Superclassroom with 63 children
Professor warns against teaching in huge groups
IT’S a scene familiar in universities, with rows of students sitting in a semi- circle, laptops at the ready.
But these learners are only aged ten and 11, gathered together in a ‘ super- size’ classroom that can accommodate 63 children.
The lecture theatre-style facility has been built at Broadclyst Community Primary School in Exeter. The headteacher there believes it is an effective way of teaching youngsters. But it has inevitably renewed the debate about class sizes in schools.
Yesterday, one expert warned that the quality of education cannot be maintained in such large classes. Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, said: ‘We are moving towards the style of giant classes found in Far East countries like Singapore, where one teacher can be in charge of up to 100 pupils. Funding cuts and teacher shortages are pushing schools to ever larger class sizes.
‘ Those who say that the quality of education can be maintained in such huge classes are mistaken.
‘In some circumstances this can be made to work but for young children personal attention is vital and they can get lost in large classes.
‘Private schools are so attractive to parents because of their class sizes, which are about 12 or 13 children to a teacher.’
But Broadclyst headteacher Jonathan Bishop said: ‘The design is not due to money issues. Often the children will sub-divide into smaller groups to focus on work assigned to them and they will work outside that classroom where specialist teachers will work with them,
‘A balanced curriculum’
reducing the ratio of teacher to child often to 1:15 or lower.
‘The children receive a broad, balanced and enriched curriculum which delivers outstanding results.’
The Year 6 pupils in the supersize class at the school, rated outstanding by Ofsted, have two full-time teachers and two teaching assistants. Mr Bishop added that, last year, his school achieved ‘ well above the national averages’ for reading, writing and maths.
He also told The Sunday Times: ‘I do not think 30 is a magic number to get better education. It is not class size that dictates the quality of education.’
It is illegal to teach children under seven in classes of more than 30 but there are no rules for older pupils. Last year, more than 559,000 primary pupils were taught in classes averaging more than 30 compared with 501,000 five years earlier.
A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘We have more children in our education system than ever before yet average class sizes have remained stable. At primary level, this is 27.1 pupils, despite an increase of almost 540,000 pupils since 2010. At secondary level, average class size remains only 21.7 pupils.’