Inner-city schools - how does this sound to you?

[lecce]

We live in an inner-city area (we love it- mixed, diverse etc) but we have been worried about schooling - who isn't?

We have several OFSTED rated 'Good' primaries near us and our actual catchment one was our least favourite - well, that's the one ds has got into! It is rated good bit our main issue with it was that, although we live in a multi-ethnic area, the schools do not seem to represent this mix - there seems to be segregation going on.

The school his has got into has 93% children who do not speak English as their first language. All the most positive OFSTED comments are about what the school does for low-acheivers, those with behavioural and language problems etc. It does actually say that the only criticism is that high-acheivers are not always pushed, although it says that this is improving.

I'm not saying that ds will be a 'high-acheiver' but I do think he's bright (I know, I'm his Mum ) and he certainly doesn't have SEN, behavioural problems etc. He is very articulate and the OFSTED says that many of the children lack confidence and a lot of work is done to encourage reluctant speakers to talk. I really don't see how this will benefit ds and I'm just not sure he'll be stretched, though a big part of me thinks that the most important thing is that he's happy and will learn to love school. It did have a lovely atmosphere when we visited and the pastoral arrangements are praised by OFSTED.

My other concern is that he may not make frends if most of the other children do not speak English. We were not happy with his pre-school and removed him (I had a thread in the relevant section about this) and the social aspect of school is really important to us. I just feel he's going to be in a tiny minority and will struggle to fit in. Please do not flame me, I wanted him to go to a mixed school but this is not mixed is it?

Our other concerns are that there is very little outdoor space, fewer that the other inner-city school we viewed, and there is no music provision and other 'extra-curriculum' stuff seems to be limited to sport.

Has anyone got experience of such a school? I would love to hear that some dc have done well in such an environment. Is there anything else we can do if we decide we really don't want him to go there? How do I go about putting him on waiting lists?

I feel so let down, we live in a vibrant area but it seem that, even within out postcode, there are school for the white children and other schools for the other nationalities. Surely it shouldn't be like this, why can't there just be a lovely mixed school for him? Ok, I'm ranting now, I've just got the text from dh and I'm a little wound up!

Sorry this is so long, thanks in advance for any advice.

[iskra]

I just wanted to point out that 93% of children not speaking English as their first language does not mean that they don't speak English. I'm sure he will make friends, it's a good age for it. Most of the children on our road don't speak English as a first language, but they all play out together & are lovely to English-only speaking DD. In my experience cultural differences come in to play much later on, in mid teens. Hope you don't read the above as hostile, just a comment.

The school you describe sounds very like our nearest school so I am interested in hearing responses.

[Anaxagora]

From my experience I would say the crucial question is whether the 93% of dc who don't have English as a first language have a range of different first languages/cultures, or whether the overwhelming majority come from the same community/language background.

If the former, then there is no reason to assume that your child will not have a perfectly positive experience of school and make good friends that he can also see out of school. Otoh if the school is in an area where 93% of the intake come from the same close-knit non-English speaking community, where the dc speak their home language at school and tend to socialise outside school entirely within their own community, then it is possible that it may be harder for him to feel included and make close friends.

My dc go/have been to schools with high intakes of kids from other cultures, but because there's a mix (lots of West African, some south American, southern European, lots of Eastern European, some Vietnamese and smaller numbers of other backgrounds) making friends and mixing has never been a problem. But it is undeniably true that some cultural groups are much more reluctant to socialise outside their own community, either because they lack the language skills or confidence, or for religious/cultural reasons - we've found that to be the case particularly with Vietnamese and Bangladeshi families, for example. So I would be reluctant to send my dc to one of the schools in eg. Tower Hamlets that draws their intake almost exclusively from the Sylheti community, unless I was shown very good grounds for believing that my child would not feel like an outsider. But most schools with a high proportion of children from other backgrounds have a range of languages and cultures, in which case there's no reason to assume your ds will be adversely affected.

As to the academic/extracurricular stuff, there are schools that will do brilliantly with a complex and disadvantaged intake, and other schools that are just getting by and really not going above and beyond. Ofsted reports are not always a good guide, you have to go and feel the vibe for yourself, really. Bear in mind also that there is a LOT of movement on waiting lists particularly in areas with high mobility, so there is a good chance that places will come up in other schools if you do feel you are not really convinced by the allocated school.

[lecce]

Thank you both for your replies and you both make a really good point. I have just checked on OFSTED and there are 37 languages spoken so that has made me feel a bit better. I'm not sure precisely which nationalities are represented there so I will look into that, though I'm sure there are very few, if any, Vietnamese people are in the area.

As I said, we did like the atmosphere, the look of the classrooms etc. I was especially taken with the very eccentric reception teacher, so it's not all bad at all. From our own opinions, as well as OFSTED, it does't seem that it is a school that does the bare minimum at all. However, it does seem that the 'extra' stuff is aimed at the low-acheiver/learners of English, rather than high-acheivers (I know ds may not be one, anyway!)

As a secondary teacher I am all too aware of the limits of OFSTED but it is so hard when it is your own child in question and you only have OFSTED and one brief visit to guide you. Dh never tires of reminding me how I criticise OFSTED when being inspected myself and then obsessively read the reports of all the primaries we considered!

[Anaxagora]

I didn't mean 'avoid Vietnamese people', hope that was clear, eek! Or Bangladeshi ones, or any other group. The point was really just to check that the school is multicultural rather than essentially monocultural.

[lecce]

No, I know, I don't think I've worded my reply very well, sorry. Obviously, it wouldn't matter what nationalities were there as long as there is a mix, I think you've made that clear. It's me who might have caused offence with I'm sure there are very few, if any, Vietnamese people are in the area.
Sorry, that does sound very crass .