Primary School. Making an Informed Choice

[365onEducation]

To anyone who may be looking for a primary school for their child. After nearly a decade studying and working in education, I would urge parents to research a school and area very carefully.

These are three questions parents could ask a Head. A Head may not be willing or able to disclose or respond to these, but what these questions can do is to establish minimum expectations that parents have when making an Informed decision about their child's schooling.

1. Will my child have a qualified Teacher, except for PPA and absence cover when an HLTA, TA or supply might cover? The Dfe guidelines provide that support staff can teach whole classes short term provided those staff are not replacing the role of a qualified teacher within the classroom. Some argue that support staff are better than some qualified teachers and whilst that may be true in some cases, surely that is a reason to improve the level of teacher training than to dismiss the premium on qualified teachers altogether. Research carefully as to whether the staff referred to as 'Teacher' on school websites are in fact qualified teachers as sometimes support staff are referred to as class teacher which can mislead parents and officials/public.

1. What are the testing arrangements at the School? In the absence of cameras some schools deploy staff as invigilators to administer Sats tests. Whilst many schools carry out sats testing honestly, there are those who may not. The 2017 Maladministration Report dated November 2018 and published by the Standards and Testing agency, reported an increase in maladministration investigations in 2017 compared with 2016 from 524 to 599. Deliberate maladministration can lead to overflating of results which can have a negative impact on a child's experience and progression if it means they do not receive the proper support to address misconceptions in their learning through quality first teaching and intervention. Many schools are excellent at conducting tests with integrity such that those tests are positive learning experiences and help identify gaps in learning.

1. Will my child be taught by a teacher on long term capability? Informal and formal capability are terms used to describe a period during which a teacher has to be supported to carry out their role effectively. This is enormously difficult and challenging for the individual concerned but can have a negative impact on the classroom environment if that individual is left unsupported. Transference of stress associated with capability can effect learning, teaching and wellbeing of children and support staff.

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Head teachers would need a crystal ball to be able to answer 1 and 3.

And I’m not sure you’ll get a great reception if you start talking about maladministration of SATs when you’re being shown round with your four-year-old, but maybe that’s just me.

Umm... thanks? 🙄🙄

You are aware parents do not CHOOSE their child's school aren't you? They may express a preference, but that's not the same as having a choice.

I’m wondering whether you’ve just been on a training course OP? I’m usually the same when I’ve done one, full of passion for changing things in my school based on what I’ve learned on the course.

Give it a couple of weeks and you’ll have forgotten all of the above and remembered that parents choose schools for a variety of reasons, many of them practical and nothing to do with hypothetical scenarios that may or may not rise why their child is a pupil there.

Pffft. There’a no way a Head will share details of teacher performance with you; those questions will just make you look like an idiot. And as for HLTAs teaching - if many heads are honest, they’ll reply “ would you rather the school be financially solvent or not?”

Those that chose a school mainly want a school full of parents and staff who look like them, whether they realise or admit that themselves.

If only we could actually choose our DC’s school.

Thank you. This is real and resonates with me. You have highlighted some really important issues that affect education today. Thank you.

If only we could actually choose our DC’s school

Yep, unless you can afford to go private id imagine many (myself included) have no choice in the matter.

As parents we take much on trust and much of the time that trust is founded. However, some of the things mentioned in this writing I have experienced and it really does impact a school and the child. There does need to be some transparency and of course those conversations need to be in private and discreet. I guess it comes down to how confident and courageous a parent is to ask these questions. Some staff hope parents will be savvy to ask, but In reality no one knows to ask these questions. No one should be misrepresented as holding a particular job on the school website when they don't. If an HLTA or ta is teaching a class full time, or job share say that on the website. Some parents may not be concerned, others may want to raise it with the Head. If there is nothing to hide then why not openly state it! We don't want to misrepresent things to parents funding, recruitment and retention issues or not. We do all pay towards education in one way or another. It's good to get these things out in the open, whatever personal views may be. The fact this is out there and open to discussion, is no bad thing in my experience of 30 years in Education.

Is anyone else thinking that a decade isn't actually that long?

The Non qualified staff is a good point and only getting worse with academies and free schools.

But I just plucked for the school at the top of the road.

What is the nature of your work in education, OP?

What do you suggest they do with teachers on capability or support plans then? Take their job off them?

Haven't you posted before? I think you're called James and you have a blog on education about how we shouldn't ever assess our children?

Sorry but please don't preach to us. We know how to pick a school as we know our children. We also often don't have a choice in which school we take and this sort of information doesn't help those either.

Fair enough, about qualified and unqualified teachers as academies don't have to have qualified teachers ( but then neither do private schools).

Will my child be taught by a teacher on long term capability?
This would never be shared due to confidentiality, not even other staff would know this. The unions would have a field day if schools were sharing this information about their staff members.

Er... who are you, OP? Aren’t there enough people in the education system already with an over-inflated (not ‘overflated’) sense of their own importance? You must be bored. Get some work done for September.

When I was choosing a school for my children and if I were choosing one now, I would be visiting, asking questions about procedures, curriculum, pastoral care, support for SEND. I would (and did) get a feel for the place, the head, the staff, the extra curricular activities. I would take car ful note of how the interactions were between children/children, staff/children/, staff/staff. I would ask to visit on an ordinary day and I would notice how I was welcomed.

I would read recent Ofsted reports, but that wouldn’t be my main focus, unless there were several unsatisfactory reports. I would want to know the basics of how my child would be assessed, but I would not be asking for the specific performance of the teaching staff. I would hope for good communication and financial viability.

It reads as though the OP has produced this from a PowerPoint presentation. I don’t think it’s what most parents want. I’ve spent my working life as a teacher both in the classroom and in senior leadership. I’ve seen it from both sides.

Well, great - but no amount of research will often get a child a place in a non-catchment school.

I'd @TicTac1000 also the OP?

And staff are allowed to invigilate SATs , aren't they? I've never heard of a primary school nit using staff to invigilate.

@Foxyloxy1plus1 makes lots of good points, but a school can completely change character during the time your child is there. It only takes a few changes in leadership for that to happen.

Err. Round here you’re allocated a space in a school. Both primary and secondary
You don’t get to choose

Haven't you posted before? I think you're called James and you have a blog on education about how we shouldn't ever assess our children?

Oh God is it him? Heaven help us all...

A decade really isn't very long for study AND work.