and when, at it last school they mixed every year group, each year!

I quite like a mix up each year, to be honest,

It's awful when one class gets a reputation for being 'the naughty class'. I think they start thinking they have to live up to it.

Mixing classes causes such carnage though- kids weeping, parents complaining.

A lot depends on how stable your school population is. Do lots leave and enter every year? My dc primary mixed all classes every year to keep them balanced in all sorts of ways.

At my school we mix going into yr1 and, although never perfect, it attempts to create two classes with a similar range of age, sex, ability and behaviours. With twins we prefer to split but will listen to parents if they want them kept together. In rare cases we split again going into ks2.

Our school mixes every year (R to Y2). It's not been a problem from a friendship point of view but parents have challenges with it, and are keen to 'get in there' with their view of which teachers/children they want each year.

We're moving to a school next year where they move every other year I think, but they are clear in their policies that parental wishes do not come into consideration.

At our school they mix every year. Each child can write 3 or 4 children they’d like to be with the next year and they’re guaranteed at least one. It works well.

Ours mixes every year, but by Y5 and Y6 they know what works and there are distinct groups that tend to stay together.

Thank you for all replies.
I've worked in schools prior to this one which mixed classes each year but they were much larger schools than this one. We are an international school, not in the UK, and as I say have only recently grown to be two classes per year group.
The problem we have really is that part of our parent community are not keen on mixing each year and although they do not have the final say in the matter we do need to keep them on board. I was hoping someone would have some concrete evidence (that I've not stumbled across) that would state the benefits of mixing.

In my independent we mix each year from nursery onwards, despite being class sizes having an average of 14 children. Previously I worked in a state school and the same 30 children were together from nursery to year 6 - awful.