Will an OFSTED outstanding school ensure your child gets better results?

[AppleStroodles]

I'm under the (possibly misguided) impression that if you send your child to an ofsted outstanding school they will achieve more academically, aibu? Views please!

Yes probably.

But there are also lots of factors to consider. What is the 'outstanding' for? Are the children additionally tutored out of school? Are the school interested in helping a child get a D from an E, or do they simply ignore those children and focus on the grade jumps that reflect well on them?

Some outstanding schools don't actually get brilliant grades either. Has the head teacher changed or are they about to?

I think your OP is correct if you exchange the word 'will' with 'may'.

My DC are at an outstanding school - although it may not be at the next inspection as I understand they are aiming to reduce the number of schools rated outstanding. They are doing well so far, but who knows if they'd be doing better or worse at another school. There's no guarantee.

Short answer is no, they will not necessarily do better.
How well your child does at school is determined by many different things.
The child's own personality, the support they get from home, the friends they have and the dynamics within the peer group.
Coming from a teaching background, ofsted is an extremely flawed system that does not always get it right and their opinions should always be treated with care and common sense. The goal posts are constantly changing, a school can be outstanding one day and merely satisfactory the next.
There are so many factors that come into play here that one ofsted review can never guarantee one child's success.

No, an OFSTED outstanding school will not ensure your child gets better results. Some outstanding schools are better with children that are naturally lower achievers and some are better with children that are more naturally academic.

Some outstanding schools get good results but they are not so good at pastoral care so children that need that might not do as well as they would have done in a school that provides good emotional support.

There is so much to think about, and it's often more a case of choosing a school that suits the child rather than choosing a school that has the best results or OFSTED report.

No

Not necessarily. We removed ds2 from an 'Outstanding' Primary to go to a 'Good' one.

The outstanding one was in total chaos and fraying at the seams. The headmistress swanning around with her head in the clouds in a state of happy complacency

Not necessarily it would help but it depends on a lot of factor, i know someone who went to a school on the verge of closing he got A*s and he is now a surgeon

well your child is obviously going to have to work for them they dont just hand good results out yab ( a bit of both) DDs get/got good results and a rubbish school yet a friends dd get good results at the best school in the area

at a rubbish* I wish I hadn't said rubbbish school now it isn't a rubbish school it is a great school for those who try iyswim

Only if thy are taking an exam in last minute perpetration and box ticking

*Preparation

It's also worth remembering that a lot depends on individual teachers. My dc have had brilliant teachers in their school, but they have both had a year with teachers that I wouldn't have chosen in a million years, despite it being an outstanding school.

I think as the others say it depends on the school.

My children are at an "outstanding" school and I would say the for our family it is genuinely outstanding - great pastoral care, academic where appropriate but also hugely creative - lots of theatre and animals and gardening and photography and so on. Staff that throw themselves into things with enthusiasm and are open for discussion.

The buildings are dated and the site is cramped. You could easily film a remake of "To Sir with Love" there. There is not enough outside space and it is in a noisy central area. There are also not nearly enough books and no library.

My kids live opposite a park and have a decent garden. They don't mind noise and we have books coming out our ears (in fact, both their teachers now email me their next topics and ask what they can borrow!). So for MY children, the downsides are not a disaster. For other children, they might be a deal breaker.

You need to choose the school that works for your family.

Ofsted can only ever be a guide. I know one "outstanding" school locally where I hear lots of chat about it just being because the Head is good at jumping through hoops - kind of like teaching to the test. I don't know how much truth is in it, but I do know a lot of unhappy kids and parents.

Dh won a scholarship to a highly thought of private school, admits that he had excellent tuition and enjoyed himself there, but failed his exams because he couldn't be arsed to work. Many of his peers did very well indeed. But he didn't- because of his own individual choices.

The teaching is one part of the equation, parental support is another one- but the learner also has to decide to make the effort.

I otoh went to a fairly bog standard comp, surrounded by peers who had no interest in learning, and yet worked hard because I loved learning, because my family loved learning and because I wanted to get away from that place.

Good for you, Cory.

Actually can i say about the ofsted reports, the schools are told when they are coming. When i was in secondary school we spent a few days cleaning our classrooms up and when the inspector was in the classroom we redid a lesson we had already done so we knew the answers.

All I can say is from experience I have 2 DS both going to a Ofsted outstanding school, it's pushy and results driven, and overlooks the lower grade students and just concentrates on the high achieving crowd.

So DS1 I would move if I could and DS2 will be a wonderful school for him.

Schools do know when they are coming, but only by a couple of days. Although they often have a good idea what term they will get a visit in based on when their last one was and on when other schools on the are have been done.

OFSTED reports can also be more or less worthwhile depending on the time of year they visit. The second to last week of the summer term is very different to the second week at the start of the school year, and I know of schools that have had their inspection when whole year groups have been away on residential trips, or the whole school has been doing sports day, or when other one off events are taking place, yet the report can only be given based on what was seen on those two days.

it isn't 'a couple of days' now - its a phone call by 2pm the day before they turn up

I know at least one school that has often has OFSTED-day rehearsals where they deliver their HT-approved lesson, and switch about with the weak teachers being replaced by better ones for 'show'.

&HollyBerryBush* i was just going by when i was at school which actually was quite a while ago now i think about it!!! im glad theyve changed it though!

My kids school got done recently. It was day eight of the new school year, one year group had just got back from residential and one year group was on day two of starting school. Nursery weren't even in yet at all, I don't think.

But yes, the call came at around 2 pm. To be fair, they knew they were due. So in some ways they'd been on "amber alert" for months, the 2 pm call just put them on red alert!

As a teacher who has worked in outstanding schools as well a chools in SM (and am no longer in the state sector) I would say not necessarily no. OFSTEDs need to be taken with a big pinch of salt. Mind you,the school I taught at that was in SM fully deserved to be.

I didn't actually mean chools y'know....