Guest Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hi folks, My sister called me today asking for my opinion on the following ... ... My nephews (aged 5 and 8) both attend the same primary school. The head teacher (who is due to be leaving soon) has announced plans that due to low numbers they are rearranging their classes. Foundation will be with the younger year 1's and then the older year 1's will be in with year 2 and also the year 3 children - to make up the class to around 30 pupils! My sister isn't happy with this arrangement as it means my younger nephew will be in a class with 7-8 years olds, Has anyone heard of arrangements like this before? My sister has a meeting Friday as she has complained to the head teacher, she is also looking at moving them to another school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 hi kmt78, not sure what the answer is as I have never experienced a school class with mixed age groups. Just wanted to say that having 2,3 and 4 year olds in the same Pre-School session has positives and negatives and I would imagine it would be the same with older children. mrsW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hi, Im in Somerset and this is quite common in my area. The local school is losing a class due to low numbers, so yes it does happen. However as already mentioned their are positives, such as learning alongside more able peers etc. I do know of some parents who have been unhappy and have viewed the year 1's staying with Reception as staying down, because my local school sorts the children according to ability which doesnt help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Both my children went to school with similar mixed age classes R/Y1/ some Y2 in one class some Y2/Y3/ some Y4 in another some Y4/Y5/Y6 in the last Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Very common here too. Only 49 children in the whole school in the village so children 'shared' between the teachers in mixed age. groups. Reception, year one and lower ability year 2 together and higher ability year 2 with 3 and 4 and then 5 & 6 together. In the afternoons all R Y1 and 2 together and 3,4,5 & 6 together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 (edited) Common here also. Schools are funded for one teacher per 30 children. It doesn't account for varying numbers in age groups. The headteacher will have had very limited options if her children/funding therefore teachers has dropped (a teacher could also have been redeployed or made redundant). She may have had a choice of a class of 48 children and one of 12 children or 2 mixed aged classes of 25-I know which i would go for. Fairest means is purely by age.Parents believe that its one teacher per age group but its more complicated. What I'm trying to say is that it may not be 'Is it a good idea?' the headteacher may have made the best decision for the whole school. I have worked in this situation (infact it was seen as 'best practise' to have vertical groupings in my authority in the 80's)and my children had it at their primary school.There are benefits and negatives but there are also benefits and negatives for single age classes. Edited July 1, 2009 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyanne Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 At my elder son's primary school, he had mixed age range classes the whole time he was there - due to the age ranges above & below being larger than usual & his being smaller than usual. So sometimes he was the younger child,other the older, it worked for him. Suspect younger son will be in a mixed age range class next year as there are 17 children in his class at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upsy Daisy Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Our school has mixed age group classes. the children are divided by emotional maturity and academic ability rather than age. This seems to me to be a more sensible way to do it if you have to. I know some parents have found it hard to accept their child being in the lower ability group but it is what works best for the children. Your sister needs to go along and voice her concerns and ask what measures are in place to differentiate between the children, whether they will be reviewing the arrangement and what criteria they will use to decide if it is successful. This might help to put her mind at rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abimat43 Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I also have experienced of mixed age classes, although not always ideal, a solution to low numbers and schools remaining open and yes there are pros and cons- but a good teacher should be able to work with this, as equally I have seen where it hasn’t worked because of an inexperienced teacher and poor leadership. “what measures are in place to differentiate between the children” is that not the ethos of the EYFS- do we really need to label children by putting them into sets of ability- isn’t that what we used to do 30 years ago!!! I’m not sure if there is any other choice if it was not successful, the children do not get the best start in their education! perhaps someone else may be able to help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 My little boy is in a mixed R/Y1/Y2 class and it is great. Mind you, there are only 18 of them and the teacher is brilliant. I think with small numbers and a skilled teacher it can actually be a positive, but with high numbers or a not so skilled teacher it could be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmileyPR Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Apart from the teacher, will there be other practitioners helping out in the class all day long? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beau Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 My children too have mostly attended schools with composite classes in primary school. It can be harder work for a teacher but there are many benefits to the children working in this way. As others have said, get more information from the head and teacher as to how they are going to meet the needs of the various children to put her mind at rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 (edited) My sister has had a meeting and it seems the class teacher who will be taking my nephew (year 1) along with the year 2 and 3's is going to differentiate her planning to accommodate all children while still offering the year 1's with free play sessions. Seems complicated but they have promised to review the situation after a term to make sure all the children are continuing to make progress. I still think having a mixed reception yr1 and yr2/3 would be more suitable allowing the yr1's to continue with having a play based curriculum - mind you all years could probably benefit from that! We'll see how it goes Edited July 3, 2009 by kmt78 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 (edited) Hi i had the same problem when my boys was younger. I had three boys in the same class boy did i feel not only sorry for the teacher , but my oldest twin boys to having put up with younger brother not only at home but in class as well, lol yeah they clashed . I wrote 10 Downing street at the time with my concerns , the reply was its up to each individual school . I'm must say it never did any of them any harm . Edited July 4, 2009 by bubblybee3107 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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