Just researching schools for DD (starts T2 next year) and we are out of zone for alot of the schools i like. So have to get onto it early to get on the waiting lists.

We have the option of sending her to a small rural school (only 2 classes) its only a couple of kms down the road so quite handy but DH is worried about the fact its mixed years (0-3y and 4-8y)

Would you send your kids to this school??
What things would you be worried about??
What questions should i ask when i go visit??

Mixed ages aren't necessarily a problem. I have seen a study citing mixed ages as a good thing (too bad it was used to try to justify mixed ages at kindergarten, because it was using kids around 8yo as an example)

Many schools have composite classes anyway - my boys are in mixed Y3/4 and Y5/6 classes and there is at least one Y4/5 composite class as well.

I would send my kids to that school if it ticked any other boxes eg: that the culture and values are a good fit, they have good practices and philosophies etc.

Thanks for that GA, i didn't know they had composite classes at some schools.

Composites are pretty common these days, but usually 2 year levels.

I certainly would not see that as a negative.

If you want me to, i am happy to have a look at ero reports for you and see if there is stuff in them that I think a non teacher might not pick up on, just pm me names of schools.

Oh 4-8 - that is something that might put me off, depending on how it is managed. There is a lot of extension, opportunities wise and exposure to other things done in years 7 and 8, and i would want to be sure that my child wouldn't be limitied from that there.

DD1 just started at our local rural school, there are 65 students total. There are 15 new starters this year so they have 'qualified' for a 4th teacher from mid-year. They decided to start the 4th classroom at the beginning of the year so the principal is teaching it until the 4th teacher starts. Anyway, they have composite classes; last year it was NE/1/2, 3&4, 5&6. We saw these classes as a positive.

In DDs NE/1 class there are 15 students, awesome.

^^I like that a lot better, it is just the experiences at 7/8 that worries me - that and the schools committment to things like interschool sports etc, which won't be important for all kids, but if you have a sporty kid then it is really important.

We have intermediates here so could change her schools for those 2 years if we were worried.

I will PM you though Felicis, that would be great if you could have a quick look for us

My DD goes to a small school - 85 kids. We deliberatley chose that size school as the other option had 500 kids. The main reason we chose the smaller school was because DD is bright for her age and can be quite, umm, "misleading" when she wants to be. i.e. if she is treated as a 5 yr old who doesn't know any better, she's quite capable of playing the part. We wanted a situation where the teachers know us, they all know her, and they hold her to account based on her personality and capabilities, not based on her age. We felt that in a larger school, for example if the teacher of a Y4 class was on-duty, there was less chance that they would know her and us and therefore would allow her to get away with things in the playground thinking that she didn't know any better.

We haven't regretted our decision (she's now in her 3rd year of school) - we love the community-feel, the fact that we know most people and everyone knows us, school events are great because of the "village" sort of atmosphere and it's really supportive.As far as academics go, I think composite classes, to an extent and depending on the teacher, allow kids to be either extended or extra work to be done, depending on what they need.

You'll soon get a feel for the school when you visit, and bear in mind I am biased as I also attended a primary school with less than 200 kids :-)

F is great like that She did 3 schools for me.

I spent 2 years (standard 3 & 4) at a 2 classroom school. I'm not sure the exact ages but they were called Junior and Senior so at a guess similar ages to what you mentioned. Went up to Form 2.
Coming from a town primary, I was advanced compared to the country kids in the same 'year' and above half the kids in the year above that (however, that would be like 3 kids cos school's roll was like 40 or something).
It has probably changed a bit now (like 18years later or so) but I didn't think the mix years worked very well. A lot of the time, the Form 2's were doing the same work as the youngest age in the class and there was a lot of time working out of text books instead of being instructed by the teacher.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend it at all for the academic side, but the outside the classroom, I thought it aas great. Like a big family where all the boys would play together (kick back) and the girls would play on the playground.

RD I would be thinking about what is going to suit the family. A small school would not suit my boys, but them a huge school wouldn't either. There busy boys and love the buzz of a bit going on. Liam in particular loves the projects with his peers. In a composite class would there be 5-8 kids at the same level? Will the school suit lockie? As it would be a PITA to be travelling 2 schools.

I'm can see lots of benefits of a smaller school, it would be more like a bigger family activities more taylored to the individuals. Just what will work best for your family.

Good luck, I think visiting the school will give you a good feel if it will work.

I think it depends how you feel about your children being in the same class. I have two DD's who are both in Y3/4 mixed classes and man, it is a bit of a challenge. Their friends are in each others classes and the competition is fierce, I shudder to think of them in the same actual room . But, I am sure it would all work out if that was the only option. Actually, all 3 of my kids would be in the same class for two years if they had a y1-y4, y5-y8 split.

My nieces went to a tiny rural school. There were 32 kids in their school and it went from NE to Year 6 equivalent. There were some positives in that the teachers make a huge effort to get to know the kids, and have several years to do so. And resource wise these schools are disproportionately well funded because there are no economies of scale - but as a parent, you don't actually see much advantage from this, it just IS.

But I vowed my kids wouldn't go to a school that small. The major downside IMO is that my 2 nieces were the only 2 girls in their class at times, at others there would be one individual who would play the other girls off one against the other (all 4 of them!) and it had a huge effect on the excluded girl socially. Overall, I think this is so socially stunted, its not what I wanted for my kids.

My boys were in a full primary school with 200 kids, and we've just moved, they are now in a school with 400 from NE to Y6. On balance, I like the smaller school from a social POV - every kid knows everyone else in a school of 200 - but I like the opportunities at the larger school.

Would you send your kids to this school??
Personally no


What things would you be worried about??

I looked at several schools when trying to decide, and one was about 60 kids so a little bigger, my First born was a little quirky as a preschooler, and we just weren't sure how he was going to go socially so we wanted him to be an odd fish in a big pond. I just thought it wasn't fair for him to have potentially 6 kids in his year, 4 of them could be girls, that leaves him with 1 boy to choose from.

Also we wanted sporting opportunites for our children, and making up teams is very hard with small numbers.

I also like the new teacher eash year, not every teacher gets on grand with every kid, every year, so the fact that if they don't see eye to eye it is only one year appeals.

We ended up choosing the school with around 250 children, and we were happy with the choice. We have since moved from there and the children are at a similar size school now, still happy with the size.




What questions should i ask when i go visit??

I would really go by feel first, it is like choosing child care, you just get the right feel.
We asked about sport, education outside the classroom, I would expect to be given a good look around.
Recently we visited a school where we weren't shown around, and there was no hall, so no assemblies or sharing, just didn't get the right feel at all.

Good luck it is a hard decision, but you have to do what best suits your children.

My children go to a small school (about 40-50 kids) so two classes covering years 0 to 6.

I made the decision to go to this school (even though we have to drive to it) because my eldest is 'quirky', but very able and going to a big busy school with the possibility of lots of negative interaction was simply not an option.

We made the right decision - it is the most beautiful school in the world. It is like a big family, there is no bullying and you see all aged children playing together (so the big kids look after the little kids - girls play with boys - they are allowed to climb and make huts in the trees - but the mud slide the boys made was frowned upon ).

Most of the time I have had at least two of my children in the same class and it simply isn't a problem. In fact I haven't heard of one family that has had a problem with two of their children being in the same class.

As far as having different teachers - that hasn't been a problem. The reality is (I think) that rural teachers would have to have a slightly different approach than city teachers in order to meet the needs (both academic and emotional) of their students. In fact the old principal once said to me: It is my job to find something I really admire about each and every child I have in my class.

The other thing is that we don't do any fundraising because all of our 'extra' money comes from the farming families (and the local community) keeping a few beef cows. All of this money means that the children get weekly swimming lessons (for free from a professional teacher), four day camps for $50.00 (parents go free), fun days (when they get in water slides) etc, etc, etc.

Like Felicis said, the only problem I would have is the Years 7-8 being there. I'm not sure how that would work as I haven't experienced that, but that is quite a large variation in academic needs in one class.

Good luck with your decision

If you know any of the families whose children go there, I'd talk to them too, asking them how the school suits their kids.

My son goes to a really big school so I can't really comment on a rural school. I like the idea of a small school and can imagine that with the right teachers it would be really cool.

I can see the advantages to a small school
-but would I personally send my child to a school that small? only as a last resort.
there is a huuuuuge diff between a yr 4 and a yr 8 (omg couldn't imagine my tiny little yr4 in with basically young teenagers).

I looked at a small school when choosing and ill be honest I REALLLY liked it - but it did lack in some opportunities (sporting was a biggie as I knew #1 would be sporty-and he is), they go to a medium school (200 give/take) and it is AWESOME, small enough so that everyone knows everyone, but big enough so that you can find like minded friends with similar interests, try out diff sporting codes, (more parents to choose to be friends with here too ) yep pretty much all our classes are composite but its just across the 2year levels not 4yrs.
the new entrant classes each have 6children lol. my 5yr olds class has 21, and 8yrs olds 23. Im pretty happy with that

I misread your post...thinking of the years as ages. DOH! So my comment probably isn't relevant, sorry.