Choosing a primary school - what do you look for?

[Tamba]

We are choosing a primary/infant school for our ds1 who will be 4 in May (personally i think hes too young to start school at 4 and want to leave him another year but thats a whole new thread )

There are quite a few schools with in our local area within a mile or so, but how do you know which is best and what do you value in a school?

I have looked through the ofstead reports of the schools and i dont really understand them to be honest.

Im totally lost as to where to send him - im doing the whole 'its not good enough for my boy' thing

these are local schools

how do i know which is the best one? (we have to rule out CofE or Catholic ones as i dont think we go to church enough)

Help!!!!

[smorg]

Hi Tamba, my kids are 2 so i've not got that problem yet! If you think 4 is too young to start school, have you thought about home schooling? even if it's for a year. You'll be suprised how many do this now!

Is DS1 in pre school or nursery? He may want to follow some of his friends? With regards to the Cof E and Catholic thing, i don't think they are strict on that. Will speak to my 3 SILs who are all teachers and see if i can give you any more pointers!

[Tamba]

He goes to a private nursery whilst i am at college 2 days a week. and i would keep him there another year if Dh would agree to it (i keep showing him reports that say it is benifical for children to start school at 5 rather than 4 but he wont listen :::sigh:: I wasnt thinking of home schooling, more no schooling for that year other than his days at nursery

Are religious schools more religious than others (sorry thats a dumb question!) we are not an overly religious family, and although the children have been christened they dont regually go to church. Thanks for asking you Sils

I just phoned a couple of schools, the first receptionist was nice and i asked her about her personal views of the school and whether she would send her child there! shes invited me to go into the school to meet the head and look around The other school i phoned, the secretary was going 'errr emmm i dunno' hmmm maybe not there then!!

[Bozza]

it depends on your priorities. First thing I would do is go on the Ofsted website and read the reports. Then you can rule out any that are seriously dodgy. Ask around for word of mouth. Also try and ascertain which ones you are in the catchment for - might not be all of them. Try and narrow it down to to a few (can't believe there are so many) and then arrange to go and look round the school.

For me one of the important things was for DS to be able to walk to school, go to a CM with local kids and be with his friends. The school in the village is maybe 0.2 mile from here and the school in the next village (but they run into each other) is maybe 1.0 miles. Other than that you are talking a car journey. So I checked out the Ofsted for the local two schools - both seemed OK and then arranged to visit the nearest one. We had a chat with the Head and a tour of the school and we were happy with it so thats where he goes.

[smorg]

thats a good idea, visiting the scools to get a feel of things . I know that most , if not all, Catholic schools do the holy communion thing. I too am not v religious myself, but DS and DD christened Catholics.

[Bozza]

Depends on the situation. The school in the next village is CofE but as it is the only school in that village most of the local children go there irrespective of religion.

On the other topic I did feel my DS was getting bored by day nursery by the time he got to 4.5. But then OTOH he struggled with school for the first half term and is only just starting to manage better now.

[dexter]

Tamba, you have asked my questions! I have a son who was august born so will be just 4 yrs 1 month when he starts! I have been agonising about this as I do feel it's too young. However, I have found from the LEA that basically if you keep them back a year, they don't start at 5 in a reception class - they go to join the yr 1, the previous year's reception class; therefore you are faced with the situation of your child walking into a class of children who have already been an established group for a year.

Don't want to do that to him!!

On choosing schools, my opinion (formed by some difficulties I've had in my son's nursery) is that ofsted reports and suchlike are not written from YOUR child's point of view! Just decide what your child really needs (ie, firm boundaries? time to free play? teacher-led activities? more independence?) and then visit the schools with this in your mind. eg, if you feel your child needs big chunks of time when he can just play imaginitively without being teacher led, then check out whether this sort of time has any place in the school day. Is this making any sense whatsoever? Sorry to blather on but I'm so interested in this!

[sunnydelight]

DS1 is August born so I faced a similar dilema, but eventually succumbed to the pressure to send him to school with everyone else. As dexter has said if you hold your child back they will start in year 1, not reception. I recently had this argument with my LEA when year 7 turned into a disaster for the same child (assaulted by a teacher) and he ended up moving schools. I argued that because of all that had happened year 7 was a write off and I would like him to have a fresh start at the new school in year 7 the next academic year (I was going to keep him home and home ed him for a few months) but was told that there was absolutely no way the LEA would place a child in any class other than the "correct" class for his age!!! I think the system sucks to be honest, as parents we know what is best for our children but we're not allowed to act on it. If I had to do it again though I think I would have kept him at nursery for the extra year - I strongly feel that he has spent his whole school life playing "catch up", though DH's birthday is 31st August and he swears that always being the youngest was great.

[karen23]

I didn't have any choice of school for my dd it was either the one she's in or get her christened against her grans beliefs.

My dd was 3 in the july and started the nursery class at school in september this year but has come on leaps and bounds so there is advantages to starting so young. Saying that I've no experience of private nurseries.

[dexter]

sunnydelight, what a horrible experience for you all, I'm sending you all a hug. I get quite passionate about this subject because it's simply government policy that drives it, not what children need. It was five to start when I was a child, and it's only changed because the government want us out there working and contributing to the economy!! Sod the kids, get them looked after and the women can work!! Also a proportion of parents out there can't wait to be shot of kids, so push for early starts. I don't want MY child's life dictated by these things.

There probably ARE some kids out there who are ready at four - but they would not be harmed one bit by being lightly bored at home, whereas I certainly feel some kids are harmed by this extremely early start.

Someone take the soapbox away, I'll shut up now...

[geekgrrl]

well, the closer to home the better as all his friends will live nearby. Go in and get a feel, talk to the headteacher, personally I like schools that have big classrooms for the younger ones with different activity areas, with a warm and welcoming feel and lots of the children's work displayed around the school. A separate playground for the little ones is also a good thing.
Maybe take your ds and see how staff interact with them - do they greet him etc.? Are the children happy and well-behaved?
Also, do you want after-school care? Some schools provide this and others don't, which might be a big hassle for you later on.
HTH

[Georgie3]

Hi there Tamba -
Regarding WHICH school to choose, you really need to go and visit all of the ones you're considering; schools on paper/OFSTED reports etc can't tell you whether a school is right for YOUR child. You will know the best school for your child by going to visit. Whatever the school secretaries are like, you can ask to have an appointment with the head teacher and get to have a look round the school and ask the questions that are important to you.
We have a choice of 3 schools here, and I've visited them all, am so dithery, no way would I have been able to make the decision otherwise!!

[saadia]

You really do have to visit the schools. I visited all the local schools, even the ones that had less than good Ofsted reports and I would say don't rely too much on other peoples' views, go by your own gut instinct as I have had a range of views on any one given school.

The nearby schools didn't appeal to me,

• at one school they said there was no-one available to show me around and then they called up the day before the forms were due in to ask if I still wanted a look around. I didn't bother.
  
  
• in one school the classes seemed terribly disorganised and the children unruly and the teacher seemed to have no control.
  
  
• in another the children were working away too quietly I thought and one of the tables didn't have the worksheets they needed but none of the kids spoke up and the teacher didn't notice till they were half way through. In the reception class a little boy who was new was crying and no-one was comforting him.
  
  
• in another the lady at reception seemed very unfriendly with one of the children who was asking her something.
  
  The one I picked had a very warm atmosphere I thought. The admin staff who were around were very friendly and nice with the children. The head showed me round and in every class the children were confident and eager to show her what they were working on. In the reception class, some new children had arrived and the other children were being helpful in getting thm to settle in. Ds1 is now at the nursery of this school and so far I am very pleased with it.
  
  I read somewhere that you should also hang around the gates at arrival and departure times and should choose the school where the children seem purposeful. HTH and good luck.
  
  Ultimately you only know if you've picked the right school after they join so it's always a bit of a gamble, but for ds1 I wanted somewhere with a warm and inviting atmosphere.
  
  

[Tamba]

Thank you all

I think part of it is that if he goes to school reception, then he will only be doing half days (do they still do that?) which means i will have to defer university for a year, which isnt really a bad thing i guess as his happiness is most important. The thing about him having to go into year one is Dhs arguement for him starting september which it looks likely he will do

I cant imagen my baby all dressed up in a school uniform!

Looking at league tables for schools, im not sure how much credidence i can give them as i dont believe in testing young children but i still look to the results for an idea of how 'good' a school is.

I think i will just have to go and have a look around them and try to get a feel for them -wish me luck !!

Thank you all xxxxxxxx

[Bozza]

The ofsted site also gives a general commentary on the teaching in a school and strong/weak areas.

[sunnydelight]

Was so busy ranting, forgot to say that I think that if the headteacher knows the names of all/most of the kids I think it's very indicitive of how involved they are. In my experience a good headteacher can really make a school.

[sarochka]

I am having a huge dilemma with this - my dd starts school next Sept - she is 4 in Jan. I think she could start earlier we can't really afford private at the moment. I am a teacher with alot of responsability in a local secondary school to which I would never send DD. My husband is a primary teacher. I have looked at loads of schools and only found 1 that I like. My p/teacher friends tell me to look at the school gates and decide whether I can get on with the other parents - they say this is one of the most important things! Such a dilemma I want the total best for dd as do we all. I console myself with the fact that we do alot at home but if I had the money I would go private.

[saadia]

sarochka I think it's very true about seeing what the other parents are like and if they're "your kind of people". Ds attended a playgroup two mornings a week and the other mothers, except one, were so unfriendly. That's partly why I didn't want ds to go to the school where their kids were going.