small or large primary school for my child??

abnormalnorman · 09-01-2019 3:41pm #1

I would like to know what people think on sending a child to a small 2-teacher rural school or a larger 30 pupil-per-class school in the nearby town.

For me, both are the same distance from my house , so no need to take anything like logistics etc. into account. Just wondering in terms of whats best for the child in terms of education and life skills! I m am new to the area so don't know anyone at either school.

Please cast your vote, and you can leave a comment if you like, or ask any questions

thanks

GalwayGrrrrrl · 09-01-2019 3:44pm

abnormalnorman wrote: »

I would like to know what people think on sending a child to a small 2-teacher rural school or a larger 30 pupil-per-class school in the nearby town.

For me, both are the same distance from my house , so no need to take anything like logistics etc. into account. Just wondering in terms of whats best for the child in terms of education and life skills! I m am new to the area so don't know anyone at either school.

Please cast your vote, and you can leave a comment if you like.

thanks

What happens when it comes to secondary school? Does the large school feed into a good secondary school or is there equal chance of secondary places from both schools?
As someone who grew up in a large town, the idea of small schools with several classes in one room seems old fashioned to me. But lots of kids in rural areas cope well from what I can see.

seamus · 09-01-2019 4:23pm

You know, I couldn't cast a vote because I think both have their advantages and disadvantages and neither is inherently "better" than the other.

Your small school obviously the kids get more individual attention, they get to know basically the entire school and it probably has a more comfortable, "family" feel to it. But by the same token the teachers' attention is going to be spread across multiple curricula and multiple age/skill levels, and they might end up feeling somewhat "lost" when they go to secondary and have to mix with hundreds of kids and have teachers who barely know their name.

In the big school, they will get teachers who are only teaching a single years' curriculum to the class, and they won't be phased when they attend a large secondary school or university. But it does feel like more of a workplace; you're a number in the class rather than a valued part of a school "family".

I went to the largest primary school in the country (at the time) - 180 kids started junior infants with me, 1,500 kids in the primary school in total - and I had a new teacher every year - so that's where my experience lies. Having spoken to people who went to tiny rural schools, they often speak with fondness for the teacher(s), with similar regard as an uncle or aunt, but they have also remarked about how insane university in particular was, how difficult it was to get their head around being so anonymous.

afkasurfjunkie · 09-01-2019 4:24pm

Research both and see which is the best fit for your child. I have similar options and am opting for larger school as it’s very well resourced, the teaching staff are very good, it’s got a good principal who runs a tight ship even though the classes are quite large. The smaller school is good too but there’s a huge emphasis on GAA and that’s not really our thing. There are positives and negatives for both. A relative of mine sent her younger boys to a local smaller school even though her oldest boys had gone to a more urban larger school for the opposite reasons. Once the kids are happy where they are, they will flourish. I didn’t vote either because the options aren’t really comparable.

meeeeh · 09-01-2019 4:36pm

I have very little experience with schools where teachers teach multiple years. If your child won't like one of them they could be stuck with them for years. What's the catchment area for both schools, where would potential friends go to school?

I went to a big school (120-150 kids per year) in mixed working/middle class area. After 4 years a class of kids from small country school (small was class of 25-30 per year) would join us. That class significantly outperformed other classes every year. It was different system and from 5th class each subject would be covered by different teacher so results were easy to compare.

Big Bag of Chips · 09-01-2019 4:47pm

One thing to bear in mind in the small 2 teacher school is that your children will have each teacher for 4 years. So if there's any problem there at all, there's no escape. My children are in a middling size school. About 120 students in the whole school. They all know each other. And we've only ever had a problem with one teacher and we had one very bad year where removing the child from the school was looking like the only option. If we had 4 years of that we would have had no choice but change schools. (Although my other child had the same teacher the following year with no problems)

abnormalnorman · 09-01-2019 5:13pm

GalwayGrrrrrl wrote: »

What happens when it comes to secondary school? Does the large school feed into a good secondary school or is there equal chance of secondary places from both schools?
.

Equal chance of secondary school places from both primary schools

wirelessdude01 · 09-01-2019 9:20pm

As a teacher I much prefer the single stream schools for working in. Always found while working in the small schools such as two teacher ones that you were always chasing your tail and not actually covering things as I would have liked. Now maybe that was just me.

byhookorbycrook · 09-01-2019 9:27pm

I've worked in both. Very much depends on the individual schools and principals.

One 2 teacher I worked in had only 1 one junior infant.They had great time, as the programme was totally tailored to their interests and needs, but socially, even though the other children were exceptionally good to them, socially, having a few more peers would have been nice.
In a larger school, there can't be the same individual attention, naturally, but there's a wider variety of staff and more children to mix with.

Icsics · 09-01-2019 9:32pm

I'd look at the feeder secondary school for each, is it the type of education u want for your child!

Humour Me · 09-01-2019 9:41pm

I actually moved from a big primary school to a two classroom school when I was a kid. What tends to happen is the classrooms are merged into two groups, so 3rd & 4th and then 5th& 6th together. We spent a lot of time completing workbooks while the teacher taught the other group and vice versa.

I wouldn't underestimate the social aspect. I had trouble adjusting to the small group who knew each other really well. On the other hand I know that a number found the adjustment to a large secondary school and classes a huge adjustment. A lot of them tended to stick together in a clique all through secondary school.

Edited to add: thinking about it one of the reasons that the small school group had trouble adjusting was because they had only ever had two teachers all through primary school and had no experience of different teaching styles. They were used to teachers who understood their strengths and weaknesses and tailored the teaching approach for them.

Rows Grower · 09-01-2019 10:08pm

abnormalnorman wrote: »

I would like to know what people think on sending a child to a small 2-teacher rural school or a larger 30 pupil-per-class school in the nearby town.

For me, both are the same distance from my house , so no need to take anything like logistics etc. into account. Just wondering in terms of whats best for the child in terms of education and life skills! I m am new to the area so don't know anyone at either school.

Please cast your vote, and you can leave a comment if you like, or ask any questions

thanks

We had the exact same choice to make for our youngest years ago, it was a straight forward decision for us, after visiting the 2 teacher school and meeting the teachers and the pupils we didn't even bother looking at the other one.

The child loved going to school every day (never missed a day, even when we couldn't drive in the bad snow and ice) and would look forward to going back during holidays. It was better than a private education the way it worked out, they learned so many different skills and did so many different workshops and projects outside of the normal curriculum it was incredible.

Maybe we were just lucky with the staff but I can't imagine why anyone would favor a big school over a small one for their kids.

echo beach · 10-01-2019 8:39pm

The biggest advantage I found in attending a small school was that from the first day you learned to work on your own while the teacher was working with the other classes. I notice that those of us who attended small schools can take responsibility for our own learning, what is now called ‘self directed’ learning, even long after leaving formal education while others are still waiting for somebody else to tell them what to learn, when to learn and how to learn.

School is important but the groundwork comes from the home and the attitude there will have far more impact than the size or type of school.

nice_guy80 · 10-01-2019 9:31pm

Children who go to a smaller school generally are more independent, have to get involved in everything in the school and have more opportunities to 'learn up'

But maybe I'm biased from teaching in a small school

Big Bag of Chips · 10-01-2019 10:12pm

I don't know if that's a very simplistic view. I think a lot depends on the nature of the person, their home environment and their willingness to learn and work anyway. Some children will struggle. Some children will thrive. I know a family who are in a 2 teacher school and the children struggle. They struggle socially and academically. They would probably also struggle in a bigger school. It's impossible to say where they would do better. But these children certainly will never be 'self-directed'.

I think it just has to come down to personal preference. Colleges, work places etc are full of people from all walks of life and all educational background. I don't know is it really all that relevant past a certain age?

Rows Grower · 10-01-2019 10:34pm

Big Bag of Chips wrote: »

I don't know if that's a very simplistic view. I think a lot depends on the nature of the person, their home environment and their willingness to learn and work anyway. Some children will struggle. Some children will thrive. I know a family who are in a 2 teacher school and the children struggle. They struggle socially and academically. They would probably also struggle in a bigger school. It's impossible to say where they would do better. But these children certainly will never be 'self-directed'.

I think it just has to come down to personal preference. Colleges, work places etc are full of people from all walks of life and all educational background. I don't know is it really all that relevant past a certain age?

No probably about it, they would be lost in a bigger school.

abnormalnorman · 11-01-2019 10:33am

Thank you for all your comments.

The idea of a small 2-teacher rural school sounds great to me. The one-on-one attention from teachers would be great.

My only concern is that it may be "cocooning" the child , and not preparing them for the real world.

Another concern would be that they may not develop the skills for dealing with / getting on with all sorts of "characters" that is also a part of everyday life in the real world.

A comment made here earlier was that the teachers get to know the strengths of the child, and teach to suit that strength, but again , may not be a good thing when preparing them for life.

I am still between two minds, and very much appreciate all the comments here, which have really got me thinking of things i would not have thought of.

I would appreciate as much more comments if you have them . . . i have a year to decide yet!

scarepanda · 11-01-2019 11:12am

We have a similar dilemma in our hands in the next few years, small school is a 3 teacher and both schools are country schools.

If we send our kids locally (we are also considering sending them to a gaelscoil) we will be sending them to the smaller school. I've been chatting to locals who have either sent kids to or attended the school's themselves and it appears that the small school is thriving, In particular since it got a new principal a few years ago. They do a lot of additional activities during the school day including stuff like swimming and the like. Where as the bigger school appears to do nothing like that. I also know of two students who have special needs in both schools and the parents of the smaller school couldn't praise the small school highly enough where as the larger school don't seem to be as helpful.

I went to what would be our 3rd choice local school, it's the largest country school in the area outside of town, which would also have been the situation when I attended. I was actually in the largest class in the school at the time. Tbh I don't think it was any advantage to be in a large school, in some ways we were restricted to only socialising with our class mates. From secondary school friends that attended smaller schools, they faired just as well in secondary school and had a far closer bond with their old class mates, even when they were in different classes and schools. They also had friends in the years above and below them and always seemed to be a lot more comfortable mixing with people not in our age group.

meeeeh · 11-01-2019 11:38am

Frankly I think it more depends how school is run and what teachers are like than the size of the school. I went to primary school with over 1000 students and high school with about 600. There were no rules who we were allowed to socialise with but we mostly stayed with our class. Neither did I think that gave me any advantage in university. If anything I perfected the skills of coasting through classes with as little effort as possible, did well enough in final exams and landed in university course where I was not prepared for the workload at all. Anyway I'd prefer a school of 150 students to the one of 1000 but when you are comparing 150 to 50 I think there is very little difference. They are both small schools.

Rows Grower · 11-01-2019 12:15pm

meeeeh wrote: »

Frankly I think it more depends how school is run and what teachers are like than the size of the school. I went to primary school with over 1000 students and high school with about 600. There were no rules who we were allowed to socialise with but we mostly stayed with our class. Neither did I think that gave me any advantage in university. If anything I perfected the skills of coasting through classes with as little effort as possible, did well enough in final exams and landed in university course where I was not prepared for the workload at all. Anyway I'd prefer a school of 150 students to the one of 1000 but when you are comparing 150 to 50 I think there is very little difference. They are both small schools.

A lot easier to do in a large school.

abnormalnorman · 20-11-2019 6:18pm

Rows Grower wrote: »

We had the exact same choice to make for our youngest years ago, it was a straight forward decision for us, after visiting the 2 teacher school and meeting the teachers and the pupils we didn't even bother looking at the other one.

The child loved going to school every day (never missed a day, even when we couldn't drive in the bad snow and ice) and would look forward to going back during holidays. It was better than a private education the way it worked out, they learned so many different skills and did so many different workshops and projects outside of the normal curriculum it was incredible.

Maybe we were just lucky with the staff but I can't imagine why anyone would favor a big school over a small one for their kids.

Hi Rows Grower. Sorry, just getting back to this now. So what size school was it - how many pupils? Was there many in your child's class?

wirelessdude01 · 20-11-2019 7:24pm

Personally think both type of schools have their positives. For me I think it's good for the children to be exposed to lots of different teachers as they all have different ways of approaching things. Kids and teachers don't get in a rut having each other for numerous years on the trot.

Rows Grower · 20-11-2019 9:42pm

abnormalnorman wrote: »

Hi Rows Grower. Sorry, just getting back to this now. So what size school was it - how many pupils? Was there many in your child's class?

Ten and a half months I've been sitting at this laptop waiting for you.

The amount of pupils changed from year to year but never went over 16 for the whole school in the six years if I remember correctly, it dropped to a dozen at one stage when there was a lull.

You say that both schools are the same distance but it might be worthwhile checking it exactly.

If you decide to send your child to the smaller school and there isn't a school bus service you might be entitled to a small annual payment to help alleviate transport costs.

abnormalnorman · 18-02-2020 2:21pm

Rows Grower wrote: »

Ten and a half months I've been sitting at this laptop waiting for you.

The amount of pupils changed from year to year but never went over 16 for the whole school in the six years if I remember correctly, it dropped to a dozen at one stage when there was a lull.

You say that both schools are the same distance but it might be worthwhile checking it exactly.

If you decide to send your child to the smaller school and there isn't a school bus service you might be entitled to a small annual payment to help alleviate transport costs.

Sorry, iv only seen your response now, i somehow missed it , and only checked this thread now. So iv kept you waiting again!

thanks , ill look into that. Im still undecided on which school tho, and the clock is ticking!

tscul32 · 25-02-2020 10:53pm

My advice is to visit both and just go with your gut. It all depends on the teachers, principal, and the child themselves.
We moved our two from a 2 class per year to a 6 class per year school and it was the best thing ever. Eldest is now in secondary and there are 20 kids in his year and it is the best thing ever. The size is irrelevant, it's how the school is run and what your child needs that matters. And only you as the parent can make that call.

Tiredandcranky · 31-03-2023 11:15am

I know this is an old thread, but I'd just like to put my own comments here, for anyone grappling with this decision.

We've sent our kids to a 2 teacher school, and we're so happy with it.

We were worried beforehand if they'd have enough people to play with. Honestly, we were overthinking it way too much. All j infants, s infants, 1st, and some of the 2nd class play together. Make believe/chasing games. The middle - older ones organise soccer and basketball games, and all just play together. The oldest boys tend to play penalty kicks and 3 goals in. Boys and girls all mix together, way more than I remember happening in the big (100 ish) primary school I attended. So, as long as there's kids in classes above or below, you needn't worry about having someone to play with.

Advantages that I see are:

More 'natural' for kids to mix outside their own age group. Kind of like playing with the kids on your own street, or playing with cousins etc. Of course older and younger gravitate together, but there is a lot of crossover too, and they gain from that. In our school, they often pair off older and younger kids for things like reading, or playing board games. It's brilliant for older kids who don't have younger siblings and don't know how to interact with younger kids.

Boys and girls mix better. None of this boys v girls nonsense that happened when I was in school.

Less opportunity for bullying. Less bitchy girl, macho boy 'gangs'. Not enough people for a 'gang'! Plus teachers see almost everything that happens, and know the kids really well.

In the classroom, nice for smarter kids to be able to listen in to older classes lessons. Saves a lot on boredom.

For weaker kids, they seem to get loads of one on one time from the resource teachers, but maybe that's the same in every school.

Real sense of a school 'community', but again maybe that's the same everywhere.

Teachers are always under some pressure to keep numbers up, so they try really hard with things like extracurricular activities, to attract new pupils. The number of activities in our school absolutely dwarfs anything on offer in the other local primaries.

I'm sure there's disadvantages. One for us might be how they make the transition to secondary. However, I'm not that worried tbh, because I moved to a new county when I started secondary, and I never had a problem. Most kids seemed to move away from their primary school friends anyway.

Hope this helps someone with their decision! I remember the angst.... and it wasn't worth it :)

trice88 · 15-06-2023 10:37pm

Thanks so much for this response. My little girl had her open day today at a 2 teacher school. There is just 2 starting with her in August. I was a bit worried when I heard this as I had registeredher with another counrty school with larger class numbers, but your reply has honestly put my mind at ease. Thanks again!

mrGoody308 · 12-09-2023 6:38am

I think small primary schools often provide a close-knit, personalized learning environment. Advantages can include more individualized attention from teachers, a sense of community, and potentially closer relationships with classmates. Smaller class sizes can also foster a more focused learning experience.

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