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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think Ofsted Outstanding schools can still be a bit crap

43 replies

Safestyleukwrestler · 26/02/2017 16:31

School application angst! Nearest school is Good. We are Christian, DH v much so, and our favoured school is a Faith Ofsted outstanding school, DH is v keen. On further investigation it got its rating nearly 9 years ago and hasnt been inspected since!Hmm

Aibu to think this ratinb therefore means nothing, really?

OP posts:
Oblomov17 · 26/02/2017 17:11

"Ofsted are all about paper week and targets. They're not about how happy and nurtured the children are which to me is far more important."

I agree.

MollyHuaCha · 26/02/2017 17:15

My DCs started their school career at a local Ofsted outstanding 'Beacon' sch. It had its good points, but a lot of bad points too and therefore we left, joined the independent sector and found the excellence we had been searching for.

Original poster
Safestyleukwrestler · 26/02/2017 17:19

Thanks for that link Derxa. The school comes out very well compared to the nearest others, but if those stats are being propped up by private tutors that rather skews the results doesnt it?

OP posts:
DelphineCormier · 26/02/2017 17:20

I wouldn't count on a faith school to teach my child everything I wanted them to know about Christianity however good the school was tbh. A Christian school as a Christian is nice, but Sunday school is still going to be more direct. I wouldn't pick a school purely based on it being a faith school. But then as far as I know there is only one state faith school of my branch of Christianity in England.

MumW · 26/02/2017 18:13

Agree with PPs. An outstanding school knows how to tick all the right boxes. It may or may not be outstanding in some/all other areas.

Go and look round, preferable during the school day and see what your gut feeling is. Try and speak to parents with children at the school. Look at when the last ofsted wax and whether there has been a change in leadership.
Accept it is a gamble and you can only do your best with the information available at the time you make your decision. Just because it's good when your DC joins doesn't mean it's going to still be good when they leave - and I speak from bitter experience here.

derxa · 26/02/2017 18:41

but if those stats are being propped up by private tutors that rather skews the results doesnt it? The tests were so new I'll bet private tutors wouldn't have made much difference.

Trifleorbust · 26/02/2017 18:44

It doesn't mean nothing. It means last time the school was inspected it met a very high standard during that inspection, and the results since have given no reason for concern.

hangingkebab · 26/02/2017 18:50

Two of my best friends are teachers at (different) outstanding schools. The stories they tell me are frankly shocking - I have come to the conclusion that Ofsted ratings can easily be manipulated by 'talking a good talk'.
Find a school that you like and your DC will be happy in, regardless of rating.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 26/02/2017 18:54

Please, please make judgements about schools based on personal experience, by visiting and getting a feel for the place. Ofsted doesn't tell you about atmosphere, how people treat one another, whether it seems comfortable and positive, whether there is an atmosphere of tension in the school.

LittleMissUpset · 26/02/2017 19:05

I don't think ofsted inspections tell you anything, my kids school was rated outstanding years ago, when the old head was there, and hasn't been inspected since.

It's no good if your child has SN as I've found out, it used to be good for SN when the old head was there.

We find out our high school allocation soon, and the one I want my son to go to doesn't have a good ofsted and is low on the league tables, but I've heard from lots of people it's fantastic for kids with SN, and it felt right when we looked around.

A lot of it is gut feeling if I'm honest.

DelphineCormier · 26/02/2017 19:08

Is the relgious studies curriculum even any different in faith schools anyway? Confused

wannabestressfree · 26/02/2017 19:10

We have a separate ofsted for Christian ethos by the diocese.

DelphineCormier · 26/02/2017 19:14

That's great. But how is what the child is being taught any different?

derxa · 26/02/2017 19:17

We have a separate ofsted for Christian ethos by the diocese.
No it's not Ofsted.
www.churchofengland.org/education/church-schools-academies/siams-school-inspections.aspx

wannabestressfree · 26/02/2017 19:58

Ok it's an inspection by a panel much like ofsted who look at our Christian ethos.

Bensyster · 26/02/2017 20:02

Dd went to an outstanding primary, it was awful. No help for kids that struggled, great SATS achieved because 75% of kids had a tutor. Terrible bullying not dealt with by the school, kids with Sen encouraged to go elsewhere, I could go on...
Don't chose a school based on ofsted

CruCru · 27/02/2017 00:21

Ofsted ratings can change markedly. The secondary up the road from me was given "outstanding" in 2010 - it's just had another inspection and Ofsted have said that it is "inadequate" in all areas.

Primaryteach87 · 27/02/2017 00:52

I've taught in a few differently rated schools from outstanding to (as was then) satisfactory (needs improvement now). The school that I would never, ever send my child to was the outstanding one. They bullied the children and spent so much time on the paperwork they didn't really teach anything other than maths and literacy (1.5 lessons for 5 year olds..). It was pretty horrible and I wasn't there long. I reported another teacher for ripping up a ks1 (probably dyslexic) child's work and getting the class to laugh at her...needless to say when my complaint was ignored I found a new job. Awful... incidentally the school that was satisfactory/needs improvement was actually very lovely.

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