To move him from this school?

[AmazingBouncingFerret]

Ok here's the story..

DS is currently in reception at a very large CofE primary miles away from where we live (we moved house after he was accepted there)

DD will be turning 3 in December. I've applied for her to join him at this school but really don't fancy my chances I'm waaaay out of the catchment area and they won't take siblings already being enrolled as a reason for accepting. They also don't do January intake so she would have to wait until September 2013 before she started nursery.

There is a primary school very close to us that I've heard mixed feelings about. There are only 135 pupils, which sounds really good but some people have said it's not very 'modern'.

The CofE that DS is at is all high flying technology/science the pupils converse daily with pupils in another school in Denmark via video link etc etc.
but this little school is out in the sticks and has a great forest school programme in the woods.

They both have the same OFSTED result Satisfactory, however the CofE has just had their inspection just before christmas and they dropped from Good.
Whereas the little school had their inspection in 2010 and they weren't dropping they were improving...

I have no idea what to do because DS is so shy and I feel bad about throwing him into a class where everyone else knows each other but I'm beginning to feel that's the only option.

Stuart - I disagree. Good does not mean OK, and satisfactory def does not mean poor in many schools, esp since the recent changes to OFSTED. Many schools that were previously good are going down to satisfactory - in reality in most of those schools nothing has changed.

But ABF - the small local forest school sounds great. I would def take DS there to visit and really big it up, esp all the alternative forest school stuff he will get to do.

I was being a bit flippant, but I still think it's a mistake to take OFSTED ratings at face value. In the past, 'satisfactory' has sometimes meant 'we think it's a bit shit'.

On the other hand, as I said above, OFSTED assessment is a box-ticking exercise, and is not necessarily a fair representation of the school - or at least, OFSTED's criteria might not be the same as a parents criteria. Particularly where the school is doing something innovative like 'forest school' - maybe OFSTED just hasn't caught up with them yet!

What are the 'recent changes'? I'm behind the times...

(I'm not saying that OFSTED are always right about a school, just that the names of their assessments aren't 100% totally honest).

I can totally sympathise with the guilt part of moving. I moved my DSes to a new school in October. DS1 is 8 and did not under any circumstances want to move. He is also shy and is older so did have firmer friendships. 2 months in he loved the new school and now prefers it to his old one.

Be prepared for your DS to say he wants to go back to his old school for a little while at first. Although if you move him when he is startingthe new school year anyway he is less likely to do that.

Hey maybe your little boy is shy because he is in a big scary school??! He might be happier in the smaller one and become more confident, you never know? A little girl started at my sons school a few weeks ago and everyone wanted to be her friend because she was new and she has settled in so well, I am sure it would be the same for your boy.

OP you are worried about him making friends at the new school by coming in late to the year. This is a short term negative. Its counterpart is the long term friendship bonus if he moves school. If you now live far from DS's school, every year he's going to do worse and worse in the friendship stakes as others cement their relationships out of school. You can do lots of asking people for sleep overs and the like, but it won't make up for him being able to drop in over the road, or go back for tea at short notice and walk home.

OFSTED make a judgement, its based on a set of criteria. DS school got a bad OFSTED but all the parents were fuming as we were all more than happy with it and its caring attitude to our kids, TBH unless there is something really serious going on I would take OFSTED judgements with a pinch of salt until secondary and even then as children learn if they are interested and happy. A good teacher will engage them whether or not the school has an overall OFSTED praise. even the best schools cannot guarantee a child being happy and learning well, they have to want to do it themselves. go for it, it sounds a delightful school and if the teacher and ethos is good Ds will soon settle in.