Would you send your child to a “requires improvement” school?

[NotUmbongoUnchained]

Looking like it might be our only option

But because they’re being monitored does that mean they will be working harder to make the school better?

Wwyd?

Like interest rates, Schools OFSTED ratings go up and down. I sent my kids to a ‘requires improvement’ school that is now a ‘good’ because that’s where there was space, and in the meantime the ‘outstanding’ oversubscribed primary has become ‘requires improvement’.

I’d look at why they require improvement. The one my kids go to got that rating because some classrooms were messy and disorganised. The kids were still achieving well and everything else was fine. If kids had been doing badly/bullying was a problem I wouldn’t have sent them.

I agree with a pp that the history of the school is worth considering; is it a blip or a long term struggling/ unstable school.

I've worked across a range of schools and they are all individual in their "personality" and it has nothing to do with OFSTED judgements. Some of the schools that were best on paper ticked along nicely with all the right outcomes, but weren't very supportive if something was amiss (either as a teacher or a student)

A petty clue that gives a good indicator of the school is how well kept it is. Not necessarily the buildings, but does it feel respected by staff and pupils (little litter, graffitti, wall displays surviving well)

I think I would be looking at why they require improvement more than anything.

No however if your only choice then what can you do

Get on the board of governors and be all over the school like a rash

Ofsted aren't always interested in the same things as parents are when judging a school.

Yes; I chose a school in special measures for my child. 8 years later I have other children at the school and have never regretted it.

I’d have a read of the full report on the Ofsted site. They may well be good in some areas and weak in others.

My son went to an RI primary for a while and they were bloody great at certain things like dealing with SEN, so it was a good fit. I also know someone who sent their kids to a highly competitive, outstanding school and they hated it. It was the sort of place where you had to live within 100 metres to get a place. They felt that only the gifted or talented kids got any attention, so ended up moving their children. It really can go either way.

We sent DD to a school rated Outstanding. It was clear though when she started that it hadn’t been inspected in a long time. The school was nothing like the Ofsted report led us to believe.
A new head was appointed and within a couple of months Ofsted came to inspect. The school was rated as “Requires improvement” and the ofsted report cited failures in record keeping and lots of things that were directly related to the old head. The new head was highly praised but they couldn’t rate on their performance as they were too new and ofsted couldn’t say if the improvements were good enough at that point.
The school is fantastic despite its grade and much better than many “outstanding” schools in the area by the sounds of it.
So I’d read the report closely and visit the school. You’ll get a feel of it that way.

Yes we did and it’s been excellent for my daughter. There are two outstanding schools just up the road from us but we wanted the school nearest to us and it’s absolutely been the right decision. The school have worked hard on their communication with parents, are working hard to improve things and DH (a primary school teacher who works at an outstanding school) says that the rating has nothing to do with how the kids are looked after and everything to do with paperwork.

It depends; on how recently it was given the stays of RI, same for the Oustanding school, ethos, headteacher etc etc.

I live in an area often described as deprived (small city, you can drive for five minutes and be in an affluent suburb.)
When looking around schools with my eldest, our local outstanding primary had an amazing headteacher and we were happy to get a place. A year later he left and the whole atmosphere of the school shifted, and the new management team weren’t keen on any measures to ease school life for my child who is autistic but compliant at school. It’s still classed as outstanding now but hasn’t been inspected since the old HT left.
So, I moved him to next closest school which was RI at that point. One form entry, smaller, much better for him. Three months later it was put into special measures mostly due to management issues - and a month after that, taken over by an academy chain (the very same one who managed the previous school, that was a fun evening in our house!)

However, our school hasn’t lost it’s lovely community ethos, the teachers are still excellent and there is a new management team in place which has helped immensely. I wouldn’t move my children back to the outstanding primary down the road if you paid me.

I joined the governing body of a local 'requires improvement' secondary school three years ago. As other posters have said - so long as there's a new head with the skills and experience (and support of a committed teaching team) to take the necessary action to improve it shouldn't be an issue. During the turnaround period everything is under scrutiny and there is usually lots of LEA advice on the progress required and feedback on the 'direction of travel'.

In our case the main frustration after things turned around was having to wait about 12 months for the next (unannounced) OFSTED inspection to prove that standards truly had improved. So we were labelled as failing long after the changes had taken place. This can have impacts on student numbers and associated funding that then take further time to resolve.

Our school is very inclusive and, unlike many local schools, works hard to accommodate in-year transfers, often transforming the lives of pupils who were labelled as failing previously. Unfortunately this also works against us when funding allocations are based on pupil numbers at set dates in the term.

The inspection after RI (and the school had 2 interim monitoring visits) found:

*No DBS or pre-employment checks being done
*Teachers had a poor understanding of phonics
*Pupil assessment based on gut feeling not evidence
*Funding not being tracked and pupil premium not spent

And it went on and on. It was already an Academy having converted due to a previous Special Measures.

If you're really unable to make a decision, I'd suggest looking at one thing: staff turnover. If there's lots of staff coming and going, then there's a high-likelihood that the school isn't going in the right direction and isn't a nice place to work (and by extension not a nice place for your DC to be either).

I didn’t - because I did not like the headmistress and felt she was not going to improve the school enough. She actually left a year later.

I did however send my DD to a school (not through choice initially) to a GOOD school which also had a troubled past. I am really pleased with the school. They were inadequate, then requires improvement, then a very good GOOD.

It will never have the highest SATS but the Head is great, it’s still incredibly unpopular thanks to reputation so class sizes are smaller - and for us it’s been a blessing.

I’ve taught in two RI and two Outstanding schools. I would happily send my child to one of the RI schools and one of the outstanding ones. However one of the outstanding ones was utterly toxic. They forged things and the focus was so much on data, they were borderline emotionally abusive to the children. The RI I wouldn’t send my child to, it had got a reputation for being good with SEN, but was now struggling to cope with the sheer volume of competing needs.

So, essentially I don’t think there is much correlation. Go look around and try to get a feel for if the staff and headteacher are good, kind people. That will tell you way more than an ofsted report.

We did and it’s been wonderful. As others have said, very much depends on the reasons. My dd’s school was assessed as requiring improvement the spring before she started. It was due to test scores. The school openly acknowledges that they don’t teach for testing and they don’t intend to change that. Their approach is very holistic. They have wonderful teachers and a forest school and lots of engagement with the local community. Pastoral care is excellent and children are kind and happy. But it’s a small village school and even 2 students doing poorer than expected on tests throws off the whole average. They have gotten some extra support from ofsted to improve rigor while holding onto their commitment not to make it all about test scores. But the school is lovely and my dd has really flourished there.

I think it depends on what they need to improve and how they plan to do it. If the problem was pastoral care or safeguarding, then yes, it would be an issue. Also depends on your gut feeling. This school felt right for us. We intentionally chose it over a much higher rated school and glad we did.

Our local RI school went up to Good in a year.
I'd read the report and give it a chance as long as the problems aren't serious.

Totally depends on the school and what it required improvement in but I don’t buy the theory that a RI school will magically change around, it takes a good while and anything overnight takes time to properly bed in

I would base my decisions on an actual visit and speaking to people who have children at the school.

There are 'outstanding' schools locally to us where I absolutely would not send my children. They haven't been inspected for 10 years so the reports bear no relevance to the current teaching staff or head, and an open day left me cold. Yet other parents queue up to send their children there on its 'outstanding' label alone. Parents are not given any input and the attitude is very much you should feel lucky to have a child there

There are RI schools locally who have inspiring leaders and dedicated staff and lovely atmospheres, where they are working hard to improve the areas of concern raised. These schools see parents as partners and welcome help and input.

I send mine to our nearest school, rated 'good' and have things I like and things I don't but none of these were captured in the ofsted report.

Take it all with a pinch of salt.

Dd is at a requires improvement secondary school. I read the report, most of the issues in it had already been addressed by the school (eg needing to improve attendance and a new behaviour policy). The other main issues were that the governors were not involved enough and that pupil premium was not being used effectively or monitored properly. The report itself was actually pretty positive overall. So much of an ofsted inspection is box ticking and it’s not always a true reflection imo.

Dd is very happy there and seems to be doing well so far.

There's no yes or no answer to that question.

It totally depends on the circumstances of the school and your child.

Go and see it and make your mid up based on what you find

We’re at an ofsted outstanding school. My dc has faced so much discrimination on the basis of her disability. Ofsted for me is box ticking and I’d rather my school give a shit about my dc than a rating. I’m not saying all outstanding don’t care but our experience with them has been incredibly poor.

Thank you for your help everyone! Just been to visit a “good” school and loved it. There’s only one please left so I’m hoping the late application will go through before anyone else gets it.

Good luck, hope it all works out.