Surprising truths about composite classes     011

Composite classes are where children from different grades are combined into one class. The most common combinations are Year 5/6 and Year 3/4 and indeed many children are taught in composites. The proportion of composite classes is approximately one quarter to one third.

The main reason for composite classes is uneven patterns of enrolment. Suppose a school has 56 children in Year 5 and 56 children in Year 6. This would require four teachers for two Year 5 classes and two Year 6 classes, 28 children per class.  But what if there were only 42 children in Year 5 and the same in Year 6.  A composite class would need to be formed so that resultant class arrangement would be one Year 5 class of 28 children, one Year 6 class of 28 children, and one composite class, Year 5/6, with 14 Year 5 children and 14 Year 6 children. It’s a matter of the cost effective utilisation of teachers.

Some parents feel that they would not like their child to be in a composite class. They think the teaching might be somehow scrambled and their child would not be receiving a good education.  The truth is just the opposite. Within a composite class the range of achievement is usually less. In a normal Year 5 class some children might be working at Year 7 level and some children at Year 3 level. Within a composite class the range would be smaller because the children would have been chosen for that composite class.

In a composite class there is a formal separation of year level teaching in the main skill areas of literacy and mathematics. This requires more organisation, more programming and paperwork, and more responsibility and independence on the part of the children. Given the additional complexity and demands of composite class teaching it would make no sense for a principal to choose the least capable teachers to take the composite classes. No, teachers who are chosen to take composite classes are teachers in whom parents can have extra confidence.

If parents find they are still worried there are many articles on the Internet on the subject, and of course they can talk to other parents. There is always the opportunity for parents to visit the school and talk through their worries with the school principal and the teachers.

Composite classes are a very normal experience for children in small rural or outback schools. This type of education can have many advantages and is one reason for the initiative and self responsibility so often found in country children.  If your child has been given the opportunity to be in a composite class, then put up your hand and say, ‘Yes, please!’ The school has demonstrated confidence in your child and in the teacher, and you should too.

All content copyright—Mark Thackray—Australian Educational Services