How to compare schools in a new area

mouthscradle

We are planning to relocate back up north and as we have a 2 year old, decent primarily schools is high on our priority list when making a shortlist of areas to look at.

But how do we know, without visiting each one somewhat prematurely, which are the best? I know visiting will be important at some stage but when my daughter is closer to starting I imagine.

I know about Ofsted reports, but I'm wary of basing a decision just on those and I think there are probably better and more up to date resources out there that I can use to compare schools. Especially given that some of the Outstanding schools in the city haven't been inspected for over 10 years and could be very different now.

What sorts of things should we be looking for, and which are the best websites to help us? I imagine plenty of people on this board have had to consider schools when moving house so hoping for some advice :beer:

Guest101

have you tried local facebook groups?

ssparks2003

At best you can compare schools now, not 3 years time. But i would look at a combined effort of ofsted report, join local FB pages and ask for feedback

k3lvc

As above a whole load can change in 3 years - particularly with everything the country's going through and the Academy programme.


We did the move north a few years ago and found a reasonable correlation between state/demographic of the area and the school (esp. Secondary).


We took the gamble on closeness to school/feel of community and it's paid off with both kids excelling despite schools only being rated 'good'

bouicca21

The only way to check is to visit but as has already been said, lots can change in 3 years. Schools have a life, they don't necessarily stay the same and it takes a while for their reputations to catch up with the change. Had I listened to my neighbours I would never have sent my two to a particular local primary - but when I visited I found a great head teacher who had been there 2 years and transformed the place. The school that was recommended, oth, was on the way down.

harrys_dad

k3lvc wrote: »

We took the gamble on closeness to school/feel of community and it's paid off with both kids excelling despite schools only being rated 'good'

So "only good" is not enough. Sheesh, you must be one of those mathematical illiterates who thinks every school can be above average. In the same way "satisfactory" was renamed "requires improvement" a few years back. This is a device so the Department for Education can force schools to become Academies. Ofsted reports these days are so data driven and norm referenced that there will always be schools that are "only good", let alone just "satisfactory".

mouthscradle

I agree that it seems very early, but applications for school places in her year's intake will open less than 12 months after we move, so that's why I'm starting to think about it now :eek:

Facebook groups is a good idea, thank you. Will see if I can find any.

A while ago I stumbled on a website where you could compare different metrics for schools like what % of the kids were doing well at different things. And you could see the trend going back several years, not just for a one year snapshot. But I can't remember where I saw it.

k3lvc

harrys_dad wrote: »

So "only good" is not enough. Sheesh, you must be one of those mathematical illiterates who thinks every school can be above average. In the same way "satisfactory" was renamed "requires improvement" a few years back. This is a device so the Department for Education can force schools to become Academies. Ofsted reports these days are so data driven and norm referenced that there will always be schools that are "only good", let alone just "satisfactory".

Thanks for the judgement - we moved from an area in the South East where parents would sell organs/commit fraud to gain entry for little Britney to an outstanding school and were open to anything except 'inadequate' (which was relevant at the time) in the barren wastelands of the North

ReadingTim

I've noticed that properties which fall within the catchment area of a particularly well regarded school tend to mention that fact on their rightmove ads, so by simply searching for family houses in a particular area, you might get a feel for which schools are good.

Failing that, house prices and the general affluence of the area seems to be a good indication, as there are numerous articles on the web about how living near a good school adds £x thousand to the value of your house...they can't all be wrong...

Bonniepurple

As above, go and have a look. On paper (according to Ofsted) my eldest' former school was wonderful- outstanding. I disliked it for various reasons. The school she's at now is in special measures because they focused less on results and more on the whole child. Both my daughters are thriving at the "inadequate" school.

bouicca21

And to the best of my knowledge there is no independent research to verify that Ofsted judgements are either sound or beneficial.