We have recently submitted our application for DS to start school next September (the deadline was Jan 15th). We live in the countryside, pretty much equidistant between two schools, one of which is a more of a village school while the other is on the edge of a large conurbation. We liked both when we looked round and I made the decision to put the village school first based on a slightly easier journey and the fact that it was in the village and seemed to have more links with the immediate community (Carol services in the village church, for example, even though it's not a CofE school).
I found out yesterday, through other mums at a pre-school group, that the school has just been put into special measures by Ofsted. Apparently it was in the local paper on Monday, the day after the application deadline (although I believe Ofsted published the report on the 11th). The main issues seem to be with the head and senior management not following through with recommendations from a previous inspection and a general lack of coherence in school policy on various issues. The most worrying aspect was that incidents of bullying were not being acted upon by the head. The head has now gone (although it's not clear if she was sacked or resigned) and a deputy head from another local stool is stepping in temporarily. The school is going to be turned into an academy and a new head appointed.
I'm now panicking that I've completely messed up by choosing this school over the other one and don't know what to do for the best. Three of the mum's at the pre-school group are primary teachers and they all said not to worry as the school will now be very closely monitored and have to improve. One of my concerns is that I don't know much about academies (and don't particularly agree with the privatisation of the state school system in principle) so really have no idea what sort is school DS may now be going to. Also I don't know if appealing to the local authority to change my choices after the deadline is a viable option. If it is possible I'm guessing all the other parents in our position will also be doing it.
I'd be really grateful for any information about academies and how schools tend to fare when going through this process so I can make a decision about whether to sit tight or fight tooth and nail to get DS into the other school.
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First choice of primary school has just gone into special measures. How bad is this is?
54 replies
Chocolatestain · 21/01/2017 14:52
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