What to look for in a primary school?

Some great suggestions here.
I'd say it is important to see how SEND provision is organised. When DD1 started Reception, I had no inkling that she had any SEN, having had a brilliant time at nursery, met all milestones and was bright and gregarious. Reception was a fantastic year and she positively glowed every day, but once she transitioned to more formalised learning in Y1 the wheels came off really quickly and it was clear she had quite specific needs. I'm a teacher so knew what highlight and what to request, and am aware we were lucky to have found such a responsive, knowledgeable and inclusive SENDCO.

Next, I'd look for signs that it is a good place to work! If teachers are staying in post, especially after having had their own children, it usually means management is supportive and value a decent work-life balance: look for female teachers who are either part-time or in their 40s or older! Teaching is not a family friendly profession and many women find that school leaders make their return from maternity leave very difficult. Such schools are rarely happy places for staff, which rubs off on the children.

convenience
Wrap around care
SEN provision

You might think your child doesn't have sen so that doesn't matter, but a school that does sen well is a nicer place for all it's pupils.

@RobinEllacotStrike Yep, there were around 800k children born in 2010 and only 600k born in 2020 (current reception year kids).

Some areas have 20% fewer kids. Schools are undersubscribed and even closing.

Wraparound (and how easy it is to get what we needed).
Convenience of journey (walking or bus ideally, or a driving route that's not an absolute pain).
Results.
Outside space.
Good recommendations from other local parents.
We preferred a larger school without mixed year groups, but some people prefer the opposite.

I wouldn't choose on the headteacher. I know people who picked the other local school to us based on the headteacher, and now she's moving to the school we picked!

There are 10-20% fewer reception age children in our county compared to a decade ago, and so suddenly all the very oversubscribed local schools are undersubscribed. Some smaller ones might even close. Don't necessarily listen to people with older children about which schools are oversubscribed, as they may have no idea of the birth rate drop.

One thing that stood out to me was on some tours the person showing us around sometimes just did her thing and that was that - but others actually spoke with the children as we went around and it made all the difference. They'd get a child to tell us what their favourite thing was about school, stuff like that. It just seemed like they valued the children and their opinions more than the ones who just ploughed on if that makes sense.

Also learning through play mattered to us so we luckily found a school that facilitates this in years R, 1 and 2 not just R.

Outdoor space was also important.

If you even have a choice, then great, but it’s often not a choice. Look at latest ofsted reports, and listen to word of mouth, what do other parents think? Look at pastoral and holistic care as well as academic stuff. Look at staff turnover rates. Look at SEND provision in case your child needs support in any area such as dyslexia etc.

I agree with a PP just because a school looks lovely it doesn’t mean it’ll be right for your child.

We never had a choice when my dc were at primary school. Certainly there was much talk of choice, but in reality there was none. You got into the school you got allocated. Luckily both dc got into the school we "chose" but as we could see it from our flat it would have been shocking not to.

Do you really have a choice now? Perhaps numbers starting school have dropped dramatically in the 9 years since we last did it.

As @Icanwalkintheroom says. Be careful of the nurturing/high SEN needs. Our school is well known locally for their pastoral care and are very heavy on SEN. However, if you have an average child, they can find themselves lost in class due to higher behaviour issues from challenging children.

What's the settling in process?
Free flow in reception or more discrete classes, vs what will suit your child best.
School's attitude to working parents
Think about your child at 10 and 11 too, not just a tiny 4 year old

1. A decent breakfast/afterschool club
2. Good sports/outdoor learning facilities (big playground, outdoor equipment, mud kitchen, forest school area, field etc...)
3. Progress of children (results depends on the cohort intake and area, whereas progress is a measure of the child)
4. Speak to the staff. Are they enthusiastic?

I'd read the Ofsted report but take it with a pinch of salt. They really don't mean much.

Quality of the head teacher.

Are they secure in the role, ready to challenge the more unruly pupils or slink off into the office for others to try to deal with.
Does the headteacher know most or better yet all the kids names (i.e. can put faces to names).
Are they proud of their school, ask them about the schools best achievements.

It is ntot everything, but most of what makes a good school (or any organisation) is the passion, quality and drive of the leadership.

Also remember, most dc are not bullied. A good school with good staff will deal with this should it arise.

Ask for the bullying policy. Any school who tells you they don’t have any bullying are either ignorant or lying, it happens everywhere but it’s how they deal with it that’s important!

@TizerorFizz I know. But bits of it might be. I went to school like that, it was awesome.

Look at the entry criteria and whether or not you fit them.
Distance
Does the school feel welcoming, with a calm but busy atmosphere. Do the children ( if it’s daytime) look happy and engaged.
Before and after school club if you need it.
What provision they have for both ends of the ability range, so promoting learning suited to need for everyone.

Make sure you're only looking at schools you've actually got a chance of getting into. I have friends who just couldn't understand the admissions procedure and were really upset they didn't get into schools they had no chance of (and people are doing the same for secondary).

Take ofsted with a pinch of salt- one of our village schools is still dining out on an Outstanding rating from 2012.

Do you think your child will be happy there.

It can be a brilliant school but wrong for your child.

@BobbyBiscuits Some of that isn’t possible. RE agreed syllabus for a start is followed and it’s not what you say. All religions cannot be covered. I would also suggest you would have to go a long way to find all those sports in a state school. A village school won’t have enough teachers! There is a national curriculum. Global issues in every element is a stretch! Most state schools cannot offer piano lessons. Many won’t have a piano. Most teachers don’t want first name used and lack of structure is virtually impossible.

I suggest OP is at least realistic.

Look at Sats and Ofsted ratings.

Go to the school around pick up time and talk to some of the parents to get a vibe about the school.

Distance, catchment, class size, whether or not it is a feeder into a secondary school.

Breakfast club or afterschool club if you need them.

Extracurriculars: Check out their enrichment club offerings. My DC's school offer a range: basketball, cricket, dodgeball, football, lacrosse, taekwondo, hockey, tennis, cheerleading, theatre, science club, coding, knitting, arts & crafts, and Spanish. Lunchtime clubs include choir and chess. During school hours they also offer musical instrument lessons: piano, flute, guitar, violin etc.. as well as forest school.

I like mixed age classes. So they stay in class for 2 years, being guided/inspired by the older ones at first then doing the same to the younger ones the next year.
Lots of collaboration between year groups, big school themed projects.
Giving older ones as much autonomy as possible.
Learning about global issues and environmental issues as key parts of each theme.
Really imaginative teachers.
Use of first names with teachers and no doors or locks, very open plan.
No exams or tests.
Children given the chance to create their own learning materials. Involve the whole school. So this decreases inter age bullying.
No strong competition element. Everyone treated as an individual who should exceed their personal best.
No study of any religion as superior. all religions to be covered in a balanced way.
No uniform.
Kids have as much autonomy somewhat during the school day in what they do. With reason!
Plenty of access to nature/architecture.
Lots of guest performers and educators from many different cultural or geographic backgrounds.
Encourage free thought and individuals but also nurture respect for everyone.
Make children of all ages feel as equal and as important in the school as eachother.

• Whether it’s a feeder school with priority for any local secondary
• How big class sizes are and if it’s reception, whether it’s free flow (we chose a school that did t do this)
• what their stance on homework, uniforms and lunchbox policing is
• whether they have a PTA (if important to you)
• do they offer clubs / music lessons within school, if it’s something you’ll want in later years
• how they accommodate kids at either end of the learning curve ie either stretching them or what extra support they give
• what the expectations / offering is to parents ie we can join a weekly assembly if we want to, we have class teacher emails to contact them if needed

For you to think about what your child needs, the kind of child they are and whether the schools suit them.

I think we have a tendency to try for the "best" school but actually it doesn't suit the specific DC.

Our top considerations were:

Wraparound care - vital for us as we both work and have no family help
Distance - for practical reasons
Friendly feel, more than anything I wanted DD to go somewhere kind and gentle rather than dictatorial. She’s naturally very bright but also quite sensitive.

We are fortunate to live in a small rural county with no bad schools (all Good and Outstanding), they are all great and only differ subtly. Our village school is good so we viewed others to see if we liked any of them better than the one on our doorstep. Fortunately we didn’t so it was a no brainer.

DH ’s old school was our next nearest and he liked it there, we viewed it and it was a bit smarter than our village school but felt slightly less friendly. Our village school felt like it gave you a hug when we looked around and I was mightily relieved. But DH’s became our 2nd choice.

We knew older children at both schools already too so had already sounded out the parents.

I would start my presuming you will use your catchment school and then look for any reasons not to. We couldn’t find any in our case.

The open day will give the best idea of whether it's right for you/your child.
Also, have a look on the website and read through their newsletters if they're on there. They will give you an idea of the 'life' of the school eg after school clubs, sports tournaments, events, what happens each week.
Ps Ofsted rating 'good' = bloody marvellous!!!!!

Different strokes. Different folks.
Distance wasn't an issue for us.
How they stretch bright kids and how they assist those who need more help i.e. making sure they aren't going to be the average.
Communication with parents.
How calm it feels. We saw one school with multiple form entry and it was free flow and not conducive to learning at all.
Saying that, if I had my time again, I'd not go with one form entry because social issues become magnified and there is less opportunity for (1) peer learning and kids at your level and (2) less opportunity to meet kids with your particular interests.