What are you looking for in a School?

Both DS1 and DS2 were fortunate enough to meet the admissions criteria for three different state secondaries.
We chose the one we chose because:

The journey was manageable.

The pupils seemed articulate, polite and enthusiastic about the school.

It is known for good discipline and a lack of low-level disruption, so the pupils who want to learn can do so without distraction.

(For DS2 only:) It was the only school out of the three that promised to differentiate for his level of giftedness, and the only school of the three that had existing plans in place to help those with Asperger's.

I have friends who had had negative experiences of the other two schools (bullying not dealt with).

DS1 has now been there for over two years and DS2 has been there for a term. Based on our experience so far, I would give the school 5 stars, 10/10 etc.

Mintyy, not all. We visited our local comprehensives, not so local faith schools, and a few private schools.

Just curious, those of you who have visited loads of schools - these are private, right?

We looked for pastoral care, a good level of academics for our level of child, quality of life, and general ethos of the school.

By quality of life I essentially mean commuting method / time.

Ethos of the school e.g. overtly pushy, 'whole child centred', 'have to be sporty to get on' etc.

If looking now I would also wish to be aware of:

• do they set or stream
• who gets to do triple science for GCSE
• how flexible are options choices
• how to contact teachers

depends a lot on child, your expectations, and schools available.

ds is quite clever. he could do well academically, but he is also very peer driven (if it isn't 'cool' he won't do it) so we looked for a school where being bright and doing well was an important part of the culture.
he is actually probably going to go to the grammar school (we will know in march)
he also likes sport, but is no future England player, so a school where he would get lots of sport for fun/team experience was important too.

dd is musical, and very clever in 'non girls' subjects- especially maths she is also quiet in the class and tends to get overlooked. She is only year 4, but I think we will try and get her into the girls school.

My friend's dd is not really an academic type. But she loves her music and drama. They have looked at a school with a big emphasis on performing arts, and at the same time good solid results.

Another friend has a daughter who wants to be a doctor, they went purely by the highest results on the league table.

We visited loads of schools, atmosphere, behaviour and how well the staff interacted with parents and kids was important too.

We had a choice of 2 for our dd and chose the one with the slightly better local reputation, which is pretty middle class of us.

All of it Kenlee, with the main emphasis on Academia (on the right level for our ds) and in close proximity to our home.

My DC all went to their catchment area schools (and before anyone asks, no we didn't choose our home on the basis of the schools)