Just want some advice really, and maybe reassurance.Before we had kids we bought our house in a very mixed area of the city without thinking about schools.House is lovely but the local state primaries which we have a good chance of getting into have a large number of non-English speakers in reception and are about 30%FSM.Both have 1 or 2 on the latest Ofsteds but reading between the lines it seems like the non-English speakers do especially well and make lots of progress.Doesn't say much about the others.We are a well-off middle class family and from what I can see from the school gates (DC1 already has started at the nursery) most of the other families are probably not professionals and the majority are not English.Not being a snob, that's just how it is.Is there any evidence to suggest that my DCs will be held back if they are in a class full of non-English speakers, and if they are taught with children from families which may have a different approach to & expectations from education?I know it is hard to get 1 or 2 on Ofsteds, but for both the actual achievement of the children is 3.I think they got good marks for other things.I also feel slightly uncomfortable that my DCs will be in a social and ethnic minority.Am I just worrying about nothing?We could afford to go privately but we both went to state primaries(although in nice towns in different parts of England) did well and I want to be able to walk round the corner to school rather than drive across a city, and I can't help feeling that paying out for primary education, although is a safe bet, is also an unnecessary use of money.I just want my DCs to have a good start and to reach their potential at school.Any views?
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Just pay, or go for state with some reservations?
40 replies
Having3 · 10/10/2012 20:34
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