It's not the size that matters, but what you do with it!

Throughout years 11 and 12, I was in both the smallest and largest classes of our grade. The smallest was French and consisted of 8 girls in a room no bigger than a shoebox. The largest class was Business Studies, at least 28 students (and that was after people dropped out).

Now, when I reflect back on my classes I can't help but think that it's not solely the class size which determines academic performance, but the experience of the teacher and the enthusiasm of the students.

For example, with such a small French class you would think we would each get lots of one on one time with the teacher but no. Being a group of girls, it resulted in talking...Lots of talking. It didn't help that due to cutbacks we had one "NFTF" (not face to face) lesson each week, meaning we would be given work to do but had no help if we required it.

Business studies on the other hand was a completely different environment, our teacher was awesome and would use the class time to discuss each topic and ensure that he covered everything we needed to know for the exams. Despite the teacher's best efforts, many still fell behind due to how large the class was, lack of communication and no one on one time with the teacher.My point is that there are many more factors than the size of a class that determine it's performance. Yes, I believe that small classes in a distraction free environment are important, however I believe that a quality teacher is the most crucial ingredient for the education of students.