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!

Agree completely with exotic

A good example is when I did one to one tuition with year 6 pupils at a very good primary. I had 6 pupils for Maths for one hour sessions. The most promising was a boy, he at least knew all his tables. However, he didn't want to know-he was annoyed that he was singled out for extra help. When I took him back to basics I got 'I know all this' but then I would use it all to make the next step and he was lost-he didn't 'know it'. In contrast the other 5 pupils were really pleased to have the extra help and they participated fully, if they didn't understand they told me and we worked through it. It wasn't easy-they had been taught it in class and sometimes I had to try several different ways until they understood it. Needless to say they all got the level 4 in the SATs except the one boy-and it was so silly-he could have done it.
Education isn't a passive act that someone 'does to you' and you come out with good results-you have to participate and you have to work at it.
My nephew went to selective private school from 3yrs to 18yrs and pupils were asked to leave at the end of nursery, end of pre prep , end of prep and before 6th form-they liked to get the best pupils from outside at each stage. Part of me thinks that if they have had a child from 3 yrs they jolly well should make sure they are up to standard-but it all goes to show that the school can do their bit but they can't do it for the pupil.
Going to a school with an 'outstanding' Ofsted may help-but only if it suits your DC and they are prepared to work. Another school may not have such a good result but they may be excellent at motivating the reluctant learner.
My friend was Head at a school where they had lots of DCs, new to the country, from Eastern Europe, many came in with no English. They progressed well but they could never get 'outstanding' because the SATs results were not good. If your child went to a Polish school with not a word of Polish, aged 9yrs, they are not going to do well in end of primary school tests-unless English is one of the subjects! That isn't a reflection on the school.

Depends.
Is the school in a middle / upper middle area? Possibly lots of home tutoring going on there. What percentage of kids are achieving their level 3s and what percentage Level 5, if there's a huge grade disparity, that usually reflects the tutoring divide.
An outstanding school in a mixed or deprived area that ALSO has good sats results probably is outstanding (a lot don't, outstanding used to be applied by ofsted to schools with only average sats results if they were in a rough area / have lots of FSM, to take account of the problems these school have faced).

Generally outstanding schools have a better ethos that fosters good behaviour and learning, and the parents that send their children there also care about these things. And kids all want to be like each other so they pull each others performance up.

Statistically one would think that children are more likely to do well in outstanding schools and good schools with good sats results regardless of their innate ability.

Also if your child has special needs does the school have a grade 1 for SEN tutoring? You need to match the schools strengths to your child's weaknesses.

NO!

You need to pick the right school for you and your child, an outstanding school in an area with high violent crime and lots of children who don't speak English will not necessarily suit a middle class family.

Outstanding school my child attended - awful and incompetent at dealing with disability / special educational needs.

Moved to Good school - child is happy, cared for and is thriving. Has started to learn as is understood, needs are accomodated and so is starting to learn.

Good one I would sell a kidney to keep them there.

Outstanding one - would go to jail rather than return them to such an uncaring and oppressive environment.

Ofsted is rubbish. Box ticking exercise that fails to see what is really happening in schools.