School choices... need help!

jovichick123

Hi all,

Have a question I would appreciate some opinions on We are moving house next week to a new area (well, not exactly new - I grew up there). My DS is due to start school in Sept and I have the forms here to select which schools I would like him to be considered for. My options are as follows:

School 1 (our catchment area) - Not a great ofsted report, problems rasied with teaching issues and attention spans of children. 5 mins walk from our new house.

School 2 (my old primary) - Good ofsted report, noted as very supportive and a healthy environment for pupils. 20 mins walk.

School 3 - Excellent ofsted, grade 1 in almost every category. 30 mins walk.

School 4 - RC school, good ofsted, 15 mins walk.

My instinct is to ignore the school we are in catchment of and go with the other three... what would you guys do?

We are not a religious family, would this be an issue with the RC school? I don't know anyone wo attended an RC school - are they much different to non denominational schools?

Thanks for any advice

S x

3onitsway

We moved to a new area when DD was about to start school.

I had the choice of a RC school with very good ofsted 10 min walk, a bad ofsted school 5 min walk and an excellent ofsted school 15 minute walk.

I applied to all three, and went for a look around and luckily, was offered a place in all three.

We chose the 15 minute walk to the excellent ofsted school.

Although i'm christened a RC and went to RC schools myself, my children aren't so my reasoning for not choosing that school was that in a few years time, the children would be making first holy communion, and mine would be left out.
Also, although it's probably changed now, in my RC primary school, a lot of the teachers were nuns - which has left me mentally scarred :rolleyes:.
Then theres the whole religious brain washing debate - which would cause chaos on here, so I won't go into it!!

Maybe get his name down for schools 2, 3 and 4, visit them then see if you're offered your favorite.


I'd go and look at the three schools, ignoring the bad ofsted one. You might just get a feeling about one of them.

Also, do you know if the schools in question are busy?

In our area, the RC school will take the RC children in the catchment area first, then the RC children out of catchment - then if theres any places left they'll offer to non RC children first in catchment, then out of catchment.

richardw

School 3 sounds the best.

galvanizersbaby

jovichick123 wrote: »

Hi all,

Have a question I would appreciate some opinions on We are moving house next week to a new area (well, not exactly new - I grew up there). My DS is due to start school in Sept and I have the forms here to select which schools I would like him to be considered for. My options are as follows:

School 1 (our catchment area) - Not a great ofsted report, problems rasied with teaching issues and attention spans of children. 5 mins walk from our new house.

School 2 (my old primary) - Good ofsted report, noted as very supportive and a healthy environment for pupils. 20 mins walk.

School 3 - Excellent ofsted, grade 1 in almost every category. 30 mins walk.

School 4 - RC school, good ofsted, 15 mins walk.

My instinct is to ignore the school we are in catchment of and go with the other three... what would you guys do?

We are not a religious family, would this be an issue with the RC school? I don't know anyone wo attended an RC school - are they much different to non denominational schools?

Thanks for any advice

S x

Hello

If I were you I would go for schools 2 and 3 and perhaps put the RC school down as a third choice.

My ex husband is RC and we had our children baptised in case they ever needed to go to a Catholic school (I'm not sure if this is a requirement but I'm guessing so since my ex insisted on it back then)
I do know that there is a big religious element to RC schools and I would be surprised if part of their admissions criteria was not for pupils to be brought up in the catholic faith - so in your case I would think it would be an issue.

If you are really interested in the school then I would suggest giving them a call and going to have a look around.

patchwork_cat

You have to look around the schools and talk to them - is your DS very bright? If so what provision do they make for gifted and talented? Is your son very sporty - do they have a school Football or even Rugby team? What is the PTA like?Is it strong ( could be too strong and cliquey!). I agree that school 1 doesn't seem in the running, but is it in special measures? or new head etc. if so it could see money thrown at it and might improve hand over fist.

RC schools take those that attend their church regularly first - ask them for their admissions policy.

jellyhead

Would you son be able to manage a 30 minute walk after school? Will he be tired? Mine would, but he's a summer birthday so he's only 3.

I'd be tempted by option 2, my 3 year old is going to my old primary school

daveyjp

Have you read the guidance notes? I suggest you do very carefully.

If your authority is like ours you HAVE to put down your nearest school as one of your choices.

If you don't one of the others you choose will be knocked out.

You need to understand how they work out which is nearest - ours is as the crow flies.

You need to find out if the RC school is part of the local authority selection system - some religious schools aren't.

I wouldn't choose any until I'd visited them all.

Lunar_Eclipse

You need to visit the schools and review/understand their admissions policies in addition to your local council's school allocation system.

If you do not want your nearest school, you need to hope your area has an 'equal preference' system for allocating school places. Otherwise you need to evaluate your chances of being accepted at each school and personal view on risk taking when putting down your three schools. Namely considering how likely you are to get into each school and prioritizing accordingly. I think most areas operate equal preference now (meaning all your choices are considered equally), but this only occured a few years ago.

The RC school probably/may have its own system outside of the council's and preference is usually given to baptised Catholics attending the linked church, then baptised Catholics attending any church and lastly non baptised Catholics who live near to the school. From experience I would say that whilst I have heard that RC schools are meant to take 10% non-Catholics, in reality non baptised Catholics have little/no chance of getting into the school if it is any good (which they often are.) And yes, they usually have Christian values at the centre of their education and approach to teaching and personal interaction.

School 3 easily sounds like the best school. But depending on how school places are allocated in your area, you may or not get a place there.

floss2

I agree with Patchworkcat & Daveyjp....

Visit the schools, get a feel for them & see how your child reacts. Speak to staff, other parents, relatives in the area, neighbours, colleagues at work - anyone who could have any information about any of the schools.

Also get hold of their Governor's reports & read them, along with the Education Authority's guidance for applications.

Apart from anything else, you may find that the "best" school for your child isn't necessarily the best-looking on paper (and it may be oversubscribed anyway).

squibbs25

I'll probally get shot down for this, but i would still visit school 1. Sometimes people pay more attention to the OFSTED report than the actual school itself (IYKWIM).
At least if you visit the school you will still get a feel for it.
My sons primary school went 'downhill' for a while due to bad leadership after the Head retired and a 'temp/acting Head' was appointed. As it was only a temp position i feel that the acting head didn't really bother with anything, teachers and children had low morale. Then after nearly a year an Official Headmistress was instated, all i can say is WOW what a difference. The school is a fab little primary. She has been at the school for nearly 3 years. I dont believe for one minute it has been an easy job to turn the school around, she met plenty of opposition from the 'older' members of staff who didn't like the changes she made, to the point that about 5 of the teachers left at the end of her first year. They have been replaced by very stong teachers and as i say, they all work very well together.
The Head has an open door policy, if you have a problem or query then she always happy to help.

The school is now a very different one than the one i went to view all those years ago (ds is leaving in July to go up to secondary school.)

When the school did go downhill i did consider pulling my son out and sending him to another one (approx 20min walk each way) ,i'm so glad we stuck it out and left him there as that would have presented itself with a different set of problems :rolleyes:, also the second school had no where near the facilites that his original one had, i.e swimming pool and free lessons, masive playing fields as well as several playgrounds.

I would go and visit all of the schools and write down how you feel about each one after the visit then you can compare your list, be truthful to list both the good and bad points. Try to visit with an open mind.

Good luck.
Just remember that even if you feel you've chosen the right school in the begining and it turns out not to be, then you can always move your little one accordingly.

Squibbs

squibbs25

floss2 wrote: »

Apart from anything else, you may find that the "best" school for your child isn't necessarily the best-looking on paper (and it may be oversubscribed anyway).[/QUOTE]

I totally agree with this statement, how true.