To think we shouldn't move to a village with a poor performing primary school?

[KPjoenix]

DH and I disagree. We found a village that we both like BUT the village primary school gets dire results for no particularly reason. It's not in a deprived area. DH thinks we should go for it and hope the school improves or if not then try for a place in a neighbouring village...I think that's too risky. AIBU?

Behaviour remains a big issue. A lot of the practical stuff like bothering to shut the school gates does seem to have been sorted. It was pitiful during lockdown for provision and in person doesn't seem to get much better reviews. I'd stick to the waitlist if possible. Is it a reception place you need?

Sorry I know because we still have quite a few good friends in the village who have tried to stick it out with the school and are now regretting it and scrambling for school places.

My friend's dc have been through a school that did really badly on an Ofsted while they were there. Changes were made and she was certainly happy with the school. She is a very positive person and her dc all do well.

Going against the grain here. You need to visit the school and see for yourself. SATs weren't done in 2020 and were optional in 2021. So any information is about children who by now are midway through secondary school.

When my DDs were small we visited the local schools to see which one to send DD1 to. The one we were zoned to was OFSTED - Good but had really dire results. Getting there was really tough and we would have to drive. The closest one was also Good but the Head was the most disinterested person I have ever met. Children ignored her and she had rigid views on everything. We went to look at a small village primary, about half the size of the one you are considering which at the time was Satisfactory. The Head showed us round. Children ran up to him shouting "look at my sums Mr B" or "Mr B, I got a star". It was such a lovely nurturing atmosphere that we sent the DDs there. Results were never great but aforementioned DD1 hasn't suffered as she's just about to start a PhD at Cambridge. The school was able to stretch and challenge her and most importantly, work with us to extend and enrich her learning. SATs for them were rarely reported as they had to have 10 or more children in year 6 for them to be published. DD1 was one of 8, DD2 was one of 2!

Oh crap, just realised it's a zombie thread! Oh well, hope this helps someone...

Yes reception and year 3. My children are confident and happy, so I obviously worry that a not great school will affect that. They will be leaving a larger town school, rated 'good'.

152 in the school. Not sure how many per class? More girls than boys. Hardly any on free school meals. Everyone speaks English as a first language. Better than average attendance record. It's consistently had poor results for the last few years. 0% of students exceeding.

Statistically that is extremely unusual, I would be a bit suspicious. Can you go and visit to get a better feel for it?

@StewedFruit Have you already moved or is this a planned move? I'd focus on getting a good place for your year 3 which will bump your reception child up the list. Year 3 places are much easier to find.

@KPjoenix

I agree ofsted and SATS aren't the full picture but surely there's a happy medium between a SATS factory and 30% reaching and 0% exceeding? It looks like some of the neighbouring villages have much better performing schools and aren't oversubscribed but I really didn't want to have to drive for the school run if I could avoid it.

That does seem very odd. Meet with the head and ask them to explain what's behind it.

Well looks like you were spot on then OP. Good decision

Generally I wouldn't look at results in the sense of one school being 10% higher than the other, but 30% is exceptionally low, even for a school in a challenging area. Assuming that these are typical and not a one-off (some village schools enter 3-4 SEN children in a small year group and manage 0%, followed by 100% the next year!), I'd make sure you have an alternative plan up your sleeve - how far and how full are the nearest alternatives. Not sure how direct messaging works on here, I'm new but happy to look at the online data with my headteacher hat on if you send me a link to the DfE tables and let you know what I think!

Ok, so 152 makes an average of 21 children per year, so some years a year group could be 10 or 15. If 2 of those 10 children fare very badly, maybe one misses a lot of education through illness and one suffers a bereavement, that means 40% of the class "fail" before you even start.

That said, even then, the results are very poor so you need to meet the HT and find out why

Definitely visit the school. We have a small school in a nice village near here and it gets a Good OFSTED but very poor results.

The reality is, that the pupils are 100% from Traveller families and generally have poor attendance and low levels of literacy in the family. Other local families don't send their children there and there is an unwritten acceptance from the council that even families applying for over subscribed schools won't be placed there.

It is a nice school, I've worked there, they have a unique set of challenges and actually work wonders considering the poor attendance - including achieveing vast improvements in attendance for some families.

There's a small traveller site on the outskirts of the village. The village is very nice with some lovely pubs.

This is extreme and unusual, but there's something going on for the school to be getting such poor results.

@RunningStrong there's nothing unusual. There's no travellers or any other vulnerable population. It was a complacent older head who lost control of the school combine with a village that simply didn't care enough. It's as white and chocolate box as they come for a village. There's nothing to excuse it.

I’d do a bit more research - definitely go and see the local schools. Also, you’re going to have to drive lots anyway if you’re rural, so don’t let that get in the way of picking the school that feels best ‘in person’.