Can a class be too small to teach?

[lovemeorleaveme]

What are your opinions on very small schools/class sizes to teach? I'm talking 7 children in one class of mixed years?

Our RE teacher has a class of 5. She doesn't seem bothered.

Lovely to teach!

I had a GCSE class of 9 once - it was too small. Core subject where discussion was key and there weren’t enough of them to create a buzz or bounce ideas.

I currently have 7 and think it's fine. 8 is my ideal.

I hate less than 4.

I teach in SEN though, so there are other considerations in the mix.

Core subject, class of 4 at A Level instead of 24 like my previous school. They are all at a similar standard so nothing to complain about.

That would bore me rigid. I taught a class of 12 for a year and that was bad enough! Anything less than 16-20 at primary is too small. The social opportunities are just too limited and it's all too intense.

Taught a level english language (yr13) to a class of three once. But only 1 of them regularly turned up. God that was boring.

I had an A Level Theatre Studies class years ago that started off with 4 then one boy left. It was a nightmare for practical work and pretty dull for the rest of the time.

This is for KS1.

In my current class I have 7 but think 4 would be the ideal for a small number of the pupils however they have severe learning and behavioural difficulties!

In mainstream I think it would be tricky - I think the children would find it too socially intense.

I’ve taught anything from 30 (KS3) to 1 (KS5) and everything in between.

Tbh smaller is always better in terms of quality input and focussed discussion. It leads to better results.

I agree with everyone else though about social pressures and intensity being the issue. I imagine this is more pronounced in KS1 than it is at upper secondary level.

I have taught 10 in a small rural school. Just a completely different style of teaching. Once l adapted it was fine.
My highest number was 40 in the 1980s and everything in between.
It does take a while to find out how it works best and then it's like you have never done anything different.

My smallest class is 7 and largest 11.

If I had an ideal it would be 12 - so 6 groups of 2 for science practicals, and 3 groups of 4 for discussion groups.

Bloody hell crafty, those are small classes, assume you are indi
My smallest classes are in KS5 where I have 18,18 and 17 ( though i did have 27 one year in y12)
Largest my top set y7s 32 of the little darlings. They are amazing though and a really great group.

I suppose it is what it is if you live in a very rural or isolated community.
I think there'd be a lot of disadvantages but probably some advantages too.

What are the circumstances that you are talking about ?

A level music often has 5 or less in it-3 is common and is good. Hard going when you have 1 generally.

I think it also depends on how many year groups your are talking about in a mixed age class.

Are they a mix of Yr1 and 2 or one year group? Just wondering if you've got another ks1 teacher to join up with for some lessons!

7 would certainly be quite intense, from both their and your point of view. Personally I think I'd go for a continuous provision approach with a mix of 1:1 and whole group teaching. I'd imagine the yr1s would get very tired if they didn't have some 'downtime' as they wouldn't have a moment to escape your attention.

I've got 19 Year 2s next year and that feels very small compared to my current class. 7 seems tiny but I think you'd just have to adapt your teaching and be a bit more flexible in your approach.

I’ve seen Language classes of

I’d take that 7 over my class of 34 any day of the week

I teach primary and have only had classes of between 30 and 35. I think 20 would be lovely. I wouldn't really want less than 15. I think 7 would be awful for mainstream ks1: not enough to bounce ideas around in discussions and too restrictive for the children when developing friendships. I also think that the classroom would be too quiet and freak me out a bit.

I've had a morning class of six reception children in a rural school and yes I think it was too small a class. I felt I was too intrusive in their play although it did improve as they gained confidence The morning dragged too !

I have 3 in my A-level group. Thankfully, they are a brilliant group and it's been really good. I have 12 in the lower sixth group which is a nice size - small enough to be able to give sufficient individual attention but big enough for discussion.

Lower down, I have had a bottom set of 10 which works well because they were so weak and needed a lot of support. Equally I have classes of 30. For the most part, around 20 would be good.

I have 3 in my current year 10 and have had two years of 1 at A level. It's so boring and there is no way you can get any kind of buzz or decent discussion/group work.
Accustomed to small numbers at A level but I don't like less than 10 at GCSE.
My Ks3 groups are 16 which is quite nice

Yours, are you state? And what subject?
Totally appreciate you may not want to answer that, just intrigued about how different schools and subjects are.