If you have a child at prep school, how big are the classes?

[lottieandmia]

I was just wondering. At my dc's school the classes are about 8-10 pupils so very small.

[shushpenfold]

ds - 10 (y7), dd1 - 14 (y5) dd2 - 10 (y3)

[LIZS]

At dc they were supposed to be capped at 16 preprep and 20 prep but dc had claases of 21/22 at one stage to accommodate siblings and where someone was due to leave a term or two hence.

[trinity0097]

Where I work we aim for a max of 14-15, although a few sets are 16 if a child joins mid way through a year and needs to be in the larger set! Currently our smallest is 11 and largest is 14.

Personally as a teacher I think that under 10 is too small, about 12 would be my ideal as then you have enough pupils to spark off each other and have smaller groups as necessary. Though anything under 16 makes a huge difference compared to state school class sizes!

[difficultpickle]

Yr 4. Old school 14, new school 22. Old school always has space, new school long waiting list.

[1805]

16 - y3, 18 - y6
single sex schools. Waiting lists at both. dc love their schools.

[Mutteroo]

16-17 at DS old prep but in year 8 split in half for some scholarship/CE subjects & mixed with year 7 for sport.

DD won a scholarship for reception where the class size was 7. We turned it down as we felt the pastoral aspects of such a small class could be detrimental. instead she went to a state infant school with class sizes of 18-24.

[Mutteroo]

Must add DS prep & DD prospective private school were not the same!

[KateShrub]

My dc's school takes in 18 per class in Y1, but by Y6 there are 13.

I'm sure they would like 18 in each class, but obviously people move away and by the time they leave the classes have around the dozen mark.

[Mominatrix]

Yr R: 12 (1 teacher + 1 dedicated TA)
Yr 1-3: 14/15 (1 teacher + 1 shared TA)
New School Yr 4: 16/17

[basildonbond]

dd in Y5, class of 20 - three form entry so 60 in the year group, pretty much exact 50:50 boy/girl split

last year's Y6 was down to about 48 by the time they left the school but I can't see anyone leaving from dd's year at this stage

I wouldn't want the classes to be any smaller - too few social opportunities

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

Yr1 15
Yr5 16

3 classes per year group so there is a big enough group overall to deal with friendship dynamics etc. Class composition mixed each year.

[TomDudgeon]

Ds1 age 9-10. 10 pupils though it may be 11 now

Ds2 age 7-8-9 14pupils

[MarshaBrady]

15

[diabolo]

It has varied between 16 (In years 3 to 7) and has been 11 for years 7+8 (prep). An even split of boys and girls, 2 forms per year group.

[Paddlinglikehell]

Yr2 -16. Yr3 - 21 which is the highest it has been due to an increase in numbers. I know some parents are not happy with it, but I feel it is a good number. 16, IMO felt too small especially when half are boys.

It's all girls in Juniors.

[sicutlilium]

Central London boys' prep Y5 17/18.

[dixiechick1975]

Dd yr 2 17

Juniors tend to be smaller 10 ish (people move for grammar catchment or to get into selective privates that go through to 18)

[Butkin]

Capped at 16 and always been full in DDs year.

[manicinsomniac]

Our forms are capped at 14 for Prep Prep, 16 for Y3/4 and 18 for Y5-8

Sets vary much more. My smallest set is 8 and my largest 18

[Cuttingandsticking]

Year 4 - 18 in class but less for Maths and English and more for Games.

[wordfactory]

DC left now but it was a year of 60, spereated into four classes of 15.

Then sets in all subjects from year 4. The lowest set was small (around five or six pupils ) but no set was allwoed to go above twenty pupils. So five sets generally.

[conorsrockers]

Between 15 and 21. Last school had 8 in each class, 2 in a year group and they couldn't get together good sports teams!!

[poppydoppy]

We have 12 (in year 5) and a mix in year 7 as theyre taught by specialist teachers, but no more than 16 per class.

TBH I feel schools just tell parents what to tech their child nowadays so class sizes dont matter IMO.