CLASS STRUCTURES FOR 2021

It’s looking like our overall student numbers for 2021 will drop, potentially by as much as 30-35. We have a very large cohort of grade 6s graduating (115) and currently have 80 preps enrolled for 2021, which is down on what we would normally have at this stage of the year. After 10 years of enrolments trending up, the demographics in the Buninyong district suggest numbers will trend down gradually over the coming few years.

This, combined with the fact that our staffing profile is becoming more experienced (which results in being more expensive) means that after a number of years without change (4 straight classes at each year level at Buninyong and 3 full time classes at Scotsburn), some adjustments will need to be made to the class structure for 2021 and beyond.

Our School Improvement Team (SIT) has put considerable time into devising and considering options over the past month, which were discussed at School Council last night. Now we are ready to run those options by everyone and seek feedback before making a decision on a way forward. In previous years, when there is a change on the horizon, we would hold discussions with parents (PLP meetings or Scotsburn gatherings), but we can’t do that in the COVID environment.

Not to worry, I will do my best to outline the options below and then tomorrow you will receive a Compass message containing an invitation to provide feedback via an Insight survey.

Proposal for Scotsburn

At Scotsburn, student numbers are projected to trend down because we have larger groups in grade 4, 5 and 6 that will transition to secondary school over the coming few years. It can be hard to project too far ahead with small campuses, as numbers jump about, but over the next few years we’re likely to see numbers drop from low 50s to around 40. That puts the campus in a situation next year where the numbers aren’t enough to run 3 full time classes, but too high to run 2 full time classes.

For that reason we are proposing something in between, which is what we did successfully a few years ago when the campus was in a similar situation. The proposal has 3 classes running in the mornings, but condensing to 2 classes for 3 afternoons each week (potentially a P-3 and a 4-6, depending on numbers). This will require us to adjust the themes covered across the year, but that can be managed.

Options for Buninyong

At the Buninyong Campus we have run straight year level classes since 2012, with 4 at each year level since 2017. The motivation for running straight classes was to facilitate team planning. That is, a whole year level of students heads off to specialists and the team of year level teachers come together to plan for the following week. Obviously this helps produce high quality planning (4 heads are better than 1) and ensures there is consistency between classes.

We have been able to run this model with an average class size of slightly more than 22, although straight classes limit the opportunity to spread children, leading to large variations between year levels. For example, in 2020 the grade 3 classes have between 20 and 22 and the grade 6s have 26.

For 2021 and most likely the next few years, we need to reduce the number of classrooms from 28 to 26. This is due to the reasons listed in the opening paragraphs.

Typically middle size to large primary schools like ours manage this in 2 ways, those being:

Option 1: Maintaining straight classes, but reducing the number of them - In this instance, we would need to select 2 year levels to reduce from 4 classes to 3. Starting numbers for those year levels in 2021 would be approximately 28, but anywhere between 26 and 30 if we stay with this strategy for the next couple of years. Whilst staying with this model allows us to maintain our planning processes and the routines and rituals for each year level, it does mean some cohorts of children will be part of large classes for 3 or 4 years of their primary school days. It goes without saying that larger classes can pose challenges for staff as well as the students, which is why we have always strived to keep class sizes as low as possible, particularly in the junior school. We would expect that the spread of student achievement in a straight grade is slightly less than for a composite class grouping.

Option 2: Introducing some composite classes – The vast majority of schools use composite class groupings as a means of avoiding any particular classes being too large. For 2021 we could combine 2 or 4 year levels for composites (eg, grade 1/2 classes, grade 3/4 classes or both). We did a bit of research during the week to confirm what we thought was happening in other schools and could only find one not using composites, that being Bacchus Marsh PS, which has close to 1000 students. Most schools had a structure of straight preps, accompanied by composite groups of 1/2, 3/4 and 5/6. There will be a slightly greater spread of student achievement in composite classes when compared to straight classes. The use of composite class grouping over the next few years would enable us to keep classes to manageable sizes, generally between 23 and 25.

As with straight classes, weekly team planning sessions would be facilitated for teachers of composite classes to ensure there is both quality planning and consistency between classes.

Option 3: A combination of the 2 options above - There is nothing stopping us using a combination of the above. One of our options for 2021 is to reduce a selected year level to 3 classes and combine another 2 year levels to form 7 composite classes.

So what does the research say?

In terms of what the research says about the different scenarios being presented today, it is pretty simple. According to the research, smaller class sizes do make a difference when it comes to teacher and student work related conditions. There is little evidence to show that either composite or straight classes are more effective than the other when teaching is focussed on effective teaching practices. We, as a school, are prepared for all scenarios as our focus is centred on building effective planning models and pedagogical practices.

Where to now?

I mentioned above that we have had discussions with the School Improvement Team and School Council and it’s fair to say that preferences are mixed and there are strong opinions on both sides. Now we’d like to hear from you. Please keep an eye out for a Compass notification tomorrow, which will give you the opportunity to share your thoughts. You will have until the close of business on November 3 to submit your feedback.

It will then be up to the principal team to make a decision on a way forward. We will communicate that through the newsletter on November 10.

Whichever way we go, there will be some changes to manage and we encourage parents to get in touch if further clarification is required. We will be using the newsletter throughout the term to answer frequently asked questions relating the class structure for 2021.

SCHOOL PHOTOS

Last week I explained that we had a plan in place to take our own student photos given the ban on external photographers entering schools. Covid safe guidelines were updated during the week, meaning we can get MSP Photography in as per previous years. School photos will be taken on November 19 and 20.

PARENT REQUESTS FOR CLASS PLACEMENT 2021

A reminder that you have until November 9 to let us know if you have significant issues we need to be aware of when allocating your child to a class for 2021. Those messages can be communicated with your child’s teacher or one of the principal team members. See last week’s newsletter for more detail relating to placement requests.

School Photo Day