would SATS results influence your choice of primary school ?

peachyprice

grey_lady wrote: »

Hhmm - quality of teaching / education and good exam results are fairly significant to me.

The two don't necessarily go hand in hand.

GobbledyGook

peachyprice wrote: »

The two don't necessarily go hand in hand.

Often they can actually be poles apart.

kingfisherblue

I chose a primary school for my sons because of its suitability for my older child's special needs. I didn't even think about SATS results or Ofsted reports. The teachers, on the whole, were good, with a couple that I would deem excellent. However, in year 6, the children were 'taught to test' and spent months going over old test papers. They also had booster classes at 8am twice a week.

My older child was not entered for the SATS because of his learning disability - his very low grade, had he been entered, would definitely have brought down the overall score for the school! He is now at a special school.

My older son was entered for the SATS and received very good results - level 5s. However, although he is reasonably bright, when he went into year 7 and they tested him, his scores were lower. Quite a few parents had a bit of a shock when this happened to their children, but I was aware that his primary school taught to test, so it wasn't a big surprise. I'm delighted to say that now, at the end of year 7, he has filled the gaps in his knowledge that his secondary school expected him to have. His report this week was excellent, with above average scores in all subjects except PE (which he really dislikes).

FBaby

We didn't get a place at our local senior school for my son because of many kids from out of area having gained a place to the local infant schools to get priority to the local senior school because of the poor results of their local senior school. As a result, coming in the area at a later date, my son only got a place at the other school with poor results (the school was put under remedial measures). Well I am so fortunate it happened this way (although clearly didn't see it at the time!!!). As a result of the poor ofsted report, the school got a lot of support, the Head was sacked, a new Head was appointed, who was known to have turned around the worse high school area into the most popular one and sure enough, the SATS resuts have gone up significantly, from an average of 70% in the previous 3 years to 86% ane 88% this year. I liked the school the moment I visited it and have been absolutely delighted with every aspect of school life. I couldn't praise the school any more. Funilly enough, this year, they got much better result than the local very popular school...

Similarly, we chose for my DD a secondary school with good SATS results, but not as high as another one in our catchment area she would definitely have had a place to. I have also been very pleased with this school this year.

duchy

We moved home unexpectedly and my son was due to start primary school three months later.

We were moving to my hometown and I believed we were in the catchment area for my old primary school that was and is excellent. We didn't get a place there and were offered a school almost two miles away which involved a bus each way and was a bit rough round the edges. The only other option was a CoE primary within walking distance of our home-I assumed that as non churchgoers we had no chance. What I didn't know was the CoE school had just had a dreadful OFSTED report and the longtime head had gone on "sick leave".

I rang the school in July on the off chance of a cancellation -and was offered a place (some parents had changed their minds in the light of the report). The school appointed a wonderful new head and from day one the whole experience was fantastic -my son whilst academically bright was diagnosed with Aspergers -the school found extra resources, training for staff and generally did everything they could to make sure he was a success. This year he's off to uni , most of his classmates are at highly ranked universities including Cambridge -Had I taken notice of the OFSTED report in isolation -we'd have missed out . These reports have their uses but ultimately a school is as good as the head and heads come and go.

FBaby

I have been quite amazed at the influence of Heads on overall performance of a school. As stated before, one of our local secondary school (CoE) was known to be the bad school of the town. It is in one of the worse area. It is the ONE school noone would have wanted their kids to go to, then about 5 years ago, they changed Heads, and within 3 years it was transformed, and in the past two years, came top of schools in our area. People in the next town, 30 minutes away are now suddenly finding faith so their kids can attend that school!!!

The assistant Head is now the Head of my son's school (which was never bad, but had a dip under the hospice of one Head), and again, the school as picked up to this year getting better SATS result than the other local senior school which got a OFSTED report of 1.

I don't underestimate the importance of a good Head, but this is so drastic. On the positive, it is great to see that it is not down to the pupils or the geographical area alone.

dizziblonde

Nope - I worked in one of the schools that got into the "most improved" top lists - they did it by pressure cooking for the entirity of Y6, and by looking at kids coming out of reception and deciding to target/write off based upon their predicted grades then.

Outstanding SATs results - but god help you if your child was a late bloomer or a slow and steady plodder - they weren't interested at all then unless you'd had the level 4 or 5 label whacked on you at the age of 4 or 5.

I think behaviour within the class has a far far bigger influence - and if I end up with this lil one in a situation where it's one or two kids having the entire class revolve around them and their behaviour - I'll be taking her out to home-ed her in a heartbeat (our local secondary is excellent - only heard bad things about our very local primary, one further away is excellent - I know this from working there in the past - but out of catchment so no guarantee we'd get in, would depend on how the numbers have changed, they turn over quite quickly as lots of kids going there are army familes who move around so fingers crossed!) Thankfully I know fairly well most of the ins and outs of the schools around here - I've either supplied in them, or tutored kids from them, or heard on the grapevine at other schools about the ins and outs of 'em.

As for the impact of heads - if my old boss came out of retirement and took on a headship anywhere in the county - I'd be moving heaven and earth to get my kids into that school, I have that much confidence in that woman in terms of how she'll move heaven and earth to help a child, and her tenacity and refusal to give up on any of 'em... sadly she's living the life of riley as a lady of leisure!

patchwork_cat

I think it depends on your children. If you have academic children who are led by their peers then yes, SATS results are important. SATS do not only reflect the quality if teaching, but also the demographic of the area the school is in to a greater or lesser extent.

When it comes to secondary school you need to look beyond the headline IMO. If you have a very bright child you need to look at how many a and a* the school acheives. Some schools on paper acheive more of the 5 a to c and so if you have a moderately able child then they will be a better school, but then don't look after their more able pupils as well. SO when it comes to secondary looking at the breakdown of results per subject is essential.

If you have a feeder system then tbh you should also be bearing in mind secondary schools when selecting the primary - hard I know when at 4 you don't have any idea on the strenghts and weaknesses of your child.

Not to be overlooked is which primary do the rest of your road go to? It is important for children to have friends nearby.

mygirllollypop

I was concerned about the two locals schools because of the type of children that went, more the parents really... and the low ofsted inspections and exam results. So opted for a school furthur away, whilst I dont regret the decision completley I am quite concerned upon meeting the head who is very negative and really doesn't seem to like her job.

Lunar_Eclipse

patchwork_cat wrote: »

I think it depends on your children. If you have academic children who are led by their peers then yes, SATS results are important. SATS do not only reflect the quality if teaching, but also the demographic of the area the school is in to a greater or lesser extent.

When it comes to secondary school you need to look beyond the headline IMO. If you have a very bright child you need to look at how many a and a* the school acheives. Some schools on paper acheive more of the 5 a to c and so if you have a moderately able child then they will be a better school, but then don't look after their more able pupils as well. SO when it comes to secondary looking at the breakdown of results per subject is essential.

If you have a feeder system then tbh you should also be bearing in mind secondary schools when selecting the primary - hard I know when at 4 you don't have any idea on the strenghts and weaknesses of your child.

Not to be overlooked is which primary do the rest of your road go to? It is important for children to have friends nearby.

I agree with a lot of this.

I have bright kids, so wanted a school where the majority of kids achieved level 5 in Y6 (rightly or wrongly implying that the overall teaching level in the classroom was above average and probably at a faster pace, reducing boredom.) Our school currently offers level 6 in Maths & English which a significant minority of children achieve & more importantly are taught to that level.

I agree with others about over inflation of SATS results and I'm not in the slightest bit interested in hot housing or SATS themselves actually, I just want my children in an environment where they are not being 'held back' and being realistic, teachers have to teach at a level suitable to the whole/majority of the class (unless you're in the private sector where this is usually not the case.) I think kids are capable of far much more than our schools generally expect.