Choosing a secondary school

quietheart

We will be choosing our son's secondary school later this year.
We're in an area with great primaries but not so great secondaries.
One school has been improving over recent years and that may have been our first choice. The league tables came out today and the A-C pass rate has gone down to 30% (down about 15%).
I know it's not all about league tables but think that's a concern especially as the Head has been helping at another school for most of the year.
Is it reasonable to contact the school and see if there's an explanation?

bettybeaver

My oldest DD is in year 6 and we are currently waiting to hear if she has a place in our chosed secondary school on the 1st March. All I can suggest to you is to make an appointment to visit all the schools in your area so you can get a feel for them. I did this with my OH and completely changed our opinion of the local schools and applied for one that before our visits would not have gotten into our top 3.

A little bit of time spent on this is really worth while for your peace of mind if nothing else.

Good luck and happy hunting.

quietheart

Thanks for that. What time of year did you go, was it just to the Open Days? I'm hoping to get appts with the Senco of each school. My son is statemented so I have to choose the school a year earlier than his peers so don't really have others to compare notes with....

Becles

I would second visiting all the schools. I was really keen on one but I didn't like it at all once I had a look around.

We just visited on open nights, but there were opportunities for ringing the school and having a private tour during the school day. That might be better to be honest as you'll see what it's like when school is working, not on presentation for open nights.

elektra-2007

If your son has a stament, why dont you look at another route, i.e look for schools that specialist in his special needs, some schools specialise in ADHD , ASPERGERS, AUTISM ect, then if they are in your county check with your council there should be a provision to provide transport to the school. Just a thought, It maybe there better suited to your son and have better results, But id defo go and look around a school on a normal working day, get a feel for it, see what the children behave like and facilities availible.

bettybeaver

quietheart, I visited outside the usual open days as I wanted to see the schools in action as they really are and not when they are all spruced up. We found it simple to arrange as all it took was a phone call to each school and I asked if they could arrange an appointment for me to view as a prospective parent.

quietheart

elektra-2007 wrote: »

If your son has a stament, why dont you look at another route, i.e look for schools that specialist in his special needs, some schools specialise in ADHD , ASPERGERS, AUTISM ect, then if they are in your county check with your council there should be a provision to provide transport to the school. Just a thought, It maybe there better suited to your son and have better results, But id defo go and look around a school on a normal working day, get a feel for it, see what the children behave like and facilities availible.

Thanks, he's not actually 'needy' enough. Doing well at school etc, when he was statemented he was 3-4 with major communication problems that he's overcome pretty much so a mainstream school would be more suitable for his needs.
And open evenings don't appeal to me at all I want a feel for the school as my son will see it not when it's on show.
Cheers.

chloe99_2

With regard to sats/gcses, please bear in mind that this are very much in part a reflection of the school catchment/intake and not necessarily the teaching standards.

Please dont take these figures at face value, it is utterly ridiculous that the public has been led to believe that these performance figs tell you how good a school is.

You need to understand more sbout the ability level of the children when they enter the school, and their predicted outcomes and thus the "value added" score for the school. the head techer will almost certainly be pleased to help you with this, especially if they are an effective school with poor catchment and thus poorer outcomes.

Secondly consider how yr child would fit into that picture, an average or average minus child may well do better in a school which has poor catchment and poorer looking outcomes (since the teaching could be fab and the children are outperforming against expectations) that they would in a "better" school.

A private visit like others have said is also an absolute must.

faithcecilia

My brothers senior school had 'poor' exam results. However their school motto - the best that I can be - said a lot. He got a place there as a frustrated, angry 13yr old, having been home educated for 2 terms after being expelled from another school. The school that expelled him was the local special needs school, but they had absolutely no understanding of a child with ADD, tourettes and dyslexia! His second school were fantastic and really did help him to be the best he could be - even beating my RS GCSE result, which he never lets me forget:rolleyes:

quietheart

The school is question used to be shocking it was the place where kids got sent if they hadn't applied for a place, just leftover kids really. They got a new head 5 yrs ago and starting improving. The LA changed admission rules for the city so local kids had to go to local schools so the intake now is very good. That's why I don't understand the 15% drop in results, I'm not normally bothered by results, DH is a teacher so i know it's not the most important thing. Will have to go and see what we think for ourselves - thanks again.

Spendless

Is it worth asking how likely you are to get a place? I ask cos I live in the catchment area to a sought after secondary. I moved into the area before my son was 2 for this reason and thankfully the school hasn't gone downhill since. My son's year (yr 5) is full in all the feeder Primarys (millennium babies!). As it's a sought after school (whilst not THE best), I can't see many if any parents choosing a different one when the time comes to apply. That means most if not all places will go to catchment area/in feeder schools/with older siblings there. A few will get thru on the first selections which is statment of special need with school named and 'looked after by the LA' children.

Sorry not a go at the OP, but it does make me cross that parents are fed a line that they can choose, when the reality is that they might get in somewhere of their choice IF there's any spare places left.