To disregard ofsted report?

[10oclocknews]

I have 2 children one going into yr1 and another going into yr 6. We are relocating to another part of the country next month and so the children will move schools. There are 2 schools close to where we will be going, similar distances. One is rated good and the other requiring improvement. Both have effective safeguarding policies. My children’s cousins go to the School rated as requiring improvement and this could be handy if needing to share drop offs and pickups as I work shifts.
I’ve looked at the websites for both and their ethos and activities etc (cannot visit yet as they are closed).
The one rated as good seems to focus very much on academic achievement and whilst it does a lot of sports it doesn’t seem to do many other things outside of school. Their website also seems very formal. It has been a good school for a number of years with steady staffing and a number of mixed yr groups. All positive right?!

However having looked at the other school which is rated as requiring improvement their website seems much more inviting and their focus seems to be more on children’s well-being and pastoral care and promoting enjoyment of learning. Their attainment at end of key stage 1 and 2 is either in line or exceeding the national average, but the report highlights a high turnover of staff, although this is being rectified, and they have a clear plan for improvement and identifying their weaknesses. They also do lots of trips and outside learning and take a cross curricular approach in there trembly themes which is similar to their current school. Overall the one that is rated as requiring improvement seems more appealing to me on the face of it (if you disregard ofsted).

Obviously education is important and I want to make the right choices for them.

What are your opinions and thoughts on ofsted? WWYD?

Thanks

So why are they RI? When was it given? How can we comment until you’ve told us what the report says. You do sound as if you just want to be told RI is nothing as that school will be convenient.If the report says there is an issue with progress, attainment or behaviour I’d forget it. Management and safeguarding could take less time to be turned around but behaviour, progress and attainment could take ages to bed in.

Muma don’t think that is true. Isn’t a lot of it data driven now

I know of schools that have been rated ‘good’ for a number of years. That’s fine, but there’s a school of thought that says that they could be coasting and why are they not reaching outstanding, with a stable staff and good cohorts.

But we don’t know why the RI school was rated RI and I would want to know exactly why that was. I don’t think that there’s any substitute for visiting and getting a feel for the school, which of course, you can’t do for a few weeks. It depends whether there are spaces too

Ok, sorry I've just caught up. The report says it RI in all areas. This is summary of the report:
 Governors and leaders have not developed
sharp enough systems for monitoring and
evaluating the school’s work, including in the
early years.
 Governors and leaders do not check the impact
of the additional pupil premium funding on
pupils’ progress. Funding is not deployed
effectively to accelerate the progress for these
pupils.
 The progress of the most able pupils, a
previous area for improvement, is not
consistently good, including for those in the
early years.
 Teachers’ expectations for some middle attaining
pupils in a few subjects and year
groups, including the early years, are not
sufficiently ambitious. The consequent lack of
challenge stalls pupils’ progress.
 Teaching is inconsistent across year groups
and between subjects and is not good enough
to ensure that all groups of pupils make
sufficient progress.
 Teachers do not ensure that pupils apply their
writing skills across different areas of learning.
 The identification and support of the learning
needs of pupils who have special educational
needs and/or disabilities is underdeveloped.
Consequently, their academic progress slows.
 Leaders’ actions to improve attendance have
not had a strong enough impact. Attendance
remains below the national average.
 Some staff and parents express dissatisfaction
about how the headteacher deals with their
concerns. Some express concerns about pupils’
behaviour. Exclusions remain above the
national average.
The school has the following strengths
 Senior leaders have correctly identified where
weaknesses exist in the school’s work and have
put appropriate plans in place.
 Staff training has been effective in increasing
skills in phonics. Standards at the end of Year 1
have been above the national average for the
last three years.
 Effective teaching in Year 6 has led to
improved outcomes for pupils.
 Teaching assistants are highly skilled in
supporting pupils’ social and emotional needs.
 Leaders work determinedly with external
agencies to ensure the safety of pupils
A few parents expressed concerns about the school’s management of bullying.
However, pupils say that bullying is rare and that adults deal with unsafe behaviour quickly and effectively. Staff agree. The school’s records show that incidents of bullying are infrequent.
It says leadership is ineffective and more needs to be done, and some pupils are not being assessed or challenged enough to reach their potential, but then it contradicts itself further to say that pupils make good progress especially in maths at KS2, and that in english and maths it is at or above national standards.
It also highlights that NQ teachers are enthusiastic and implementing new methods but that it is too early to see the effectiveness. Also that new teachers are supported effectively. Yet earlier on it mentions the high staff turnover has impacted on pupils attainment and their is dissatisfaction expressed by some teachers and parents.

I will go and look at the schools and and decide then, but I just wanted others opinions of OFSTED reports. Both my children have been at the same school which is our local school since nursery. It has always been rated good and we have always been happy with it. We didn't consider other schools due to childcare arrangements already in place and as it has a good reputation we didn;t look elsewhere. The children are happy there. Having to look at other schools is new to us and so I did look at the OFSTED for guidance. I just wanted thoughts on how reliable they are.

thank you x

That is not great.
What is important is :
when was the inspection?
and
Is there a new head since the inspection?
what have the school done in response to the report?

No, there has not been a new headteacher. Their inspection in 2013 was rated good, and then in 2017 it was rates RI - Same head teacher listed.
There is a school improvement policy listed on their website which outlines their priority to review and improve areas in Maths, Writing, EYFS, PE, wider curriculum and reading, and a short sentence on how they will do this, but it doesn't mean much without an explanation eg, it mentions magpie books and hot and cold writes......this aren't terms I have come across before and are not used at our current school.

Having been a teacher for 17years myself, I take ofsted reports with a pinch of salt. I always read them and use them as something to look into or ask about when I visit, but it wouldn’t be the basis of my decision. In my experience with my own kids, and as a teacher, you get a really good idea of the school from visiting when the students are there, talking to staff, students and parents.

Having said that, if a school is RI, there will be a lot of pressure on the staff. This isn’t necessarily going to help retention of staff and I’d consider consistency of staff to be one of the most important factors in children’s learning and development. It’s definitely something I’d be speaking to the head about.

Yeah...I wouldn't send my child there. I am a teacher and it sounds like a school with multiple issues and low expectations academically, plus some ropey teachers ('inconsistent across Year groups' bit).

The high turnover of staff is a major cause of concern, been in a couple of situations like that and it was basically down to management ie the new headteacher has has 20 odd staff in my old secondary school leave for the past 3 years. Bonkers!

Saying that, I’m going to a new school whose OFSTED report from last year was terrible, but having spoken to a few members of staff and parents, I understand why. Their new OFSTED report from July was hugely improved, thank god!

Still, being RI in so many areas would be a definite no from me, there are way too many negatives, even though some of my friends with dc have said that academically, primary school is pointless!!

Nursery not school, but There are a number of outstanding nurseries near us. My sons isn’t one of them, but I chose it intentionally and wouldn’t change it for the world. Management have been there forever, the children are so well and affectionately cared for. The staff babysit and sent cards when we had our baby recently. I don’t care if it isn’t strict enough on some processes etc , if the equipment is shabby, I walked in when looking at nurseries and thought yes, this.

I certainly don't think Primary school is pointless academically!!.. although I do think there are many more other important aspects to look for in a school other than their academic achievements, such as their pastoral care and how they promote good attitudes to learning, and recognising individual abilities. We do support the children at home with their work, although I know some children do not have the same support.

My children have been fortunate enough to be at a good school with very good staff, many of whom have been there for over 20 years. The new staff who have come over the last few years have also been fantastic. Both my children had fantastic teachers last year so we will be sad to leave.

I will visit the schools in question and that will form the biggest part of my decision, but I do share the same concerns mentioned about the high turnover of staff. Luckily where we are moving to has a number of other primary schools within 1 - 1.5 miles radius, so if necessary I can consider others if the feeling is not positive at the local ones.