To wonder how much weight to give to Ofsted report?

[FunDragon]

We are halfway between two primary schools. One has an ‘outstanding’ rating from Ofsted and the other has a ‘good’ rating. The ‘outstanding’ one has that rating in all five of the areas they score. The good one is rated good in four areas and outstanding in one area. Overall I have a better feeling about the ‘good’ rated one for a variety of reasons. But my DH is heavily influenced by the Ofsted reports.

Neither my husband nor I have ever worked in education and I know absolutely nothing about the Ofsted inspection system so I am hoping that more knowledgeable people will be able to advise me. How much weight should you give to an Ofsted report when choosing a school? Does an ‘outstanding’ rating mean it’s automatically an overall better school? AIBU to pay more attention to other factors?

Thank you.

IME of an outstanding school, they will be heavily invested in ‘performance’. So school work and attendance. Mine wouldn’t send ill children home even when they repeatedly said they weren’t well, but were instead told to sit in the corner.

Have a look when the ratings were given. If they weren't in the same year, you're not comparing like with like anyway (assessment criteria change). If they are not comparatively recent, they are also of limited value.

The difference between a "good" and an "outstanding" Ofsted school might actually be very little. My DC were at a school that moved between several Ofsted gradings while they were there. My perception of the school never really matched the Ofsted one.
Also sometimes schools with outstanding Ofsteds achieve them by being quite regimented or liking children that fit a particular mould. Which is great if this suits your child, but not so much otherwise.

If you're getting a good gut feel about one school over the other, I'd definitely go with that over Ofsted :)

It depends what you are looking for in a school, the things that make it 'outstanding' might not be relevant to your circumstances.

I chose DSs 'good' school because it was a feeder for the Catholic secondary in town, had good SATs results, and had a big focus on sport. We were in catchment for an 'outstanding' school but it was multi-form entry which put me off and the SATs results weren't as good.

Agree with above. It’s bloody hard to get ‘outstanding’ and means an awful lot of focus on Results with a capital R, often above anything else. The best primary in my area (the Head is a friend, family member works there and all the children in my family go there) is still only ‘Good’ because they value things like creativity, getting outside (they have chickens, a forest school area and an allotment) and extending pupils beyond just SATS at the end of year 6, so they offer a much better, more rounded education but will likely never get An outstanding Ofsted.

I know it’s tricky at the moment when you can’t do in person tours, but what vibe do you get from the Head about what the school values?

Good is still good. I'd go with my gut feeling of which school feels best for my child. As pp said an outstanding school is likely to be very performance focused.

Look at the whys of the rating as well. The report will show improvement areas.

For DDs school the improvement areas related to parents not doing enough homework and reading with the children.

That wasn't a concern for us, we liked the look and feel of the school, it's closest to us and the kids always looked happy and sound happy when we hear them outside on breaks and PE.

I was a teacher and I wouldn't rate the ranking too much - look at the report itself. Some schools invest vast amounts of time/money/energy into trying to trick inspectors (we're talking fake names, secret codes, repainting the whole school in two days before inspectors get there, playing piano in assemblies (when they never did before)...
Read the report for the Good school. Look at previous reports, has it been good for a long time. And see if you have any concerns. If Ofsted have said they're great for sports opportunities but awful for music and you have sporty children who hate music then go for it - if you have musical children who hate sport then maybe not so much. When was the outstanding report done?
I really wouldn't base the decision on Ofsted reports.

I'm in leadership in a primary school and tbh I'd rather my school get 'good'. Like others have said, outstanding normally means a lot of pressure on results which isn't necessarily in the best interests of the pupils e.g. do they also value a broad and balanced curriculum (not just English and maths), creativity, celebrating special events, outdoor learning etc etc. Have a look at when they ofsted reports were written. Some outstandings are very out of date. Also have a look at 'compare my school' to get an idea of results but remember it's not the be all and end all. I would also go with my gut.

However, for others reading, I wouldn't be happy to send my child to a school that got less than good if it was to do with behaviour or safeguarding.

Further to PPs above, until very recently (I.e. just before COVID) if a school had been marked Outstanding it was exempt from inspection. Our closest Outstanding school was last inspected in 2007!
In many respects the good school nearby is better (they've had more recent feedback for one thing).

Teacher here. Our school got outstanding once. Outstanding for teaching. Every lesson I taught that week had about two hours preparation and in no way could be sustained or represent actual teaching on a day to day basis.

Outstanding means a phenomenal amount of performance .

I'd give more weight of the report said the school was inadequate. I don't think theres much between good and outstanding that would sway me - I'd go with my gut. If the kids looked happy and the teachers did too I'd be much more inclined to send my child there. Not to say outstanding schools can't also have happy staff and pupils but the report is only one of many factors to consider.

When did the outstanding get outstanding?

I had the choice between the same and went for the good - and sure enough the outstanding is now good having been redone.

Is one a through primary and the other infant as that can make a difference.

So between outstanding and good - not much. I would however if it were adequate/needs improvement!

Oh and not once have I regretted the decision to go with the good!

Go with the one you have a good feeling about. A school with an outstanding Ofsted report is not necessarily a good, nice, happy school. The one I worked at was hellish. They jumped through all the hoops and ticked all the boxes at the expense of staff sanity, and not with the kids' best interests at heart.

It doesn't bother me between the 2 things. However in normal times I would say go and look.
We relocated a few years ago. Went to look at an Ofsted outstanding school. It wasn't for us. The "good" school was a much better fit.

My SIL is a teacher and has chosen to work in a Good rather than Outstanding school. She previously worked in an Outstanding school and said it was just pure pressure for both teachers and pupils; she saw some practice she really disliked, such as the school "giving up" on lower ability kids because they wanted to focus on results for the average and higher ability ones. It also attracted helicopter parents who moved into the area for the school and who always wanted their child to be first in everything. She now works at a Good and feels its much more welcoming and inclusive. BUT this is just one example and I expect it depends on the schools to an extent too.

Dd goes to an 'outstanding' school. Although it was inspected 10 years ago... staff have changed considerably in that time.
They are terrible for pressuring the children and it's not great overall.
There's loads of things that, by law they should have, but they don't. It's crap.

DS started primary at an Ofsted outstanding school. It did feel like those families and children that didn't fit a certain mould were not terribly welcome. Spoiler alert: we didn't fit the mould. DS has ADHD, at that time undiagnosed. They seemed convinced DS's behaviour problems were due to me working full time, and this was around 2013. They managed to shuffle one of his pals with FAS off to a special school, which may or may not have been the right thing for that child, but I did wonder if there was a pattern emerging.

We moved and found a school that prides itself on an inclusive community, DS absolutely blossomed and has bounded into high school brimming with confidence and a love of learning, as have his classmates. Best thing we could have done. That's just our experience. Ofsted is not the be and end all.

Go and look and have a feel what fits your child best.

We went did the good not outstanding school, as it was the best fit.

The outstanding felt chaotic and noisy the good school calmer. Which would suit ours better.

Go with your gut feeling.

My DC went to an outstanding primary, and are at an outstanding secondary. They're leagues apart imo- both high achieving in a terribly naice area, but the primary was a miserable, favourite-playing hothouse, and the secondary is a happy, supportive place.

I've taught in both good and outstanding secondary schools and tbh it depends on so much. My advice to anyone is to visit and see how it feels, watch the kids, do the teachers look work out, is the place bright & clean, well resourced?

*worn out

Thanks so much for the replies.

Part of the problem is that, as @BuffaloCauliflower says we can only look around virtually at the moment, which really doesn’t give you a feel for the place. And we feel a bit blind. I think that’s the main reason my DH has got so fixated on the Ofsted reports - he feels that at least the Ofsted inspector has visited the school!

You have nonetheless confirmed my feeling that I should go with my gut. My gut feeling is based on:

• comments from other parents in the area
• the good school is much smaller and my DS is quite shy. He’s been in a small nursery and really thrived.
• he loves the outdoors and the ‘good’ one places a lot of emphasis on outdoor play and time spent in nature - forest school, etc
• I happened to meet the Head of the ‘good’ one last year and I just really warmed to her, she seemed like a lovely person.
• the good one is in a nicer and slightly more convenient location (same distance from our house but it’s between our home and work, whereas the other is in the opposite direction to work).

The good one has received ‘outstanding’ for ‘behaviour and safety of pupils’ and ‘good‘ for all the other areas. Is that significant?

It says it is not yet outstanding because ‘teaching is not yet consistently outstanding’ and ‘pupils do not always make rapid process because they do not have enough time to make improvements to their work’.

The ‘outstanding’ one was rated outstanding in 2012. It hasn’t been inspected since!!!!!

I would actually be put off an outstanding school. I just think they jump through hoops to get a good score at the expense of other stuff. I'd rather go for a good school.

From everything you’ve said in your post above, I’d personally be choosing the good school.