Mr and Mrs K's New Journey to a Debt Free Life.

AlexLK

mum2one / HBS: Thanks. Not visited yet, it's this afternoon and Mrs. K. is particularly keen on this school. :eek:

maman

AlexLK wrote: »

maman: Our son will go to school in September 2015, so in only just over a year's time. Therefore, we are more looking for when he starts school in 2015 for currently he is quite settled at the nursery he currently attends. Would he be better moving to one attached to a school?

If we like the school, rated "outstanding", he may go there for nursery to get used to the place but we are looking at this school and another with a potential of sending him to one of these. Furthermore, there is my old prep school and another which is cheaper (but 20 miles away) to consider. I've been told we can send him to wherever we want, even if it is state maintained, so have looked at everywhere within 20 miles of our house.

I do not wish to get into another state / private debate, already had one of those this week with my cousin and her husband - they send their two children to state schools but cannot afford anything else. However, they are both very happy with the education their children have received.

I don't want that debate AGAIN either Alex.;)


If he's happy where he is then that's fine, no need to move him. I just hadn't realised that September 2015 was creeping so close!


You're right that for nursery, he can do his 15 hours anywhere but many nurseries charge top up fees on top of the state funding. I think children come from all over into Reception classes these days as parents choose nursery provision for many reasons (near grandparents, near workplace, open until 6pm, open in school holidays etc) other than nearest to home. When it comes to choosing school though then where you live comes into it, depending on how well subscribed the school is.


Hope the visit goes well, and don't come on here moaning if all the five year olds aren't using fountain pens!:)

AlexLK

maman: Yes, 2015 is not far away at all.

The nursery he currently attends is OK, he enjoys it and has got lots of friends. Last week he came home having written his name, it was not really legible but it was "there". Admittedly, the nursery was chosen because it's in the nearest town so he could get some local friends. We had not considered those friendships being forgotten when they all go off to school.

Does it matter where you live if you can prove the child will be an asset to the school?

No, even I do not expect that and I am fully aware at that age they write in print.

maman

AlexLK wrote: »

Does it matter where you live if you can prove the child will be an asset to the school?

The school will have an admissions policy which might be available on the school's website. Briefly, most are similar: most schools have geographical catchment areas and they take children based on where they live relative to the school, with those living nearest being considered first. There are a few other factors like siblings at the school but they wouldn't apply to LittleK. Provided they have room for all the in-catchment children that apply to go there then they can take out of catchment pupils too. Problems only arise when there aren't enough spaces for the numbers applying. Then the admissions criteria have to be strictly applied. There is a set 'window' for admissions and a set date for informing parents, so you can't 'put his name down' in advance like you can with private schools as it isn't based on first come, first served. You can apply to more than one school.


Why not make a list of questions you want to ask this afternoon?

GeorgieG_2

AlexLK wrote: »

Does it matter where you live if you can prove the child will be an asset to the school?

Preference will be given to children in the catchment area. When we were looking at schools we googled the schools admissions from the previous years and it gave us information on how many applied and how many got in. I would imagine the council's admissions team could give you the same information.

The link below will give you some idea on the admission priority's.

https://www.gov.uk/schools-admissions/admissions-criteria

AlexLK

maman / Georgie: Thank you.

Well, we have visited the school. It was rather eye opening and they had better facilities than I expected. However, I didn't think much to the uniform and it appears they would likely not have a place for our son, nor take into consideration his continuing musical education that could prove an asset to the school in the future. To be honest that was a bit of a disappointment as I think I could have forgiven the uniform.

I would have thought as an "outstanding" school, they would wish to fill it with "outstanding" pupils. Unfortunately, the ones close are not "outstanding".

littlegreenparrot

I'm sorry to hear you were disappointed in the school, it sounded like you had high hopes.

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, being "outstanding" is not about the starting point of the students. It's more about the progress they make while they attend, the ethos, the atmosphere, the planning of lessons, how discipline is maintained, and all kinds of other things.

This http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2009/03/20/ofsteds-lessons-in-what-makes-outstanding-schools/ may explain it better than I can.
You also need to remember that OFSTED often move the goal posts, what's considered outstanding this year may not count next time round - so it may also be worth looking at schools judged "good".

Hope this helps clarify, lgp

AlexLK

littlegreenparrot: Thank you. I was actually fairly impressed.

The two local village schools are rated "good". However, one has only 35-40 pupils at any one given time and the other has even less (around 25). I'm not convinced lots of year groups in the same class is a good idea. One, as I've mentioned before did not measure up to my standards. The other I am yet to see but with 25 pupils and a third of them classed as being entitled to free school meals I'm not convinced it's going to be great. In this case the free school meals thing doesn't really matter as it's a small village with a high proportion of parents who work on the land - it's by no means a "council estate" school.

So far he is on the list to attend my old prep school but there is no way we can afford to send him there without assistance from my parents.

maman

Sorry the visit didn't go as you'd hoped. The selection process for primary schools is largely geographical rather than on potential. There are mixed views on very small schools like the ones closest to you. Most parents love them as they tend to have a great 'family' atmosphere and small classes. In this area many parents drive their children out of the town to attend village schools. It can be a big jump to a large secondary school from there though.


I wouldn't worry over much about mixed age range classes. Whatever type of class LittleK ends up in, any good teacher will be taking all the pupils forward from where they are regardless of age. So the teacher wouldn't teach the same thing to the whole class whether they were all 5 year olds or a mixture of 5-7 year olds. Classes where children are all the same age still have a range of ability and attainment.


What did MrsK think of the school?


And whatever was wrong with the uniform?

dawnybabes

At this age the kids need a polo shirt and sweatshirt. Nothing too expensive so you won't be stressed when they get paint, pens etc on them.

Catchment is normally on distance/siblings first attainment has nothing at all to do with it.

Teachers will differentiate lessons to make sure all children are progressing.