Can I have some opinions from those of you who have been through the school choice saga before......

We had decided on a Catholic Systemic, but then it turns out the class is going to be some 27 strong, which instinct tells me is not at all ideal for our DS - his super-duper IQ (131) results in a lot of messing about if he's not kept engaged, so a greater proportion of Teacher's attention would work out better for all, I feel.

So we are looking at public schools - where possible, they restrict to 20 kids at Kindy, 22 at Y1, 24 at Y2.

Of course, the PS with the best rep is out-of-zone and full; we are on the waiting list.

Meanwhile, our local PS has 20 kids - in the whole school. In one classroom. This seems very odd to me, and my first reaction is 'no thank you'. I want my sons to have as conventional an upbringing as possible.
But I can see how a high-IQ kid might do well educationally in such a setting - very easy to provide extension work when the higher Years are right there in the same room. Is that a reasonable comment?
But it's a hell of a lifestyle choice to make for him.

So - what do you think?
If it turns out we have the choice of all 3, which would you choose?
If the choice is between the large class-size or the one-room school, what then?

Just curious - but where do you live? It must be a small place if your local school has 20 children in total.

Unfortunately I don't have any advice to offer. I have no experience of your dilemma although I do know that some 1-teacher schools can be excellent. Totally dependent on the teacher, of course.

Well, actually it's a big place in terms of land, but just not many people live here! It's Southern Tablelands, between Sydney and Canberra.

I am a teacher and just very nosey I'm afraid.........how do you know your son's IQ?

If he's Kindy, does that mean he is 4 or 5?

I personally think either setting could work. As you say, there will be built in differentiation in the small school. My own child is in a team taught class - 2 classes together with 2 teachers and 1 TA and they do the majority of lessons together (only arts and PE separate). This means that there are 44-48 children in the 'class' but they all thrive and my daughter is extended as appropriate.

You will have to look at each option carefully, visit the schools, see if your son has a preference. After all, it's his happiness in school that's important.

Weschler testing indicated the IQ. He has just turned 5.

I completely agree about overall happiness, hence my dilemma.

Ho hum.

I realise it would be a WISC, just curious as to what process led him to being tested - it's just unusual I guess to be tested at that age........ told you I was nosey!!

I have a friend who lives in rural NSW, her kids went to a school with very few children who are essentially all taught in one classroom. Academically they have all done very well, but socially not so much. They were/are all very bright and may have achieved just as much in a more standard schooling environment, socially it might have helped them too. I think it's one of those things where you have to look at the individual schools on offer and judge on the basis of that where your child will be happier. Academic education is obviously extremely important but at the same time, you want your child to be well-rounded socially too. I hate big decisions, so I'm glad this time it's not me

We have composite classes here and the system generally works very well as each child effectively has their own learning plan, regardless of age.

I went to a very small school when I was 5 and I still have fond memories. I don't have a clue what my IQ is and I doubt it's massively high however from the few children I've known with high IQ it isn't so much the learning that presents a challenge but other aspects of school and relationships and so forth.

I would think that the benefits of mixing with all ages would be quite beneficial however

.... this is the biggy ....

if the peers are good, this can be excellent in a small environment BUT if the peers are not good, this can be quite detrimental.

For us, this is why we're already planning ahead and we shall send our two boys to PS which will involve boarding when they are in Yr 9 & 10 until they complete their education. Our local school class sizes at this stage are approx 10 - 12 children, per school yr and for us this presents concerns.

If I was in your shoes I'd go with the local, small school for now and review as necessary. Good luck, it's very hard working through the options!

First of all, dont get hung up on his IQ - that can be a monster weight for a kid to bear especially if they choose not to live up to it (I have met that with quite a lot of 'gifted' kids!). Great to hear that he is a bright lad and you have obviously put a great deal of interest and stimulation into his early development. Whichever school you send him to, be sure to keep up the hand, foot and mouth (craft, social responsibility, sport, drama, music) experiences so you end up with a nicely rounded socially competent child

If you have a bright kid then I would be inclined to go with the local school, multi age class because at least the teachers will be in tune with having to teach each child to their ability. As long as the cohort arent no hoper bogans of course - but you are living in the area and obviously dont mind that!!!

There is a good private school at Mittagong/Bowral (sorry, forget its name right now) but perhaps look at that for HS

I sincerely hope it wasnt a WISC, it should have been a WPPSI LOL

Sorry Quoll, I work with the over 7s.........and thanks, have learned there's an even earlier one!!!!

You'll be pleased to hear that I'm not a practising psychologist, just a teacher who works in SEN....would love dearly to do Ed Psych but the hoops seem too many and too expensive as my psych degree is too old.........

I always bang on about the whole child and agree whole heartedly with your post.

No sweat, it's a fairly esoteric bit of knowledge! Go for it - you could look at school counsellor training, not sure if the age of the degree is a huge factor in that. Not sure what NSW is doing to train its SCs these days but they did have a good training program with on the job and residential components out at Charles Sturt from memory.

Ah, see you are in Vic - not much hope then, Kennett slashed the school counselling service to ribbons but you could still do it by correspondence if you felt inclined.

I'd go with the third option. More chance of being pushed and more chance of mixing with a range of kids and more likely to join in the non academic stuff.