The school we put first was a bit of a compromise - least bad in walkable distance. (Plenty of people then and now think it is a fantastic school based on a decade old OFSTED and great results but that didn't mean much to us.)
Nearest school we didn't like because:
- It seemed very dark and gloomy, but headteacher kept talking about bright and airy spaces. It felt a bit like gaslighting! I even went back on a sunny day to see if I was missing something. But it was still dark and gloomy.
- Even as a grown-up with experience of attending a university with 30'000 students, this school seemed confusing and overwhelming to me - as a child I would have felt completely lost.
- A few little niggles here and there, e.g. behaviour management system.
- Importantly: A lot of talk by HT about homework, spelling tests, discipline or rather desk-based learning, starting in last term of reception 'to get ready for Y1'.
- Most importantly however: When visiting the reception classrooms, there were several little girls sat by themselves at a table (each at a different table) doing nothing. Just staring into space. For the whole duration of our visit. And nobody approached them or tried to engage them in any way. They might have been non-English speakers; it felt utterly wrong.
The second-closest school made a good impression generally, except it was very loud and chaotic; we decided against it mainly because it was an Infants School and we preferred a through primary. What we did like was their answer to a bilingual children question. Whereas in every other school the answer was 'We keep track of EAL children's progress (in English) and if we notice any issues, we provide support', this school said 'we are aware that bilingual children, even if they are highly proficient in English, have specific issues deriving from their bilinguality (which might even just be an untapped potential, rather than a problem per se). We have a specialist who spends 1-1 time with each EAL/bilingual child on a weekly basis to support, explore, and develop, no matter if they are struggling in English or not.'
Our favourite school we didn't choose because of distance. We loved the calm and purposeful atmosphere in all classrooms incl. reception, and the very Montessori style organisation and discipline, allowing play based and child led learning to continue throughout Y1 and even into Y2.
The school we did choose/put first, we liked the community spirit, actually bright and airy spaces, the children who showed us around made a good impression and were able to tell us about behaviour management from a child's perspective which was quite illuminating and reassuring; and yes we chose it also for the secondary school it feeds into, though that was only a minor consideration (not being certain we'd still even be in the area by then). There were quite a few things we didn't like about it e.g. the prominent role faith plays, and it felt very much like a gamble, as the HT was new (had only been HT for a few months by the application deadline).