[TinyTeddys]

DS's school has put a spreadsheet in the newsletter with a breakdown of each grade plus class size. In Year 4 there are 3 classes including two with 30 kids. The third class is a composite class of grade 4, 5 & 6 kids (again 30 kids in the class). The remaining grade 5 & 6 kids are ALL in composite classes (5 classes in total and just below 30 kids per class. There is only one other composite class in between K & Year 3.

Why would they do this? Kinda seems like an experiment...

[rbat]

I'd say some of the year 4's might have been extended, classified as gifted etc.

[TinyTeddys]

Fair enough, but why would your make all of year 5 & 6 mixed?

[~Sorceress~]

My DS was at a school that did all of 5/6 in composite classes. Wasn't great or terrible - it really does depend on the teacher. And they're big classes!

[Ireckon]

A lot of schools seem to be doing all composite classes this year - just from talking with friends and reading EB, that is the extent of my research

My kids have 2 classes: infants, and primary. School of 46 here. It works really well for them.

[mumto3princesses]

Our primary school does all of primary composites and they all usually have 30 in each class. We have 3x years 3/4 and 3x years 5/6. They have done a gifted and talented class of years 4/5/6 sometimes too but haven't this year.

They also do composites for infants due to numbers. Depends on the numbers of kids as to what sort of composite they need to do. They will do whatever they need to. So, K/1 or 1/2 and they have also done a 2/3 a few times as well.

[ZombieMum]

Fair enough, but why would your make all of year 5 & 6 mixed?

My kids primary school does this. They are the senior students of the school, and do various senior/leadership type duties during the week. The Grade 6's have already had a year of doing these responsibilities, so are able to guide and assist the Gr 5's. I think it works quite well due to the overlap of students.

[mintpatty]

Often schools will mix two grades together if there have been social issues to space the kids apart. As I'm 99.9% my kids go to the same school as yours (BPS) I can assure you there has been no shortage of b**chiness and social problems from the girls in year 5.

ETA sorry, not all the girls in year 5, just a select few charmers.

This post has been edited by mintpatty: 01/02/2013, 06:32 PM

[Julie3Girls]

Our school does it. The reasons given last year
- gives the teachers more options for spacing out the kids ( we have 3 5/6 classes)
- keeps the kids all equals .. All of the kids get a chance to be in the lower half and learn from the older kids, and all the kids have a chance to be at the top.
- keeps it all equal from a parent point of view, no complaints about why is my child in/not in the composite. (This was hinted out, not said outright)
- social benefits, getting the kids to know the years above and below. Nice to think when my dd goes to high school next year, she will have friends in the year above already there.
- the two year stage curriculum makes it easy to run a composite class's like this.

Our school also tends to do composites for all 3/4 classes as well. This year, we have a 4/5 thrown in the mix as well.

They have been running the 5/6 composites for years, it seems to work well at our school.

[howdo]

I imagine it is to best facilitate the placement of children for optimal learning in including social, emotional and academic reasons while remaining in the confines of the number of teachers which that number of students attracts.

That's pretty much the extent of class placement reasoning.