Class Structures

Ellingham VC Primary and Woodton Primary Schools are comprised of mixed age classes throughout the school.

• Composite classes occur where children from two or more year groups or key stages are grouped together. This can mean a class can have children from Year 3 and Year 4 together who are in the same key stage, or Year 2 and Year 3 together which is mixed key stages.
• Schools receive a basic complement of teaching staff in accordance with the total number of pupils on the roll.  No account is taken of the way in which pupils may happen to be distributed across age bands. This means that schools need to constantly evaluate the year group numbers and ensure children are taught in appropriate sized classrooms. Children in Reception and Year 1 and Year 2 must be taught in classes of no more than 30 pupils. Children in Year 3, Year 4, year 5 and Year 6 can be taught in classes greater than 30 pupils.
• As manager of the school it is the head teacher’s responsibility to structure the classes making the most effective use of staffing resources.  This is a fundamental professional responsibility and should ensure that effective use is made of all resources, including staffing formula.  The deployment of staff is also a key indication of the ‘Best Value’ use of available resources.

Current class structures are: