Would you move house to get your child into a good school's catchment area?

Former_MSE_Andrea

Have you moved house to get your child into a school's catchment area?

Would you?

Let us know in our poll and tell us how much it cost you below.

Alikay

Yes, but I would be inclined to look at other qualities as well as OFSTED reports and GCSE passes to decide whether a particular school is the best one for our child. Certainly I'd move or pay for private education if the local school wasn't what we wanted for him/her.

balletshoes

Can we have a “i might“ option as well?
i,d certainly consider it but it wouldnt necessarily be the reason i ended up moving house.

FBaby

I agree it very much depends on circumstances. In desperation would but only after giving the local school a chance or if I knew there was real issues with pupil behaviour. I certainly wouldn't just on the basis of Ofsted reports.

sweaty_betty

It would depend on what the other options were. If all the schools in the area/catchment were poor (and had a history of being poor with little improvement) then I'd seriously consider it.

Gillyx

Yes I would and am planning on it.

pollypenny

Yes.

Then a year later I was appointed in the same school, which annoyed my two. However, because it was such a good school, with a very big catchment area, there were lots of teachers who had their kids in the school.

I think that is a sign of a good school.

tom9980

I might.

However i would suggest parents think carefully because Ofsted reports and league tables do not tell the whole story, parents should be careful to select an appropriate setting for each individual child.

Example 1: An outstanding school in Wales with 1000 children has a very good reputation. The families older child is very academic and he sailed through the school with no problems with A grades and now attends university studying chemistry. However the younger child was regularly in trouble at the same school because of their mishandling of his abilities and behaviour. It was clear this child had SEN needs however the school failed to listen to parent concerns and indeed complained that the parents were being obstructive with their desire to punish and reprimand him. This recently came to a head and the child now 16 left the school a few months into his final year. 5 Months on he has now been diagnosed with Autism and is doing much much better. While the school is maybe outstanding for most children they are clearly not well equipped to deal with children who have SEN or behavioural issues.

Example 2: A primary school has average results, in some cases very poor ones. The school has 98 children. The area is a good one and most parents are educated professionals, some well off. The last Ofsted report judged the school to be good but recent league tables show the school is slipping and average at best. However one statistic stands out in the reports, the school has nearly 20 children with SEN or statements this places the school among the highest in the country. So is the school failing? are standards falling? the short answer is no, its simply a small sample of children with complex issues who have a barrier to learning. This is backed up by what the parents say about the school, and by a very recent Ofsted inspector who visited just this week who unofficially says its still a good school.

Just to add: If you google "ofsted parent view [name of school]" you can look at parents responses to the Ofsted questionnaire for the past 3 years. Most parents complete this while the school is being inspected.

ibizafan_2

We did this back in 1989 when we moved into the neighbouring county which still has the 11 plus and grammar schools. This was the system I grew up with and I wanted my sons to have the same chance of an excellent education. They both passed the 11 plus and have done very well in life. Of course, they might have achieved the same if we had stayed where we were, but I preferred not to leave it to chance. I never thought twice about moving house to get in the right catchment.

GobbledyGook

I might consider moving to the catchment of a school that had a specific quality - for example if I had a sporty child or a musical child.

However, I'd never move on the basis of an OFSTED report or across the board exam results. The don't give and accurate representation of a school at all in my experience.

Counting_Pennies_2

I have voted yes, we did this when we got married with a view to getting a good school for future children.


It is the best Ofsted school in the area.


However, you need to look in to the selection criteria, is it crow flying, lottery or other type of selection. If crow fly which is what the majority do, check how many times the road of the house you are buying in has not got into the school.


We bought the house, but discovered our road was historically hit and miss most children eventually got in but many haven't.


Also, Ofsted is not everything. Look at the value added score the school has. i.e. the level of ability the children have in the first year, from their assessments through to year 6 (I believe it is in the Ofsted report, or the LEA might have it) If children go in bright and above average for their age and leave at national average you might question what the school did and if it was just naturally bright children and not the input the school had!