Falling pupil numbers have led one school in Brighton to consider teaching two age groups in one class.

Parents of youngsters at Fairlight County Primary in Brighton are worried.

The number on the school roll is falling and not all the teachers due to leave at the end of this term are being replaced.

Instead, proposals outlined in a letter from the governors and head teacher Stephen Merryweather mean that at the start of the new school year pupils in years one and two will be taught in the same class and likewise youngsters in years three and four.

Although this streamline teaching has worked successfully elsewhere, some parents are concerned it will not be in their children's best interests.

Mark Chapman, of Chailey Road, Brighton, has already sent two children to the school in St Leonard's Road and his youngest is currently in the reception class.

He believes the new system will be detrimental.

He said: "We have been extremely pleased with the school and the teaching but cannot see how it is possible for one teacher to give all the attention that children of two school years with different needs deserve.

"The problem is that at the widest point there will be two years between the oldest and youngest pupils in the same class. Year two pupils are sitting SATS while year one pupils have the extra needs of just starting school and being prepared for mainstream schooling."

He said: "The Government promised all this extra money for education but we still find our school being forced to alter the way it is run because of a lack of money."

Mr Merryweather said: "Fairlight Primary School is facing the challenge of working within a smaller budget because there are fewer children in the area and therefore fewer children being admitted. I have had to consider different options in the light of this.

"Mixed age classes have been successful in a number of schools across Brighton and Hove and there has been no evidence of a reduction in quality or achievement."

Staff and governors will answer parents' concerns at a meeting today.

The streamlining of classes at Fairlight is just one example of the difficulties facing all schools when it comes to class sizes.

The problem is exacerbated by the policy of parental choice.

While those schools that are perceived to be doing well are oversubscribed and are forced to have large classes, others which are less popular have empty places.

Frieda Warman-Brown, who has responsibility for education in Brighton and Hove Council's ruling cabinet, said: "People are entitled to choose where they send their children. That in itself can be a frustration for schools we know to be good which are not full.

"Empty places at a school affects the budget (schools receive a grant per capita) and therefore the number of teachers employed."

Ms Warman-Brown said head teachers and governors were often forced to make difficult decisions about their budget, such as whether to spend on classroom teachers to reduce class sizes or extra curricular or specialist teachers like music staff.

She said: "I agree with parents that it is important to keep class sizes down but family groups, where pupils in two years' groups are taught together, can have benefits and has worked in some schools. Older pupils help the younger ones and both groups are more mature as a result."

The Government has made it a statutory obligation for local education authorities to reduce class sizes to 30 pupils at Key Stage 1 (infants) by 2001.

Brighton and Hove Council is already well on the way to achieving this and hopes to have most, if not all, schools on target by September 2000.

According to Liz Lee, a parent governor representative on Brighton and Hove education committee, any parent asked at the school gate what is important about schools will say the number of pupils in a class.

She said: "Parents have a perception their child will be missed in a large class.

"They have also taken in the Government's recommendation that the maximum class should be 30 and they want to see that."

But Debbie Crossingham, head teacher of Elm Grove Primary School in Brighton, said the pupil/ teacher ratio in a school does not take into account other education professionals working in classrooms who are just as valuable a resource.

She said: "We are a popular school and are oversubscribed but while we have the maximum number of pupils per class, except in reception classes, we are very lucky to have trained ancillary staff in each classroom."

These extra adults ensured children were treated as individuals and received appropriate work for their age and ability, which helped them progress and realise their potential.

In recent history falling numbers of pupils aged under 11 has led to mergers of infant and junior schools to create single primary schools, like Carden, Moulsecoomb and Whitehawk in Brighton.

Brighton and Hove Council has an infant and junior school policy that when a head teacher resigns, the governing bodies should discuss the possibility of a merger.

It is currently looking at merging schools in Coldean as well as Knoll Infant School and Goldstone Junior School.

Mrs Lee said: "The only way around the problem of some schools being more popular than others is to make all schools equally good and therefore equally as popular.

The problem is not restricted to primary schools. Government figures show secondary school classes in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove are at their largest in 21 years.

The average class size in Brighton and Hove is now 22.3 pupils while in East Sussex it is 22.1.

Pupils born as part of a baby boom which boosted the numbers in primary school classes in recent years are now hitting secondary school age, putting pressure on places at popular schools like Longhill in Rottingdean.

Its number of places is having to be cut after failing to secure funding for a £1 million building programme.

Meanwhile, East Brighton College of Media Arts, which is in special measures, has dozens.

Ms Warman-Brown said: "What makes schools popular can often change.

"Schools that have been undersubscribed in the last decade could be over-

subscribed in the next decade."