Local school inadequate - can I worry here, please?

[Bomvayay]

Our local and most likely secondary school has recently been rated inadequate. It has a poor reputation and has always been between requires improvement and inadequate as far as I can tell. It's already an academy, so there won't be a big handover and improvement.

I've researched all the admissions policies for all the possible schools near us, I have pages of notes, and there are a couple of other options but none are very likely. I always just thought that something would come up, the school would improve or we'd move or something, but somehow things were always in the way of us doing this. I've even thought about moving back to live with my parents for a while until my DH would be in a position to join us.

There isn't an answer - I've looked into it all. I just wanted to tell somebody how inadequate I feel. I should have moved away sooner while there was time, but life got in the way. My DC is bright and loves school, and I've let her down badly.

Thank you if you read this.

I am so so sorry for how you feel OP. Please understand this isn't your fault - you did the best you could. You haven't failed your DD I promise.

There are many people who attend amazing universities despite going to terrible secondary schools. And I don't know what year she is in but there could always be an opportunity for her to move later on. Especially during A Levels. Keep looking!! You're doing great.

Our local comp doesn't have a great reputation but there are lots of kids that do well there. There are also loads of kids that don't do so well. The area demographic is challenging though, so I expect the kids that are doing well also benefit from parental support. If your child is allocated a space there, it might not be so bad. Could you support with extra tutoring if required?

Remember that spaces do come up elsewhere and you can go on a waiting list (read up carefully so you know all the details and understand the system). Even schools that are full at the start of September can have spaces later in the year or for other year groups.

Your LA might be able to tell you which schools were over-subscribed for Y7 admission and therefore which weren't (ours has this info on their website). You might find this helpful to know so you can target schools you apply for if you're low down on the admissions criteria.

I went to a horrific school. It was never judged good by Ofsted. I did well. Got a good degree, got a PGCE, have multiple other qualifications. Hard working kids will do well. Try not to worry too much. The school will be working hard to improve.

The school will change very rapidly now, new managers, new policies, probably increase in exclusions, limits on recruiting inexperienced staff, etc. Being graded inadequate is a huge catalyst for fast change, way more positive than being graded requires improvement.

How many choices do you have and where did you list it on your form? We have a very poor secondary near us, and thankfully found 3 alternatives for the form. Fingers crossed we get one we actually listed.

My 2 go to the school that was rated inadequate. It was a huge catalyst for change, (it's an academy too)new head brought in, half the staff culled, new ones brought in. It recently had its ofsted and is now rated good. I was worried about sending the kids there but they are doing very well and seem happy (which for me is the main thing!)
my personal opinion is that a child can do well or badly whatever school they are at. I am an example
of this -I went to a private school, was clever enough to do well but fell through the cracks and failed my a levels....

Have you read the report - what is it that makes it inadequate? Is it the teaching itself or something like safeguarding?

How old is your daughter? Like others have said, there will be changes. An inadequate ofsted doesn't always mean a bad student experience either. There is a school near me that has just received this grade, still gets great results and is the school of choice in the area. They weren't keeping proper records for their students educated elsewhere.
If things are really bad then they can get taken over by a different academy chain too.
Have you visited the school for open evenings etc? What feeling did you get?

I work in a school which was graded inadequate late last year. The culture within the school has changed quite swiftly and Ofsted will be visiting again soon to make sure changes have been implemented.
The academy trust have magically released more funds to us (part of the problem was resourcing previously) and there has been a leadership change.
Things haven't suddenly become fabulous, but consistency and behaviour are visibly improving.
There are really high achieving students in our school and even last year, we had exceptional A Level results and decent GCSE results.

Before the Ofsted our Trust mandated that we couldn't permanently exclude students which was causing huge levels of disruption across the school (key players causing most of the issues)
Now exclusion has been made possible for some of the more extreme behaviours and this has had a huge effect.

When a school is "inadequate" it's often because of a lack of care by senior management and not the kids and staff on the ground. The school you are talking about will be in a position now to identify those areas and make positive changes.
I bet anything it's a decent school that's had a hard run.

My school isn't perfect but it's getting much better, and there's a culture of care now rather than despair

My DD attended a failing school. She did exceptionally well in her A levels.

Took a year out and will go to university in September.

I think what I am trying to say is, that in the end they all sit the same exam papers. DD'd school was very supportive, it helped that class size was very small at A levels. School and teachers were very keen and helped students to reach their full potential. I believe there would have been less support in a academically more successful school.

Ofsted is a big con anyway. And inadequate schools often improve very rapidly and can have very good pastoral care. I would personally choose a local 'inadequate' school over an 'outstanding' school from my own and friends' experiences of both types.

Thank you all - especially for the positive stories. I definitely have other schools that I'll list on my form first, but this is the most likely result. I've researched it all.

@Clarabellawilliamson this school doesn't have great results, but then, results are quite low around here generally. I think it's a tricky catchment, but DC will definitely have a lot of home support. I just hope it's enough.

Some years ago, I taught in a school that had received its worst ever GCSE results, just before I joined. But amongst those poor results was one boy who went to Oxford two years later.

You’ve done what you can by researching alternatives and likely scenarios. You also know that you’ll do whatever you can to support, so that really is the best you can do for your child. She’s bright and motivated and you’ll give her every chance to be successful.

I once taught in a school that ofsted rated inadequate. Some students did exceptionally well (fifteen GCSEs with top grades kind of well) some did very badly. Some young people were absolutely inspirational in how they succeeded despite their circumstances and some should have been much better supported by the school.
The thing that made the difference was family support. If you're the kind of family with books in your house, that eats dinner together and talks about your day, when your children say 'I want to be a pilot' you start figuring out how to find out more about that... then they have a massive advantage, because not everyone has that.