What do you look for in a school?

nickyhutch

daska wrote: »

I did 7 years of cold lunches with the same menu every day. IMHO it was quite a problem because the food was so boring that the kids skipped lunch and filled up on whatever they could get hold of. So, instead of a nutritionally adequate but boring lunch we ate lots of crisps and sweets.

I see your point, but the answer to that problem is to provied a varied menu of lunches. I wasn't saying packed lunches are better than hot school meals, only that I wouldn't use it as an issue to choose a school over.

daska

nickyhutch wrote: »

I see your point, but the answer to that problem is to provied a varied menu of lunches. I wasn't saying packed lunches are better than hot school meals, only that I wouldn't use it as an issue to choose a school over.

I wasn't talking about packed lunches but about cold lunches / monotonous menu. A lot of the private schools I've come into contact with don't allow a packed lunch option.

melb

How old is your child at the moment? I find reading your posts quite sad I'm afraid to say. how much pressure you will be putting on your child to achieve having put so much effort into finding just the right school? What I looked for was a school that was recommended by a neighbour which was the second closest to our home. The teachers were warm and friendly - the children were well behaved and working quietly in the classrooms and one morning a week they have a "family assembly" where parents. siblings. friends can come and join in celebrating a child's achievements of maybe getting a certificate for swimming a length or a ballet award and then all singing happy birthday if one of the children was celebrating a birthday. This is an innercity school with none of the extras you would find in a private school but the kids can do violin flute rugby football netball gardening they all get taught to swim in year 3 at the local pool. All i'm trying to say is please don't get too hung up about it. If your child is happy they will achieve their full potential - it is only primary school after all. Oh and a couple of years after my first started there it was top school in leeds according to ofsted.

Becles

I think you just get a feel for a good school.

Mine have been in Catholic primary school, but we are not Catholic so there was no guarantee that we would get into the Catholic secondary school. The Catholic secondary is one of the best in the area for exam results and they do so much out of school stuff, including sports, music, Duke of Edinburgh and so on. My middle one is very keen on doing rowing after seeing friends from last years intake rowing on the river in Durham. It felt really caring and was well organised when we looked around, and the pupils were well mannered.

As we were not guarateed a place, we went and looked round all the other schools. The nearest catchment area school was awful. They don't do any extra activities, and everyone looked miserable and bored.

Out of the other two, I liked one better than the other on paper. However when we got there, it was really badly organised. For the head's speech, they didn't have enough chairs out so some parents were standing round the back and in the aisles, the projector kept breaking down, the head seemed distracted and lost his train of thought a couple of times. Then we went on the tour, which again was chaos. There were supposed to be pupils showing you around, but they were just running up and down the corridors shoving parents out the way and yelling at each other. It went right down in my estimation.

I wasn't too keen on the other school as it's website wasn't very good and I didn't really know what to expect. However when I got there, they were lovely. The pupils were well behaved and there was loads going on after school. The headmaster's speech was good and they sent you out in small groups with a pupil and you moved round in a certain order, so there were no bottle necks. Had we not got into the Catholic school, I would have been really happy if my boys went to this school.

Milky_Mocha

melb wrote: »

How old is your child at the moment? I find reading your posts quite sad I'm afraid to say. how much pressure you will be putting on your child to achieve having put so much effort into finding just the right school? What I looked for was a school that was recommended by a neighbour which was the second closest to our home. The teachers were warm and friendly - the children were well behaved and working quietly in the classrooms and one morning a week they have a "family assembly" where parents. siblings. friends can come and join in celebrating a child's achievements of maybe getting a certificate for swimming a length or a ballet award and then all singing happy birthday if one of the children was celebrating a birthday. This is an innercity school with none of the extras you would find in a private school but the kids can do violin flute rugby football netball gardening they all get taught to swim in year 3 at the local pool. All i'm trying to say is please don't get too hung up about it. If your child is happy they will achieve their full potential - it is only primary school after all. Oh and a couple of years after my first started there it was top school in leeds according to ofsted.

Not sure if the question is directed at me or not but my child is almost four. Are you saying it is a bad thing to put effort into finding the right school for my child??? Having asked that, I realise that you have done the same, ie. found a school which your child is happy in, has loads of extra-curriculars, etc etc. How was your quest different and how do you conclude that I'll be putting too much pressure on my child to succeed? Also I'm not sure what 'extras' you refer to as your child's school appears to be doing great! You may be referring to the 11+? Is that the element that your child's school does not offer? Its an interesting point you make, if so. I'll explain:

I believe that when a child goes to a school where only a small percentage excel, or in the case of my search, succeed in gaining a grammar school place, that is where a parent is likely to pressurise out of determination for their child to be one of the chosen few - weekend extra classes, extra focus on academics at the expense of extra-curricular activities become more likely.

However, in a school where children are encouraged through praise from the start, i.e reception, children are taught to be imaginative and innovative and in an atmosphere where most if not all children excel consistently such that it becomes 'normal' and 'effortless' to be bright, where each child believes he can grow up to be a teacher, a doctor, a CEO of a multinational corporation or a traffic warden - whatever he chooses - "pressure" may not be as strong as you think. What I'm trying to do is put my child in an environment where this scenario exists.

I don't believe a child can achieve his/her full potential wherever they study. I never underestimate the power of peer pressure and I actually believe that the earlier education (primary) shapes a child's attitude to learning more than the secondary education.

The above are simply my opinion though and are not necessarily right or wrong. I just thought I'd explain the thinking behind my actions.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your posts. Like I mentioned earlier it has opened my eyes to some other aspects and opinions.

bylromarha

Milky_Mocha wrote: »

However, in a school where children are encouraged through praise from the start, i.e reception, children are taught to be imaginative and innovative and in an atmosphere where most if not all children excel consistently such that it becomes 'normal' and 'effortless' to be bright, where each child believes he can grow up to be a teacher, a doctor, a CEO of a multinational corporation or a traffic warden - whatever he chooses - "pressure" may not be as strong as you think. What I'm trying to do is put my child in an environment where this scenario exists.

I don't believe a child can achieve his/her full potential wherever they study. I never underestimate the power of peer pressure and I actually believe that the earlier education (primary) shapes a child's attitude to learning more than the secondary education.

Talking as a Reception teacher, a praise filled classroom is sadly not the case to every child excelling. Home attitudes do far more to influence a child than school in the early years and peer pressure in the later junior years.

It sounds like you want the best for yours, and know the value of praise in leaning, so I'm sure the school you choose will be the best one for your littlie as their home life will spill over into their academic life.

All the best.

daska

Milky_Mocha wrote: »

Not sure if the question is directed at me or not but my child is almost four. Are you saying it is a bad thing to put effort into finding the right school for my child??? Having asked that, I realise that you have done the same, ie. found a school which your child is happy in, has loads of extra-curriculars, etc etc. How was your quest different and how do you conclude that I'll be putting too much pressure on my child to succeed? Also I'm not sure what 'extras' you refer to as your child's school appears to be doing great! You may be referring to the 11+? Is that the element that your child's school does not offer? Its an interesting point you make, if so. I'll explain:

I believe that when a child goes to a school where only a small percentage excel, or in the case of my search, succeed in gaining a grammar school place, that is where a parent is likely to pressurise out of determination for their child to be one of the chosen few - weekend extra classes, extra focus on academics at the expense of extra-curricular activities become more likely.

However, in a school where children are encouraged through praise from the start, i.e reception, children are taught to be imaginative and innovative and in an atmosphere where most if not all children excel consistently such that it becomes 'normal' and 'effortless' to be bright, where each child believes he can grow up to be a teacher, a doctor, a CEO of a multinational corporation or a traffic warden - whatever he chooses - "pressure" may not be as strong as you think. What I'm trying to do is put my child in an environment where this scenario exists.

I don't believe a child can achieve his/her full potential wherever they study. I never underestimate the power of peer pressure and I actually believe that the earlier education (primary) shapes a child's attitude to learning more than the secondary education.

The above are simply my opinion though and are not necessarily right or wrong. I just thought I'd explain the thinking behind my actions.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your posts. Like I mentioned earlier it has opened my eyes to some other aspects and opinions.

A talented, well motivated child can excel whatever situation they end up in but they'll probably do better in a school where aspirations are higher. Higher attendance, better behaviour, selection, better facilities, less stressed teachers, an expectation that most children will go to university, parental contributions... all these help to influence the eventual outcome. So look at the schools where the parents are better educated and the expectations are higher and you will find that the outcomes are better than one where the children only stay on until 16 because they're not legally allowed to leave earlier. Sad but true, all schools are not equal.

Fizog

I think you must be prepared to finance your child's entire school career if you start in the Private sector...your little one will have to sit an entrance even at 4 and you may not get the school of choice even if you are paying....Private does not equate success with the grammer (a good punt but not a guaranteed place) few schools adhere to the pre 1970's habit of standing for adults as they enter a room...though manners maketh the man...
I wish you all the luck in finding the right school ...it is very difficult but your research is very thorough and this time next year everything wwill have fallen into place.

patchwork_cat

As for the Grammar school entry - you are automatically ruling out state primaries as they will not coach your child to pass the entrance, however the local Prep. will. You can always pay for a tutor if you feel that your child needs coaching to gain entry to Grammar. You may rather not say, but what part of the country are you in?

The only thing that concerns me is that no amount of check lists or looking around is actually going to make sure that it is right for your child. You look around for half an hour and what do you actually know about the school or individual teachers or other children, their year 1 teacher might be an absolute dragon and you may not meet her until year 1! (bitter experience!!) Also standing up when an adult enters the room does not make a good school!

I spent the whole of my educational career in private education and my children's in state. My DH went all the way through state education and he has better results than me , but I can sew a mean pair of curtains, speak Latin and know which fork to use!

Milky_Mocha

patchwork_cat wrote: »

As for the Grammar school entry - you are automatically ruling out state primaries as they will not coach your child to pass the entrance, however the local Prep. will. You can always pay for a tutor if you feel that your child needs coaching to gain entry to Grammar. You may rather not say, but what part of the country are you in?

The only thing that concerns me is that no amount of check lists or looking around is actually going to make sure that it is right for your child. You look around for half an hour and what do you actually know about the school or individual teachers or other children, their year 1 teacher might be an absolute dragon and you may not meet her until year 1! (bitter experience!!) Also standing up when an adult enters the room does not make a good school!

I spent the whole of my educational career in private education and my children's in state. My DH went all the way through state education and he has better results than me , but I can sew a mean pair of curtains, speak Latin and know which fork to use!

Patchwork cat (love the name!) I'm in Essex and the state schools are very good though i agree with you because even the top ones have a much lower outtake of pupils into grammar or private secondary compared to the prep schools. In a particular prep school I looked at, in a typical year, 14 out of 18 year six pupils gained a place in grammar school and two pupils gained scholarships into Brentwood Sch and St Johns (both private secondaries).

On your second point my hubby said the same: we can never know everything but we can only do our best.