to wonder how much of a child's success at primary is down to school.

[ing4]

Ds goes to a primary in a very middle class area. Their results are slighly higher than average although their last ofsted report wasn't great.
Parents appear to be very proactive in helping their dc at home. Readiing books, homework etc.
Many parents have said that the results should be even better.
I am inclined to agree AIBU

[blackeyedsusan]

no. do your children go to the same school as dd?

[EuphemiaMcGonagall]

Primary school children shouldn't be doing tests, IMO.

[Hufflepuzzpig]

I don't have a lot of experience in this area but my overall view is that DCs from homes where education is valued and there is lots of parental input etc will pretty much be fine anywhere, but DCs without any support at home really need a good school to help them. Gross overgeneralisation there though...

[sausagesandmarmelade]

Parental support/input is crucial...and can really help a child reach their full potential.

[flyingspaghettimonster]

I think it is down to many, many factors. My kids' school gets consistently good ratings, that is partly because of the positive attitudes of the staff, partly because it is a fairly affluent area and the parents are highly educated themselves, the kids are generally more intelligent due to being the spawn of two intelligent people and they are given a lot of outside opportunities to thrive as well, like after school classes and tutoring. Then it is also partly down to the kids' own attitude to learning. My daughter's friend hates school, I think entirely because her parents constantly tell her how much they hated it as kids. She has moved school twice as they blame the school for her poor grades, but she is no better at private school either and it is their attitude causing it, the school cannot work miracles.

[BionicEmu]

I suspect that a lot of "good" results are down to parents/private tutoring. I think that more middle-class schools probably have a higher proportion of more educated parents, who are more able to help with homework. I also suspect that these parents are more inclined to complain about things they think the school are doing wrong, or things that they think the school could improve upon, helping to create a "better" school.

However, my experience is that if you have a below-average or average intelligence child, then any school will allow them to fulfill their potential with the right parental support. I feel that children of above-average intelligence (and I truly mean intelligence, not just repeating what they've been told or doing well in tests), are failed by the majority of schools, regardless of parental input.

To go back to the OP, the results are what they are. If the school's results aren't as high compared to the average as you'd like, maybe it's the average that's skewed. Maybe you're lucky to have a school that teaches your children worthwhile lessons rather than just how to pass a test? Maybe your child did brilliantly, but there was a higher than normal proportion of children who did average - or just a couple who totally bombed. Personally, I would be finding out what was flagged up in the Ofsted report rather than worrying about test scores. What does it matter really? They're at primary school - there's a long way to go before exams matter, and I feel children should be told just that.

[northerngirl41]

I tend to view our local school as a very handy and free babysitting service where they have lots of friends and occasionally get taught stuff. I don't rely on them to teach the kids as TBH I never did that well in school and found it a complete waste of time. My dad taught me how to read, and how to do sums, and how to write (which might explain my horrific handwriting!!). But mostly being taught those things at school was a complete trial and I hated every minute of it and it really switched me off from learning. My kids seem to enjoy school, but I'll still step in if there's something they are struggling with or if I think I can make it more fun for them.

On the flipside my friend has a wee boy who is seriously dyslexic and she so believed that the school were doing the right thing with him that it wasn't picked up until he was in 3rd year and had missed out on tons and tons of learning and was labelled naughty and stupid.

Parental involvement has a massive amount to do with it, but also the parents backing up discipline within school has a marked effect on how readily the kids will learn in that environment too.