Moving Primary School child from a city school to a rural school

[SilverSaloon]

I was wondering the general opinion of fellow parent's on here about moving a child from a "normal sized" school to a very rural school which has a very small number of pupils, like the primary school with just 20 pupils etc. Comprehensive school that they would move to about 200 pupils currently.

Eldest child is 5 and is approaching the end of his 1st year of school, which he has absolutely loved and has done so well. Youngest child hasnt started nursary yet. They are very young so i am sure they would adapt very quickly, but its the possible quality of teaching concerns me and a world away from the type of schools i went to, which his current school is like....

I've spoken to a few friends who say they would leap at the idea of having their child at a smaller school, with more "one to one" tuition etc. However I'm not so sure if faced with the real-life choice whether they would really go for it. I also take him to school every morning and see what he'd be missing, but on the other hand, what would he be gaining? Its a very difficult decision to make.

Is there anyone on here who either went to a very rural school or have kids at one now? I'd be very interested to hear any comments or experiences you may have.

 

[davidjpowell]

We moved from Bristol to a village near doncaster. Stepson, ended up at the village school - total class size was about 20 I think, but this is a combined class where they teach 2 years together - eg Year 1 & 2 share a classroom and teacher. He was about 8. Teachers and senior stall all spent more time with the kids individually.

My daughter has been in the reception class since Christmas - about 8 kids in this years intake, and something similar in last years. They have one teacher + teaching assistant. She loves school.

The small schools can be a bit cliquey, which is ok, unless you fall outside. My partner can be a bit outspoken at times which does not always help.

If it's total 20 pupils in the school, I can't help so much. I suspect you would not see so much issues until the kids need to socialise in larger peer groups.

 

[Chattonmill]

Our local School was in the throes of closing down, they were almost banking on everyone in the area with kids of the right age to send them there.
I said mine was going elsewhere as total kids were about 10, in my opinion that was not enough especially as they were spread over age ranges.
The School has now closed.
Kids need interaction and team sports and he just wouldn't have got that. One to one teaching is one thing, but it is only part of an education.....

 

[wemorgan]

I guess ultimately there are no rules, but here are my thoughts:

I went to a small school <200 children, 10-15 children per class and personally gained a lot from the experience of intensive teaching. Discipline in the school was also very high, so that further maximised the learning potential.

Good schools and teachers do make a difference, but also so does good parenting. So as long as you’re an attentive parent then within reason regardless of school your children will do well through their education. For various reasons some rural schools may struggle to attract suitably high quality teachers. So you may want to discuss with other parents their experiences.

My wife is a reception year teacher and has about 15 children in her class. She also has a TA for support, so all the children get a good level of attention during the day. She knows other teachers who teach in classes of 30 and it’s clear less attention is given to each child. Plus there is the added risk of indiscipline with so many children.

One immediate risk of very small classes is when schools have to combine years to form a single class. So in effect 1 teacher is having to teach 2 curriculum at the same time.

Good luck with what ever you decide.

 

[Chattonmill]

There are normally other larger schools in any area, the only problem is that if you don't live in that catchment then you don't get free school travel. I have opted for the closest school to me for mine, but we for some reason don't fall into that catchment, so we will have to drive him ourselves.
Saying that we could be moving house to gain some more space and we would then fall into that schools catchment area!

 

[Sonny Burnett]

i have to say i moved from a tiny school to a 1000pupil one when i was a kid and loved the bigger school 10x better... just my 2 cents

 

[Mr E]

I grew up going to small village schools - one was 2 classes only from 5 - 9, before moving to a middle school.

Never had any issues - I remember being stretched as I wanted to keep up with the older ones, so when we moved and I went to a larger school I was about 2 years ahead of my age in maths and english.

Team sports - made no difference to me.

Both of mine have gone / are going through the school in the village - class sizes of 25-28. Seems to be a very different experience to mine, but that may be down to the standard curriculum and a seeming lack of discipline.

I wouldn't worry...

 

[Matt's Dad]

I’ve recently pulled my 2 youngest children (5, and 8) out of our catchment area town school, as the school has gone downhill over the last few years.
The ‘EAL’s (English Additional Language) are now at 58% of the children, so the English speaking children are the minority, which seems to have slowed down teaching as language is obviously a problem.

They are now in a Village school which is much smaller than where they were previously, and already we can notice the difference.

It is hard choosing schools, we looked at the SAT’s results and Offstead reports and made a list of local schools, then stated calling each one to see what the likely hood of getting a place would be.

We have to drive them there and back each day, which works out over 200 miles for the week, but it's well worth it for us.

Good luck

 

[grober]

Village school every time. Only problem is if they have to move to a much larger urban school for secondary education they will find it tough till they get "streetwise". Kids in the main are pretty adaptable though so will probably manage where ever they are.

 

[SilverSaloon]

Thanks for everyone's views, please keep them coming!!

current numbers of the schools in question are (note numbers are the whole school, not class sizes):

26 kids in the primary school, 9 kids in the nursary.

185 kids in the High School.

Approx 15 miles away from the house.

 

[Apial]

What does Ofsted have to say about the school? Class size is not the only consideration.

 

[SilverSaloon]

What does Ofsted have to say about the school? Class size is not the only consideration.

the reviews of the school are pretty good. its the "more than just teaching" aspects which Chattonmill touched on that concern me the most, ie issues not having more kids his own age there etc, lack of proper team sports, range of ages in one class etc.

 

[Rich27]

We moved our oldest (5 this month) from a city (Cardiff) school where again English was a minority language (Polish, Hindi, etc) and for some reason the council wanted to change the school to teach in the Welsh medium.
No way was I going to let him stay there as I went to a Welsh primary school, (had no choice as there were no `English` schools in rural Wales) as I absolutly hated it.
Now he is in a (posh) Village school on the outskirts of Cardiff (we live at the far west of the city a short walk and its all fields) it has reasnable class sizes with about 15 in his year and has a great ofstead report.
However as he gets the school minibus to school we tend not to be there very often and when we are we have found it to be very cliquey and snobby.
However he loves it. It was that one or the awful primary school in the middle of the worst housing estate in Cardiff where one parent (on drugs) familys are the norm and it would be difficult sending him there as my wife works for the social services and knows what most of the parents are up to.