Questions to ask about High School

jackieglasgow

Hi!

Our older boy will be starting high school next year, we are looking at state schools and aone or two private schools, and are still not sure if we can afford a fee paying school (this is the money saving part of the question, kind of).

We will be starting to visit schools this week, and I have an idea of what they provide, and what we think we want for our son. I don't want to start a debate about state vs private, but I would like some ideas of things we should be asking of both? What kind of things do you wish you'd known about your child's school before you sent them, or what have you learned about the school since they've started which might have influenced your choice of school?

Thanks for looking

Jewel_2

Sent my daughter to private - mainly because I had a really bad time at school and I loved the idea of her loving to learn (not saying for one minute you cannot get this from state, or that it can be doubly worse at private if you choose the wrong one).

The one question I asked is "what do you do if they're falling behind". I chose a school without an entrance exam which has mixed ability, rather than an academic one.

My biggest gripe is bullying and I would ask what their policy is - whichever school you choose.

jools27_2

Hi Jackie, Having a daughter who sailed through local state school with excellent academic results and a well-balanced head on her shoulders, and a 15 year old son who's at the same school, is equally as bright, but doesn't appreciate the need to either go to school or do any work so is on track to mess up all his standard grade exams next year, I think you need to balance the educational successes with the others....does the school build vocational and social skills into the curriculum, do they have a good support system in place for their young people and parents, what is their stance on things like bullying? My daughter toyed with the idea of sitting scholarship exams for glasgow high, but decided she wouldn't as her friends were all going to local high school, mind you it turned out she had no primary school pals in her classes in first year so made lots of new friends anyway! It's not an easy decision to make...good luck!

jackieglasgow

Thank you both very much. You're right Jools, its a minefield! I need to look at the schools as individual entities and not think about their league table results, because you aren't comparing apples with apples when you do that with State and Private schools.

Anyone else, feel free to keep 'em coming

whatatwit

Jackie, I think that you know your own child and his capabilities and needs.
When looking for a school for our daughter, then aged 7, we went with the school that we felt would best suit and support her.

We liked the school because work from every child was on display, spelling mistakes and all, rather than just the select few A grade books.

HelenKA_2

Do you have friends with children in any of the prospective schools? Ask them what they think.

In our case the local state HS is good, but we knew that because of our friends whose children were already there. Our second DD has moved up this year and she's loving it there too.


Don't forget that private school isn't just about the fees - there's the whole lifestyle thing to cope with too and we knew there was no way we'd be able to keep up with all that, even if she'd got a scholarship we wouldn't have been able to do the school trips etc and that can be hard on the child when they don't get to go when everyone else is. So in the private schools I'd ask
what are the trips, how often and how much.
Do they have to have (paid extra for) school dinners?
Do you have to purchase the text books every year?
There will probably be a thrift uniform shop but will your son be ok being dressed from there when most other children get their uniform new (- and from what I see the uniform doesn't last that long in terms of quality so if you get from the thrift shop will it already be worn out?)

Our feeder primaries have a great transition programme which also helps to get to know the school, all the children go on the P7 transition programme right up to the three day visit in June by which time you will have made your decision anyway.

Would it be worth asking the primary teacher what their impression of the school is? In P7 both sets of teachers worked quite closely together to ease transition and so they must have an idea.

Best of all do any of your Primary teachers have children in the secondary school? If so it's probably ok.

The other thing is if your children are likely to be good workers then they will likely thrive in any secondary school (I don't mean if they will be top of the class, just is their work ethic good?).

Can I ask, does your primary do 'It's your move'? A programme to help the children with the transition.

Spendless

I'd ask 'how likely is my child getting into this (state) school'?

I don't know if the system is the same in Scotland but here many people think they have a 'choice' when really they are just stating a preference (with no guarantees).

My eldest starts secondary school next year and there's 16 places for non-catchment children (out of over 200 places), possibly 24 places if the HT can get the admissions raised for next year. There's 28 kids in feeder schools not living in catchment-which is the 3rd criteria here. Inbetween are not in catchment with siblings. So if you went and visited my local secondary school with a view to 'choosing' it, if you weren't in catchment, didn't have an older child already attending and your child wasn't at a feeder primary school you would not get in this year as there are unlikely to be enough spaces for all the 1st 3 categories.

jackieglasgow

The school we are in catchement for now, is not the school his primary school is in the catchment area for because we moved but kept him in the same school, and actually I think the catchment area school is my preference on paper, and from talking to other parents. With the private school, the trips and additional expense is something we had definitely considered, and its something which does make me lean away from that option, my son is not a "joiner" and I'm am worried about that side of things, for him. Thanks all, you've raised a few points I hadn't thought about myself, and reinforced a few questions which had already raised doubts in my mind too.

Becles

I think you get a feel for the school once you've been in it. Observe how teachers speak - are they enthusiastic or do they look bored? Watch how pupils behave towards each other and how they speak to adults. One school I loved on paper wasn't that nice in real life as the teachers looked miserable and the pupils had no manners.

Hang around the local area and see how pupils behave going in and out of school. I don't like our local town centre at lunchtime as pupils from a school are allowed out and they cause chaos and mess in the high street. The school I picked and my second choice school both insist that children stay on school premises at lunchtime which I thought was a good idea.

Amanda65

My children have been to a private secondary school and the thing I would have liked to have known in advance is what the average fee increase is per year / term. From eldest DD starting in year 7 to leaving at the end of year 13 the fees had gone up over £1,000 per term :eek: You need to factor this into your calculations.

With regard to 'keeping' up a lifestyle, look at the type of other people who go. At DD's and DS's schools there are obviously the uber-rich (well compared to us ) but the majority are people who, like us, are just working bloody hard to pay for a decent education that they felt their local state school couldn't provide (and I am not bashing all state education here - oh how I wish it had been a viable option).

Don't think you are necessarily paying for better teachers at private school (mine have had some shocking teaching) but what I do think I have paid for are classes where, in the main, the pupils arrive ready to learn and behave in a respectful manner to staff and peers and the discipline levels are very good.

I would say get a feel for each school and see how you think your DS will fit in with the atmosphere and type of pupils you meet and then ask his opinion as well. Good luck x

FBaby

As someone has pointed out already, you need to look for what you think your child needs. We visited two high school recently, both known to be very good, but one much more popular than the other. My daughter is achieving very highly (reached level 5b in english and math at end of year 5), it is therefore important for me that the school she goes to will continue to challenge her as her primary school does. I felt that both school provided good care for very achieving pupils, but the first school seem to take a more protecting approach of children, the other seemed to encourage children to be more autonomous and independent. This fits my daugther's personality much better and so we decided to go with this school rather than the other (more popular). However, if my daughter was a shy and not too secure girl, if I was worried about bullying and wanted to be sure that pastoral care was ultimum, I probably would have chosen the other school. Simiarly, if I felt that the schools would not have supported her academic abilities, I would have seriously considered private school.