New school being started

Oh, I see. But if the clubs are run by the staff then they don't need to be financially viable, do they? I guess our school may have had fewer clubs than some very large schools at first, but my DS still managed to find clubs he liked. They built up and changed as the school grew - they had a couple of paid ones from external providers but mostly they were staff-led. They tried to run things the kids were interested in. I think for most secondaries, club attendance is high in year 7 then gradually tails off as kids become more independent and find other things to do outside of school. Often secondary school clubs are year-group specific, so greater numbers of clubs at bigger schools might be an illusion, or else if they're not then they can be dominated by the older kids hogging the limelight - at least you won't have that problem. I think year 7 sometimes get squashed by older kids at big schools, but the first cohort in a new school is always top of the school, which is a special place to be.

No, why would there be? All the senior leaders will be coming from other schools and bringing the best ideas with them. I think eyes are always on all schools, but with new schools they do have more to prove. The key thing is getting the leadership team right - everything else stems from there. Our Head previously worked at a very large school as a deputy and several very good staff followed him from that school because they enjoyed working with him and thought he'd make a great Head. If you meet the Head and think they're inspiring then its reasonably likely that they will also inspire good teachers to work for them.

Yes. My ds was first cohort in a new school. Very positive experience for us. He's now in sixth form and the school is very oversubscribed.

Positives: Lots of attention from senior staff who will be the bulk of the staff in the early days - they will need to recruit a Head, a deputy, and heads of departments first and in any other school those very experienced staff probably wouldn't be teaching year 7. They will be super keen and excited about setting up a new school, so full of energy, bending over backwards to make it a positive experience. You will probably get to meet them in the summer term before starting so should get a sense of that. Our school attracted a lot of educated parents, including a lot who were teachers themselves, who quizzed the staff closely and liked what they heard, so it set the school off on a good path. All the equipment will be new and shiny and the staff will get to know your child well.

Downsides: Our school had to open in temporary accommodation and it took a long time to get the permanent building ready, so it was compromised on space at first and was forced to stay very small, which was good in many ways, but meant they didn't have as many GCSE options as other schools (because funding is proportional to pupil numbers).