From private to state school, urgent, please help ladies!!!

[finnmum]

So sorry this is long, but I'm desperate!! DD1 is currently in Y2 in a small London private school (has been since she was 2.5) and loves her school(DD2 is in pre-school). But now like so many other families we have less income than a couple of years ago and our landlord is selling our home. Before we knew we had to move we got places for the girls in a New Model School(lovely, cheaper private) near where we are now. However, now after exhausting house hunting we are looking to move to South Woodford and realised that the state schools there are better than where we are now (please don't get offended about anything, DP and I are just so bad at this school thing as we were not educated in the UK)

We obviously would have the option of commuting the girls from South Woodford to the new, little private school here, but that would mean 8 miles one way(4 times a day for me) and I thought maybe DDs would do well in a state school which would be 0.2 miles from home! But because all the good state schools in South Woodford are oversubscribed for the Y3 in next September we will have to make an in year transfer for DD1 n-o-w. So here comes our biggest, urgent dilemma: DD1 is academically quite advanced (because she has been in a school that demands a lot from the children and us mums as well, 1h of homework a day...) and loves reading, writing and languages(she has three home languages and is learning two additional compulsory ones at school). When looking at the specific school's performance how can we know what -if any-effort the state school puts in academically advanced children? Reading Ofstead reports doesn't help, outstanding schools are often -and rightly so- schools that have managed to help children from disadvantage backgrounds to reach national average or just above. I would be so happy for any insight or advice, thank you!!

[finnmum]

Oh dear, that was so long I wonder if anyone has time to read it through..:D Just checked DD1's last year's school report (which admittedly I don't understand much as I don't have comparison), after Year 1 her literacy, maths etc. were ranged between 2A -2C.

[redskyatnight]

Whilst 2A-2C is good for the end of Y1, it's not really exceptional and it's likely that the schools will have other children working at this level and be used to differentiating work approriately for them. If you look at SATs results you can see how many higher achieving children the school has (obtaining L3 at KS1, L5 at Ks2). Of course, what this doesn't tell you is how an individual child achieves relative to what they are capable of achieving.

TBH your best bet is to visit the school(s) and ask specifically about how higher ability children are treated.

Also, you probably know this already but your unlikely to get much in the way of languages at state primary school - e.g. DS's school does just 30 minutes of French a week.

[EdithWeston]

You could arrange quite a lot of additional coaching to keep languages up in the time you wouldn't have to spend commuting to the school. And do not underestimate quite what a burden that will become if one is ill, or there are major roadworks etc.

Go and look with an open mind at the schools now local to you.

[finnmum]

Thank you so much, redskyatnight!!

[finnmum]

Very good points, Edith, didn't think of being in traffic with an ill child.. Thanks!!

[Moominmammacat]

Go for something near ... my DSs went to mediocre primary across the road ... but we saved so much time not travelling I could fill in any gaps before and after school with time saved.

[confusedperson]

If you check Dept of Education website Primary school performance (available for 2011 now), there is information about low/middle/high attainers and how they achieve in %.

[sittinginthesun]

Agree - and if you do use the state system, you may have more cash free to support extra curriculum activities, including languages.

As for stretching, it depends on the school, I think. One thing I have found with our state school, compared to friends who are at local private schools, is that, as they have larger classes, there tends to be a good mix of ability, and the school is good at working with children at their level, rather than expecting a class, or group within a class, to work together.

I think this does help the brighter children, are they are stretched, often way beyond what the main section of the class are doing. Not always reflected in SATS results, but if you have a bright child, they may be working quite ahead of the official SATS figures.

[TheAvocadoOfInteriorDesign]

Have a look at the school and get a feel for the ethos - discuss your concerns with the head.

Some big advantages of moving your children - you don't have the nightmare commute, and some of the money saved on fees can go into extracurricular activities so that your children can follow their interests (or yours if you want them to do language classes, for example, out of school).

I agree with the others that decent state schools do a good job with bright pupils. Good luck - and I hope that like us you'll be pleasantly surprised by the state system.

[finnmum]

I can't thank you enough for your kind advice!

[PanicMode]

If it helps, we turned down a scholarship at a top prep for our very bright Y3 DS because he is being stretched in his state primary, is very settled and is able to walk to school with his peers and 3 siblings. Taking advantage of the scholarship would have meant a 25 minute drive to school and back - with his siblings in the car - twice a day. The money we are saving on not paying fees for our children is going on extra-curricular activities for them all, including some extra maths to ensure that he is being challenged (his teachers are supportive of this). He's working at Y5/6 level already.

As a couple who were both educated privately all the way through our educations and who felt that we were 'letting our children down' by not sending them to private school, we have been v happy to have most of our prejudice about the state system shot down in flames! (We entered him into the scholarship exams because we thought we should move him if he got one - actually, once we'd stripped away the gloss and marketing, we realised that he's getting what he needs academically where he is - although I would like more language teaching, and I'm sad that he won't be doing Latin (although may if he gets into grammar school).

[finnmum]

Thanks for your insight, PanicMode. I'm also thinking about our summer born DD2 who will start reception in September, either in this 'outstanding' private school where there are 35 pupils in total or in the 'outstanding' state school of 700 pupils...