Despite having one of the largest class sizes in the state, Ms June McDonald, the principal of Essex Heights Primary School, said the real picture was less dramatic. It's based on learning styles, intellectual capacity and social and emotional wellbeing. The Melbourne school had a philosophy of adapting teaching methods to children's capabilities.
Teachers are responsible for teaching children at their own level.
Parents were very supportive of the idea of mixing different age students on the basis of common factors other than age, she said. The mixing allowed the younger pupils to model the behavior of older students, siblings could remain together, and individual talents could be nurtured, she said. It also allowed parents to build a relationship with a class teacher over a few years, she said. She said the school still ran classes where age was the main determinant for children without special needs. The inclusion of children in a multi-age class was entirely negotiated and agreed with the parents' consent, with the child's best interests uppermost, she said.