Have you/would you put your child into a school with Ofsted rating 'requires improvement'?

[HipHipHippo]

DH and I are in the predicament that we will be moving across the country in January and won't get to actually see any schools before applying for DD's reception place.
It seems the closest ones 'require improvement' and the Catholic and CofE schools are 'good' though a little further away.
Not quite sure what to do, how bad is 'requires improvement' any way?
If you have a child in a school with this rating do you have any problems?

Yes. I have.

It’s tricky. It depends why it’s requires improvement. In our case it was the leadership of the school. The teaching was fine, but the head wasn’t effective. Not communicating to governors, governors not asking them the right questions.

If should improve quickly once ofsted have labelled it.

There is a school locally which is outstanding. But that’s from two headteachers ago and not the case now, but it still has the outstanding rating,

Yes twice with one child and once with another

Sorry, i pushed post instead of return

Both were in special measures rather than requires improvement

I felt that both schools could only improve as there was then a change of leadership and lots of guidance from lots of places

Both of these children have gone on to do A levels, albeit at a different school altogether and one now has a degree from a Russell Group university. He is now working in his chosen field.

I do think it depends on the child to a certain extent too though

Yes, twice - primary and secondary. Both good now. It depends on the reasons for RI and how good the leadership in the school is.
Good schools can coast and beware outstanding schools which haven't been inspected for a while. A local infant school was judged outstanding in 2007 - hasn't been inspected since and no way would it get that rating now.
Ofsted have limited resources/inspectors and tend to focus on RI and special measures schools, so other schools can slip through the net.
Also, LA schools tend to get extra support, advice and resources to help them get to 'good'. It tends to focus the mind! (ex chair of governors)

Didn't choose it but our DCs ended up at the local school which was in Special Measures.

The problems with the school were and still are ongoing. Many good teachers don't want to stay. Succession of poor heads and sometimes no head. Poor management seeping all the way down.

Got academised then the academy trust threw in the towel.

Poor results, sometimes spectacularly so.

That said, both DDs came out with good GCSEs and DD2 got the A levels she needed to do the degree she wanted. However I think this was despite the school rather than because of it.

DS floundered, not a natural self starter. Was in lower sets but because he was quiet and well behaved he didn't get the support he needed.

If it had been possible we would have sent our DCs to a better school.

I teach in one. We pull out all the stops when OFSTED come, in a desperate attempt to avoid special measures and it's wrong. I can't say all RI schools are the same and OFSTED isn't everything but I would be very cautious.

My DD's infant school was in special measures when she started - we'd also moved so it was a late application. I went round at the end of term (slightly nervous as it was the only one suggested by the admissions officer) and liked it - I went with my gut feeling.

Having said that - it bounced back out of SM the next time it was inspected by two grades and had never been in SM before. It was a well-regarded school generally and did make me slightly suspicious of OFSTED ratings tbh!

Is there no way you can take half a day to visit schools very briefly with DD? Or without at a push! Schools should welcome visits and it really cab bring them to life and give you a flavour of whether it's the right environment for your DD to spend 30+ hours a week.

Our DDs started at a double RI (so was RI twice in a row). We were confident it was the best school for them; we've lived in this area all our lives and were familiar with the school, teachers and children. Pastoral care and teaching were generally good but leadership lacked drive and some training was missed off for staff, plus support for families with additional requirements (eg persistent lateness, "chaotic families") was lacking as was structure and achievement for pupils with special needs. Both groups are statistically over represented in our school so it was flagged as a major issue. It sounds very callous but those things didn't directly affect our DC so was happy to send them there.

We are very happy with the school (now OFSTED rated good).

Other factors to consider are size of school (3 form intake is very different to 15 kids in mixed year groups - what would DD like more?), convenience of hours / location - believe me, getting them to and from somewhere daily for 7 years means you'll get irritated by stuff like inconvenient one way systems or another large school across the road having the same kick out time - and after school club availability.

Nope. Primarily due to the staff turnover and recruitment problems it will bring.

Yes, because after that point it got a new head who I could see was fantastic and would turn things around. It is now an outstanding school (although we moved away shortly after she arrived).

My dcs then went to an ‘outstanding’ primary school and it was awful! Good at boxticking but not much else.

Thanks for your replies, I really appreciate them.
It looks like I will just have to do a bit more remote research!
Unfortunately I really can't go to look at schools, like I said it's across the country and DH needs the car for work, no local train station and other factors make it a little impossible. Although I really would like to!!
I just want the best for DD as we all do with our DC so finding out this week that we are moving so far away in Jan when DD is settled at a local school nursery that we know well is a bit of a shock to the system.

My son's school was RI when we applied and it's the main reason he got in!
You have to read the full report carefully and previous reports. The school we chose was listed RI due to a new head and quite a few new teachers and some new policies that needed time to bed in. Previous reports were outstanding and the school academic results had been going from strength to strength.
They're back to outstanding rating now and had my eldest been a year or two younger we'd probably not have got in, despite living very close.

I did, and came to regret it. Some schools do turn it around, in fact our local secondary has turned around a long history of Special Measures and being the school to avoid at all costs, to being one of the best in the county. But my DC primary plummeted further. It has clawed its way back to RI but tbh undeservedly so. My academical able child was unscathed by it, can't say the same for my DC with SEN. I'd look at any past reports and parent view questionnaires.

Hmmm. It’s a boy of a bugbear round here amongst those with theirs at good rated secondary catholic schools, that the results are more due to a LOT of input by the parents. Ie reliance on responsible parents to keep grades up.

I know a local primary that went into special measures a few years ago. Historically it had been good. An unfortunate chain of events with some long term illness of key staff members meant organisation and paperwork went to pot. It's an amazing school imo. Its rating came back up quickly.

I also know another which was rated outstanding but had a head change shortly after inspection. Within 6 months the school was in chaos. Staff were leaving left right and centre due to the head. They seemed to upset everyone. Making a mark and added loads of stupid rules and changes which annoyed parents as well. It had bombed on next inspection.

A good thing to do is see if you can find a local facebook group for the area and ask. I often see people doing this and we always give an honest opinion of our kids school.

No, i absolutely wouldn’t

Yes, we moved and the closest school wasn't highly rated! Couldn't walk as far as the next closest school and it was oversubscribed anyway.

Our head left suddenly, he realised his poor leadership was being uncovered and jumped ship. Had an Ofstead, while we had an interim head, that put us in special measures, wasn't a surprise.

New head came in for the beginning of the following term, has been here under 2 years and has turned the school around. Had an Ofstead person in very recently (comes approx every half term to help and instruct) and they are rather impressed. They are looking for the school to be rated good by spring/summer next year. This will be about 2.5 years after the bad Ofstead.

In the last 2 years we have only had 6 teachers leaving. 2 because they moved away and the other 4 because of their teaching (encouraged to go possibly). In a 2 form per year entry that's not too bad.

Our 'new' head has made massive changes and they are already having noticeable effects. Our test results last year were above the national average and they are looking to improve them further next year. It also helps the head is an ex pupil and holds the school dear, she has said she is going to make it the best school in the town from the day she started here, she may well manage that. She has tackled all sorts of things, ranging from bad teachers to SEN and EAL provision to children's bad behaviour and many things in between.

It depends what is happening in the prospective new school now for how it will perform in the near future, what measures have been put in place to change things. Ask what the school is doing to improve.

Yes have and would again. It was lightyears better in every single way than the ofsted outstanding lack of any form of safeguarding general hell hole we removed him from and I still feel guilt to this day about ever sending him to.

Yes because like everything - things change, but this school is going to be trying to improve

Absolutely not.

I’d want outstanding or at least good. ( & thankfully always got that )

Yes. I moved my dd from an outstanding to a requires improvement school. She was miserable at the first one, it wasn't a bad school just a bad fit for her. The second one were working hard to improve, I had a great vibe there and she totally loved it. Look closely at the ofsted and sats results. In our case, the school had a policy of accepting sen students and were a small school so this skewed results. About 6 months later they became "good" (I know terminology now different). If you can visit or ask to speak to the Head on the phone, you might get a feel for whether it could be right for you.

Ultimately you will have to go where there is space. You can want outstanding or good but if there is no space then you will find that you get the school you are allocated.

Ignore the rating. Read the report in detail and look at what is actually being said. Are they a well meaning staff who just need a bit more guidance? Or are there staffing issues and lack of morale? I ask myself if I would work (in any role) there based on the report. If it's a no, I wouldn't send my child there.

Agree with pps, read the Ofsted closely, inc the previous one, to see what got it that grade, and talk to head.

We put DS in a Requires Improvement that was from the Ofsted report great with the younger kids, but not stretching the older ones yet, and a few other things that sounded like they were working on them but not there yet. No safeguarding issues or other red flags. The school had a new head & leads who were clearly working on bringing the school up. It was Good by the next inspection.

Is there any chance that you and the children could move to a rented house a little before the deadline for applications and try to get into a school that way? They are unlikely to question it as moving just to get in because you have moved so far from your previous address.