To have picked to requires improvement school over the outstanding one?

[JaneW1988]

My daughter starts school in a few days. We have 2 pretty local schools and visited both of them. We preferred the feel of school 1, which when we reviewed on Ofsted, it was requires improvement.

The other was nice too but we just preferred the other, although the other is outstanding.

I was happy with my choice but now I'm getting a bit worried about it

Don't worry
You go with your gut feeling
The school will be monitored and improved

I've worked in schools. Ofsted alone wouldn't have swayed me unless it was attached to a bad complaint.

I've worked in outstanding Ofsted schools that have pulled resources and toys out the kids have never seen or used before, nurseries who have pulled staff in from other sites and schools who's pastoral care has been horrendous but know how to put on a show.

I've been in the most homely, nurturing and supportive Ofsted failed schools who do an amazing job but not in the tick box way Ofsted want.

I don't invest much time in Ofsted reports. Yes they have their merits but as the poster above said, people lie.
I was on a placement in a school (12 years ago now!) and the school was called on a Thursday for an inspection the following week.

Every display etc was all done fresh, walls painted etc and on the day, it was like working in a different classroom. The usually crap teacher did a great lesson with fantastic resources etc as if it was the norm.

It was a bizarre experience!

The school was graded outstanding but it was anything but.

My eldest's school has just been given a 'requires improvement' rating and my youngest will start there next week. Although I am a bit concerned, it's still a good school with good, caring staff and happy children. The school has a plan to get back on track.

I think a gut feeling is more important than a rating, and as a pp said the school will be given extra support over the next few years to improve.

My sons was an RI but I preferred it liked the feel of it, couple of years later it has progressed a lot, but in a way it has become more like the outstanding ones

We have one local outstanding school which I have been told is very focussed on maintaining that rating, to the detriment of those in the school who may be struggling. We visited it and didn't like it. However, although the school we chose needed improvement, we loved it and felt it would be a much better fit for our children. It has since been re inspected and is now a good school and we couldn't be happier with it. Loads of children have transferred in to this school over the few years we've been there.
People said we were mad to not go to the outstanding school (our kids are adopted so we essentially get to chose) but we were much happier with where we've chosen. Ofsted reports aren't that important in my eyes.

What are the results like, how much progress do the pupils make, what do other local parents think, what about extra curricular etc? I would do a bit more investigating.

As well as Ofsted being open to a bit of pantomime, some schools can pull brilliant parents visits out of the bag. Good schools might not put the effort into a parents visit if their reputation speaks volumes. Bad schools try to put a great shine on a lump of coal. Gut instinct is subject to confirmation bias with the clarity of hindsight.

I'm a teacher and chose a requires improvement school for my dd. She had a fantastic first year and I love the school. Go with your gut. Ofsted reports should be taken with a massive pinch of salt.

We picked a RI school over an outstanding school and 3 years on haven't regretted the decision. The head teacher had so much confidence in the year 6 pupils that he allowed pairs of them to show the parents around. You cannot script children and these kids were smart, funny and confident. It was the deciding factor for us.

The school was re-assessed 4 months after DS joined and it now has a Good rating. The outstanding school had a fantastic academic record but the children didn't seem as happy on the 2 occasions we visited.

Go with your gut feel, pastoral care was high on our priority list and I have not been disappointed with our choice.

As everyone else has said go with your gut feeling, I'm a teacher and wouldn't hesitate to choose and RI school over an outstanding school if I liked the feel of it more. The only exception would be if the ofsted report highlighted safeguarding concerns. Ofsted reports are not always reflective of the day to day practices of a school.

It is also worth thinking about when the ratings were obtained.
The gap between what was required to get Outstandng a decade ago (many Outstanding schools haven't been inspected since then) and what is required to just miss Good today is pretty small - the inspection criteria are much tougher today.

Also, Ofsteds reflect a school at a particular moment in time. A single change - of staff, or cohort - or the failure to make changes as the educational world moves on [IME quite common in schools, particularly primaries, that have been labelled Outstanding] can make the grade no longer reflect the present character and quality of the school.

I always look at what OFSTED picked up on and whether that is something that can be changed and if it's important to me anyway.
Ie if they said pupils were not happy or bullying handled badly I'd be concerned as that can be hard to tackle
If they say some very able pupils not stretched enough I'd not worry as much as that's easier to remedy and my children aren't very able

They will be getting support to improve and if it felt warm and nurturing I'm sure it's fine,

My children go to a "requires improvement" school. They have been amazing and really on the ball with both of my children who have learning difficulties, one of who has asd and the other suspected. I chose this school as dc1 went to nursery there and they were amazing with him. The "outstanding" school down the road didn't interest me at all.

My children attend a primary school that was assigned a 'Requirements Improvement' ofsted rating when my son was leaving reception. I would not change it for any other school with 'outstanding' in the area. It is working hard towards making improvements, has a lovely nurturing atmosphere and my children feel safe, happy and secure. I can see that they are learning and progressing. Go with your gut instinct, it is so important. I agree with the previous views, my friend is a primary school teacher and she has told me all the tricks that are employed to ensure a high Ofsted rating.