Would you send your child to an ‘Inadequate’ school?

[RubyIsANewBEE]

I was shocked to see this is what they’re rated by OFSTED.

Their website had a really good feel to it! And I was impressed. Because let’s be honest, first impressions count.

I am going to have a look with another Mum on Tuesday. I was shocked to see it’s about the same school

Would you chance it if you liked the look of the school and were happy with what you saw in person?

Okay, it doesn’t prove anything, but other school websites that are somewhat local look a bit rubbish! And their words didn’t impress me. Speaking to a few parents who have children at these schools I’m not impressed by initially, they aren’t happy with that school either so maybe the ‘Inadequate’ school will work?

DD2 has a big sister in a special needs school so I don’t have any experience of mainstream.

Not sure if it’s okay to post due to the media attention MN gets but this is the website

What made me double check it wasn’t prep? I don’t know. Just looked really good

www.laburnumprimary.co.uk

My son has attended and inadequate school and it was okay. Moved on to an outstanding school and it was just terrible. He to leave half way through due to panic attacks.

I would ignore the ofsted report entirely and go and ask questions in person.

I've taught in outstanding, good and requires improvement schools - they've all had strengths and weaknesses. I wouldn't make a decision based on Ofsted, but I would look at why they got that judgement.

I would ignore the website too, as it's really not related to the actual teaching or atmosphere of the school.

I work in school improvement and have been into inadequate schools. They often aren’t terrible wild zoo like places but they can have significant issues. For most kids they go in, can get on as they may be in set 1 or 2 so don’t get disrupted much. It can vary a lot by class and teacher in these types of schools, inconsistency is often rife. Often staff are trying their best but there may not be the systems and processes to support them. Go and visit, talk to pupils and staff. It may be that they’ve had new leadership since the last report for example but ultimately trust your gut. If you like it send your child there, if you don’t then don’t.

It was academised last year so there is no relevant Ofsted report for it. Many of the Leadership team may be different now and they will be overseen by the academy leaders. I have seen a school academised and be outstanding within 4 years.

A few years ago a local school was judged inadequate - in reality it was a lovely school, children were consistently doing well, it turned out the school was not great at ticking OFSTED boxes.

My dc have been to two outstanding schools, both awful, high rates of misery amongst children.

Talk to parents at the school and get a feel for it that way.

I really wouldn't judge a school by its website.

Nor it's ofsted report.

Sorry didn’t realise it was a primary! If it’s under new leadership then just visit and ask them directly what they’re doing to mitigate the issues highlighted in the last report, they should be able to tell you.

Unless it's due to safeguarding, it usually takes a lot for a school to be judged inadequate. Bad management is usually the main driver, resulting in bad behaviour and high staff turnover, with one fuelling the other. I've worked in one or two that turned that way.
You will never see a true picture on an official visit; a better place to ask is in the community (though not social media as you will only get those with a particular grudge).
Questions to ask before you make a decision:
How long ago was the school rated inadequate?
Has a change in leadership happened?
If there was a monitoring visit since the rating, has the school shown significant improvement in the report?

It's been part of an academy chain since January 24.

Have a look at the Ofsted reports for the other schools in the academy chain, and when they were taken over. That is likely to give you an idea of the potential for improvement, given additional support from the chain.

I would want reassurance that the senior leadership team was largely new since the takeover.

Umm, the website looks good because it has joined a MAT since the last ofsted. All the schools in that MAT have basicthe same landing pages. Was underwhelmed at how hard it was to find the legal ofsted link on their webpage.
Posh uniform but is it all fur coat and no knickers? In particular look very carefully at behaviour as the comment in the last report was brutal.

DS goes to a RI school, the school I work at is an RI school. The problem with Ofsted is it relies on a tiny snapshot of school life which is often not accurate as the kids play up cuz they're nervous about getting picked to talk to the officer or the teachers really pull their socks up and deliver amazing lessons that wouldn't be normal provision.

Our school will probably never rate highly in Ofsted's opinion because we have an incredibly high level of diagnosed and undiagnosed SEND and our children don't function like 'normal children' but parents send their kids to us because we have an amazing track record for producing good outcomes for these children with SEND.

The most important thing is the feel you get when you visit the school. We picked the RI school over a good school for DS because he was so much more interested in what the children were doing and every member of staff was so lovely to him when we went for the tour. At the good school he was climbing all over me and not engaged at all and that told me everything I needed to know

It seems to be safeguarding - specifically, challenging behaviour of a select few and some pupils not feeling safe.

I imagine that’ll be lack of special needs support. And who knows who will be in my daughter’s class for Reception.

My DD1 has been in special needs school (with very severe, complex care needs needing 1-1 and 2-1 support and the council still tried sticking her in mainstream, luckily I fought them like a bear to avoid). I think this is a problem everywhere from what I’ve read and heard

The teachers themselves report feeling well listened to and supported by higher up

Definitely not

Also inadequate and RI schools get all the latest strategies and support thrown at them so in a way it's better to be at one of those because they get the most up to date teaching BUT the feel of the place is definitely the most important thing

DD2's grammar school went from Outstanding to Requires Improvement in part due to the headteacher and her bullying. The teaching was still good although lots of teachers had left. It did put some parents off sending their children to the school. It doesn't always mean that the school is terrible.

Had to google what an MAT is 😅

Thank you, that’s helpful to know!

Not sure if they have a posh uniform though? Seems like a standard uniform?

Anyone can build a good website. Go and visit the school. Join the local social media groups and ask for impressions. Talk to the existing parents. Then make your mind up.

That is what I would’ve thought, so why can’t schools rated a lot better by OFSTED than this one get their website to look like it isn’t stuck in 2010? 😄

Where I am the pta can have heavy involvement in school website. One school we were at had a great website as one parent was a photographer and did photos for free and another worked in Web design so again that was done for free... So it looked great and much better than other local schools.

One school I know of let's the y5/y6 do a Google website and the kids take the pictures for it to, as part of some extra curricular club or something

So you can imagine the difference, the kids one doesn't look as slick as the professionals from PTA, but the school where kids make their own website is one of the best schools in our area.

So I wouldn't judge jyst by a slick website x

There is a world of difference between RI and Inadequate.

Children stating they don't feel safe is pretty bad. That's different to, say, an incorrect register (which is also not ideal but when everyone is stressed a typo in the wrong place can have huge ramnifications).

If the behaviour of a few is bad enough that children don't feel safe - SEND or not - then chances are that your children will be exposed to that, too. So the question then is, would you be happy with that? I've taught a few children whose primary report basically stated "prone to throwing furniture" and if that is not dealt with well enough, then I wouldn't want my children in the same classroom.

Staff are usually not stupid enough to voice concerns on an Ofsted visit, or in general publicly. One school I worked in went into Special Measures and we were basically told beforehand that an Ofsted inspection was absolutely not the time and place to voice our very valid concerns, and that staff voice would be monitored. It's never fully anonymous.

Same headteacher

@Elendel that all sounds such a nightmare! I really feel for teachers. My DD1’s teachers and support staff deserve 3 times their salary for the work they do.

Can I ask though, surely again this is dependent on pupils? If there’s someone throwing furniture around in the Class of 2023 start, why would that mean a child throwing furniture would be in Class of 2025/6 start etc?

I thought the general out of control behaviour was only getting worse absolutely everywhere in the country now, across all schools? For a number of reasons, but largely due to lack of special needs support and schools being strapped for cash

I thought schools taken over by Academies were given better funding, but again I am actually thinking of senior schools

I have never heard of a primary school being taken as part of an Academy (again though, I am not in the know about any of this! My DD1 started age 3.5 and won’t leave until she’s 19).

It is a ‘new school’ where a failing school closes and is taken over by an academy who will then work to improve all aspects of the school- the website says it opened last March.
so it hasn’t had a full school year yet.

if you like the head teacher and general vibe then go with it, it will have lots of investment and scrutiny to make sure the school improves and kids succeed.

I don’t know this school