Choosing a state primary school

JimmyTheWig

Make-it-3 wrote: »

So how many schools would you organise to visit in order to get to a final six choices – 6, 8, 10, more?

It depends on how likely you are to get into the ones that you like.
If you find a school that you really like, that is close to where you live and you are likely to get accepted then there's not much point in spending a lot of time and effort deciding which school to put 5th and 6th on your list when the chances are you will get your first choice.

susancs

For primary schools, it is usually best to look at ones nearest your home and look at their admissions policy criteria to see if you have a chance of getting a place, rather than view schools you may have little chance of your child getting into. For example some schools may have a faith criteria as the top criteria, so if an oversubscribed school unless you have completed a supplementary form signed by a church minister you will probably not get a place. If you are some distance from an oversubscribed school then you will probably not get a place there.

As others have said OFSTED reports are only a snapshot indicator on how the school performed at a certain time and can change quickly, but you can look online to see if there are "parent view" results on the OFSTED site for the schools you are interested in.

You can also look at the Dept Of Education League tables SATS results but bear in mind that some schools overcoach children in year 6 to achieve these and some schools may have more special needs children, so the added measure score showing how the pupils have progressed gives a better indication.

Ask around locally to see how Parents view their children's school.

When visiting on open days, look to see the children's work on the walls, see how children interact with each other and and staff (respectful, purposeful, co-operative, happy). Some schools leave children's books on display, look in those to view teachers marking comments and if children have replied to this. Get information on how many applicants the school had the previous year (so you can judge whether others view it as a good school , if they have for example 6 applicants for every place). If older children are helping with the tours, ask them what they like best about their school. Do they have reward systems in use for good behaviour in classrooms? Do they have an active Parents Association? as this can be a good indicator that the school works well with Parents. Do they have a parents and children's comments/ sugguestion box? Do they have a school council where children can give their views and have them taken into account?

The school probably has a website, which you can look on to view past newsletters to get an idea of issues, celebrations, school trips and events etc. Also look at the school policies online to get an idea of how the school deals with behaviour, homework etc.

Just get as much information as you can and ask to re-vist schools you are interested in again.

honeypop

Make-it-3 wrote: »

So far, I've drawn a circle in a 2 mile radius from our house and got 19 schools on the list - how do I whittle that down without visiting all of them???

Look at data from past few years and see which of those schools you'd have been in the catchment area for. Although it wouldn't be definite for the intake you will be in, it's a rough idea and if you are quite far out every year for one school, chances are you'll not get in this time either. That may cut the number down for you. Visit the ones you have a realistic chance of being offered.

For us, when we viewed the schools it wasn't so much to see if we liked it in order to put in on our application, more so that we'd seen it and knew what it was like if we were allocated that school, as in our area it's rare not to get one of your choices. We went to see 6. We had to put 4 choices, in order of preference, although really we'd have been happy with either. As it was, we were allocated another school completely as we were out of catchment for our four closest schools and the next 3 closest schools didn't have space. We hadn't been to see it, as we truly thought we'd get one of the 6 closest schools, but ended up applying for a space (by transfer) in another school a little bit further away and got it - if I had to drive that distance to school then I would prefer it to be a better school!

Re OFSTED, 2 of our choices were great and in following year completely turned downwards due to change of headteacher/staff. Although they must have been goof at the time of the report, by the time your child will start the school it could be completely different.

notanewuser

I sidnt think children started school until 4 in England.....? From your sig your LO isn't 2.5 yet. Won't she be starting school in Sept 2015?

tomtontom

In making your choices, be realistic about which schools your child might get into. The LEA should be able to tell you which is your catchment school, that is a good starting point. For other schools look at their oversubscription criteria and stats for the past few years. I sit on the appeals panel and it amazes me how many parents list six schools that they have little or no hope of getting into. By the point they realise their closest schools are full and they end up in a mess.

All credit to you for thinking about this now - you'd be surprised how many don't.

tomtontom

notanewuser wrote: »

I sidnt think children started school until 4 in England.....? From your sig your LO isn't 2.5 yet. Won't she be starting school in Sept 2015?

Now is the time to be thinking about 2015. Places have already been allocated for 2014.

daisiegg

notanewuser wrote: »

I sidnt think children started school until 4 in England.....? From your sig your LO isn't 2.5 yet. Won't she be starting school in Sept 2015?

Which is why the OP is talking about open days in autumn this year...

rach_k

You don't have to put down six choices just because you can. We only put down two because I knew we would get into our first choice as it's at the end of our street.

If you go on your council's website, they may give stats about the previous year's intake e.g. how many people put it as first place, how many places were awarded due to siblings, how many due to distance, the furthest distance away somebody lived who got in, how many people went on a waiting list etc. That helped me decide as I quickly saw that LO would definitely get in so it meant I only had to find one back up choice, just in case something weird happened.

For primary, as long as the Ofsted report is decent, I'd not pay it much attention. It's better to get a feel for the school, the kids and teachers, how things are run etc I think. We started going along to the school summer fair and car boot sales which were all open to the public a year before LO started nursery there and have been to everything since she started nursery. It's good to see how the kids and teachers interact outside the classroom, as well as going for a tour when the kids are in lessons.

Janepig

I wouldn't disregard the Ofsted report but I wouldn't use that as the only criteria on which to judge a school. Schools usually get many months notice (or certainly they do in Wales) so they can spruce up the school and get things ship shape ready for the inspectors. We've had a request in work from a school for some of our offenders to go in and paint/decorate sometime in the next few months as they have an Estyn (Welsh version of Ofsted) inspection next March!!! IMO inspections should be done without warning but that's another argument!!

As others have said, a great deal boils down to the head, and of course they can change whilst your child is at the school so a school can easily go from good to bad or vice versa if that should happen.

We pretty much knew that DD/DS would go to the school they attend from the off, in fact we put their names down shortly after they were born (not that it made much difference, just ensures they remind you to apply when the time comes). Luckily we had the inside track as MIL was the Cook there, and DH had spent afew years at the school when he was younger before moving away. Having said that, if it wasn't for the fact that the current headmaster was put in post a year before DD was due to start there then I'd have had serious reservations as I didn't like what I was hearing from MIL about what the then Head was like. DH knew him as he'd taught him when he was younger, but he seemed way too laid back for my liking and the children were quite disrespectful (imo).

I wouldn't necessarily be put off by large schools either - DD/DS's school has around 450 pupils but still has the feel of quite a close knit school community, the headmaster knows the children individually (and parents), and they get alot of opportunities that I feel they wouldn't get in a smaller school. Also, DD is going to comp in September and she'll feel quite at home with the other 60 odd kids from her school who will also be going! I've known friends' children who have been the only one from their small primary to go up to comp and they've been terrified.

Jx

Janepig

notanewuser wrote: »

I sidnt think children started school until 4 in England.....? From your sig your LO isn't 2.5 yet. Won't she be starting school in Sept 2015?

In which case some areas would expect applications to be in by November this year. I know in our neighbouring LEA they do. Ours have to be in by January.

Jx