How do primary schools decide how to organize the classroom

ver2

Hi,

Bit of a random question but a friend's primary school is allocating one teacher to a classroom of 14 students. The school is a big enough school and there are younger classes with nearly 30 in the classroom. The students in this room all seem quite bright but I know their parents are quite vocal and are always in to discuss issues with the principal etc. Would the principal bow to parent pressure or would there be a legitimate reason why this would happen? It is just with younger classes with greater numbers in the classroom, it surprising that they would not be prioritized as they missed a lot of time at school due to Covid.

Blind As A Bat

Primary school teacher here. It varies according to the individual school but it's always done with the goal of making the best use of staff/resources available. Without more information, it's difficult to comment further but it's very unlikely that a principal would bow to parent pressure. In over twenty years of teaching under many different principals, I've never known one to organize classes based on parents' requirements.

byhookorbycrook

"Quite bright" is subjective.How are you judging this? As you aren't (rightly) party to the specific needs within a classroom, I'd be trusting in the professional judgement of the school staff. Your idea that a school would bow to parental pressure above the needs of children is at best, naive.

Big Bag of Chips

What is your friend suggesting the school does? Split the bigger class in 2? Class numbers might be larger in the other class, but the school might feel it is preferable to keep all that class together in a class of 24 for example, all doing the same work than to split the class into 2 smaller groups but have half sharing a room with the class below and the other half with the class above (Which will then lead to parents questioning why their child is in the "lower" class etc.)

Principals don't usually have the luxury of bowing to vocal parents' demands. They are most likely tight with pupil/teacher ratios as it is and need to work the best scenario for all children.

Is your friend a parent or a teacher in the school?

L1011

My primary school in the 90s applied an obvious streaming system; with one smaller 'faster' class; which usually got placed in a mixed class later on (3rd/4th, 5th/6th and then 6th/5th).

The outcome with those classes all going to the same secondary and doing entrance exams for streaming there was very mixed; so it really had bugger all impact.

I ended up with a much wider age range friends group due to the split classes (in two directions); which really are't that common in big schools - that's about the only impact of note.

byhookorbycrook

I remember subbing in a large school where half of 2nd was with 3rd and the other with first . Some parents were complaining that the children in 2nd with the 3rd class were the “ bright ones “ Yet other parents decided they were the “ weaker “ ones .

shesty

The reality was that it was probably as simple as they were just the older ones.🙄

Big Bag of Chips

My son's class was a big class in a small rural school. A couple of years the class was split, half with a younger class, half with an older. The class was split alphabetically. With the first half put with the younger class. The second half put with the older. Parents of the first half of the alphabet complained their children were missing out.

All children are now in Junior Cert and there hasn't been any long term academic impact on any of them because of which side of the split they were on.

ver2

Thanks for all the comments