Class size - how big is too big?

Tinobeano

Our son is due to start in a national school with an excellent reputation this Sept. There will be 30 pupils in his class with one teacher, no special needs assistant.

We could send him to a private school with much lower class sizes, 20 pupils with two teachers in junior infants, progressing to 20 pupils with one teacher in later years.

Could any national school teachers out there let me know what you think please, please? Is 30 too many for one person to handle? Does it matter? The private school also has an excellent academic reputation, but I think we would prefer a national school education if we could be sure he would not be one among too many.

Many thanks in advance

pooch90

20 would be the ideal maximum imo but you'd be hard pressed to find a national school with those numbers. However, if your child isn't overly weak or requires lots of special attention I'd send him somewhere local where he can befriend kids from the locality. teachers are used to the large numbers at this stage and are able to deal with those numbers in one class.

byhookorbycrook

My first class ever, in the late 80 eighties had 42 junior infants :eek::eek:
30 of course is not ideal, but I'd be more concerned about the standard of teachers. Some private schools pay badly and do not attract the best graduates.As already stated, primary teachers are now-sadly-used to large numbers and would be well set to tackle them.

Chuchoter

30 sounds reasonable enough to me. Unless your son needs special help I'd go to the national school. I would think with the private school having 2 teachers for such a tiny class, you might end up with a larger than average number of students having learning disabilities, as parents want them to have more attention. I could be completely wrong but thats what I think might happen. Having a big class is nice too because theres a much bigger pool of people to make friends with

E.T.

30 pupils is about average for a single class in Ireland at the moment. An SNA in a classroom wouldn't make any difference to your son as they are there solely for the child to whom they are assigned - it's nothing like the classroom assistants that they have in England. From experience 30 is just about manageable in infants. It is tough enough, obviously the more children in the room the less time each child is going to get unfortunately. With infants the teacher has a lot more to do non-academically so most schools try to keep the numbers as low as possible at this end of the school.

I'm intrigued by your mention of the private school having 2 teachers in the infant room. Do you know if this is full time or if the class will be split for certain times of the day or subjects? I'd also check out if the 2 teachers are fully qualified and that one isn't just someone being employed as a classroom assistant. If you're going to pay out for private education there really should be a lot of extra tuition for your son from properly qualified teachers.

crotalus667

If you can send him to a private school with much lower class sizes, 20 pupils with two teachers then do it , it was too many when it was 28-1

byhookorbycrook

I still question how a school has two teachers for 20 children. If there are two teacher why not do ten and ten?

E.T.

That's why I wondered if they're both fully qualified teachers. I hope the OP comes back with an explanation from the school, I'm very curious.

fearbainne

Was teaching 32 children this year and it was messy to say the least, but that's the norm these days I guess and we got our work done anyways..

GoldenEarring

Teachers in private schools do not have to be trained primary teachers. A playschool teacher I know got a job teaching a middle class in a private school. Parents completely unaware the she is not a trained primary teacher.
Private schools usually pay less than national schools.
30 pupils was manageable in the days when children were used to doing what they were told and encouraged to obey the teacher at home, but that's not the case these days. The max I had was 43, and they were fine, thirty years ago.
For infants large numbers pose a problem. Strong personalities will dominate and quieter children could be overlooked. Individual attention will be scarce so make sure you listen to reading, check pencil-hold, etc with increased diligence because in a class of thirty+ infants the teacher is just trying to survive.
In recent years children with special needs have been incorporated into primary schools. This is wonderful for them, but imposes an increased workload on the class teachers who must "differentiate" their teaching accordingly.
SNAs are not permitted to teach. (minimum qualification is the JC although many have higher qualifications). They are there for care needs and "general assistance to the class teacher".

gaeilgegrinds1

I taught in a private school, admittedly at second level, while doing my masters unqualified. Pay was dire, as was my inability to teach due to lack of experience. So my opinion, save your money and pay for extra help from a qualified teacher IF and WHEN he needs it. Best of luck

Troxck

A school in my area (primary) had to turn away junior infants the only exception was if they had a brother or sister in the school. There was 36 then accepted.:eek:

byhookorbycrook

We take in 60 infants each year and turn as many away. Our junior infants are in classes of 20 and the other classes are 30 or so.

pooch90

I have 31 boys in my class. No way you can teach them all effectively.

Troxck

But from the area I'm from that is huge. I was talking about my friends primary school. It was a Gaelscoil:cool:

byhookorbycrook

We're a Gaelscoil too.

Troxck

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

We're a Gaelscoil too.

They are getting really popular. With my standard of Irish I wish I went:cool:

byhookorbycrook

We have 475 children in our school.It's amazing how quickly the junior infants soak up the language. You should start watching a bit of TG4, you'll be surprised how quickly it will come back to you.

Tinobeano

Dear all, I'm so sorry I didnt realise there were so many replies to this, thank you all very much indeed. We sent him to the national school, he's happy enough although we still think it's a bit big.

The private school was Montessori up to 1st class. So it had two streams of 20 up to 1st class each with a senior Montessori teacher ie with a few years teaching experience, and a junior Montessori teacher who is also fully qualified but with less years under the belt I think. But once they're in 1st class it is one teacher for 22-ish. Sounds nice, now that I talk about it again!

In the end we spoke to parents in both schools and the national school came out on top. I do worry he will get lost in the mix but we keep an eye on things.

Lots of thanks to everyone for informed replies. 43 pupils!

Thanks again and sorry it took so long