To not be ok with choosing a school for dd sight unseen?

[newwnamme]

Dd 3 is due to start school sept 21. There are a few local possibilities. We know noone who attends any of them and have no knowledge beyond what's on their websites. I called today to ask what is happening with the admissions process this year. Apparently a decision has been made today that no visits will take place. Instead, a 'virtual tour' will be available on the school website.

Am I being unreasonable to think there is no way I would enrol my child in a school which I have never stepped foot inside, never met a member of the staff, had a chance to observe the atmosphere there or anything else? I do get that this is an unusual year. But that does nothing to make me feel better about what is on offer.

I am strongly considering homeschooling, at least as an interim measure. What would you do in this situation?

we viewed 3 schools before applying for our daughter a few years ago. Would a virtual tour have told me the same thing? Quite probably to be honest. One school made us sit through a meeting where they told us they were absolutely amazing, then took us all round in a big group so half the time you couldn't actually see or hear what they were saying or doing, the other two schools you had a tour with a member of staff. All you really see is a school with kids in it. Yes it is nice to actually look round in person but I do think you are overthinking it a bit. This year it isn't possible. End of. That is just the way it is. if the schools all have places and not enough children then if you were really unhappy with your choice then you could always move in the future. All a tour is is a marketing exercise. You only ever know what a school is like once you are actually attending it.

I can see it is worrying as this is your first time doing it but really there is no alternative so unless you do homeschool then you have to just accept it.

Look up the OFSTED reports on each school.

My DD ended up at a senior school we hadn't seen before I said yes. I understand that you are apprehensive but I don't think it is in anyway unreasonable not to be having open days. I agree ; do the tours, look on local Facebook groups and observe the children coming and going. Ask your questions of the school and see how you feel after all that.

Every contact is a risk. By holding open evenings the head and teachers are risking catching covid. This in turn is a risk of teachers having to isolate leaving schools understaffed and also bubbles of children having to isolate having a severe impact on their education during a time they are settling back into school and being assessed. Teachers in schools are being carefull to limit contact with other staff members to avoid this. OP you have multiple other ways to assess the schools,it's downright ignorant for you to assume schools should havery open evenings which will have a very real risk of spreading the virus and negatively impacting the education of the children who have already missed over a terms schooling. Think of tne much bigger picture OP.

In fact I'm angry that you haven't considered the children, staff and family's at all. I would be horrified of my child's school put everyone at risk by holding open evenings for people with zero need to be inside the school.

@2bazookas

Look up the OFSTED reports on each school.

...and then ignore them....

One of our local schools is rated “outstanding” and I would neither work there nor send my child there - many of the reasons Ofsted love it are the reasons that the children and parents don’t! Another I used to work at is rated “Requires Improvement” and I would happily send my child there.

OP really needs to seek out the opinions of parents with children at the schools....

What do you expect them to do? They can’t have people all over the school.
We e seen a couple of virtual open evenings and they were very thorough and allowed For questions from parents too.

My tuppence worth - I think if it's managed and the kids get support, having a good % of kids with English as a second language can make a school more vibrant and more interesting. My dd's school is great and there are about 20 different languages spoken by kids at home - it's great that they can all learn from each other, and allows children to understand diversity, different challenges, different cultures etc. But then I live in an area where there are a lot of different nationalities, so I would find it odd if there weren't a significant number of kids who speak a different language at home.

We went around our DD's school before she went.

We had a really good feeling about it but it turned out to be a terrible school.

Best to speak to other parents with kids actually at the school or who have just left.

Good luck.

The viewings don’t work if the children are not there as that’s what gives the feeling of the school. Otherwise it’s just teachers selling themselves.

My youngest started this September and apart from the 1st day we haven’t been allowed though the gates because it’s for safety.

Our head gives the gab and I mean it’s an amazing school but if I had picked based on one of his videos I wouldn’t of picked this school however. The Twitter feeds are fabulous however.

And yes to ESL it’s one of the things all my friends who are teachers mention pick a school with low ESL as they spend so much time trying to catch up children with very very poor to no grasp of English so often the students who could do with a little extra but can just muddle though then get overlooked for the ESL students.

What exactly is it is you want OP? To go round the school, to see a lesson, to chat to existing pupils? You know that can't happen right and what will that tell you over and above the options suggested above? Are you going to check the door handles have been sanitised? Kids lessons are still playing "catch up" from those who did / did not get at home assistance over lockdown. Classroom layouts and lessons are different to "normal".
Seriously, get some community feelers out and ask around. If you come up with some pertinent questions, you'll soon see if the school matches you / your DC.

Are you going to check the door handles have been sanitised?

Come on, we all know there’s no way that’s happening in most schools.!!!!