Further information Class organisation 2023

In previous years when we have announced the classes, a few parents have been upset. Many of the fears expressed are anticipated by us and I hope that this letter and the accompanying information will hopefully explain and reassure. Some concerns relate to the physical layout of our buildings and others to the organisation of mixed age classes. Please remember that all staff in the school have the interests of the children at heart. We aim to deliver the best education we can to your children.

In an ideal situation we would have an admission number of 30 and between 27 and 30 in every cohort. This would ensure straight year groups. However, we have an admission number of 32 (calculated by the LA based on a formula that considers the size of rooms). We are also governed by class size legislation and Welsh Government funding. This means pupils need to be allocated to classes ensuring that none have no more 30 pupils on the first day of term in September. We are funded per pupil and do not have the luxury of being able to afford an additional class to avoid this situation – we have a projected deficit budget of more than £70,000 for 2024/25 based on the planned staffing levels as it is.

Many schools across the local authority are in a similar position.

There is no way of allocating pupils to 6 classes without setting the classes as we have.

The local authority has produced a guide for parents addressing concerns about mixed age classes which is available on our website and linked here. Mixed aged classes are common practice across the LA and country. During the 15 years I was a teacher, prior to becoming a head, I only taught a straight year group twice – and I taught in four different schools. The only year I have ever known straight year groups in Pontllanfraith was this year, 2022/23.

The following information is shared having reflected on previous complaints and queries.

The fact that mixed age classes were possible was shared with parents in our newsletter on 5/5/23 which has been on the school’s website, as has the school’s Policy for the Placement of Pupils in Mixed Aged Classes. This policy was developed a number of years ago following a period when we had a number of complaints around allocation of children to classes. It is reviewed annually and was updated with Governors for 2023.

Our policy states that all children going into Reception or Years one and two are allocated classes according to their date of birth, with no one girl or boy separated from the rest of the cohort. This year we updated the policy to state that exceptions may be made for children with Additional Learning Needs.

Those moving into years three to six have been consulted according to friendships and parents have been invited to share any concerns with class teachers (i.e. if they want us to consider keeping children together or apart if the opportunity arose). Teachers then allocated children to classes in line with our policy.

Requests to change class allocation will not be considered at this late stage unless there are very unusual and significant circumstances, for example on medical grounds or because of a safeguarding risk assessment.

Formal complaints will only be considered if parents demonstrate that there has been a breach in policy.

Parents who are disappointed by the allocation are invited to submit their concerns in writing to myself and I will share these with the Chair of Governors. These will be considered when the policy is reviewed with Governors next year.

Our separate buildings mean that sometimes we have to split a cohort between classes in different buildings. This tends to be younger children where the classes are allocated according to age. Previous experience tells us that there will always be parents who are unhappy in this scenario. This year there will be a small number of Year 1 children in Dosbarth Coch with Mrs Reeve. Please remember that we are a primary school. One school. If we had one building the room would be less of an issue.

Children from the same cohort will play in the same playground and have the same playtimes. This means that in Miss Rooke’s class there will be a 30 minute period each day (12 – 12:30) when the Year 3 pupils will remain in class for Guided Reading whilst Year 2 pupils go to lunch. Her class will be split between the two playgrounds, with Year 2 children going to the infant playground with all of Reception, Year 1 an Year 2, and Year 3s going to the junior playground, with Years 3,4,5 & 6.

The allocation of teachers to classes is a matter for school management and is not something that I will not (and cannot) justify or debate with individual parents. All teachers are qualified to teach any class within the school. Many members of staff have experience of teaching these year groups before – parents may just not be aware of this as it may have been in other schools or a significant number of years ago. Standards of teaching across the school are consistently good and movement of staff between year groups is good for professional development. Teaching staff work collaboratively and supportively to share expertise and experience.

I am very aware that classes have been announced at the end of term. This has been deliberate and unavoidable with pupil numbers hovering around 180 pupils. We did a draft organisation last week and had to repeat the exercise this week with a completely different organisation as a result of late contact from admissions. If we had announced the classes last week as numbers stood then, we would have caused even more anxiety for children as it needed to be changed. At this point in the term we are confident that there can be no further changes.

In the very last week of term I do not have availability to see a high a number of parents. If you still have questions, please approach you child’s class teacher in the first instance, particularly if you wish to alert us to any worries that you would like addressed. Having spoken to your child's class teacher, if you feel that they have been unable to offer sufficient reassurance, I will have limited availability to meet with parents on Thursday afternoon. If you would like to meet with me, please submit you concerns or questions in advance in writing (email PontllanfraithPrimary@sch.caerphilly.gov.uk). These should be concerns or questions that have not been addressed in the information sheet or the class organisation policy.

Kind regards, Mrs Angela Taylor, Headteacher