School downgraded by ofsted, now I don't know what to do

[Anon998]

Please give me your opinions on what you would do or any advice.

My son is in year 2 of a faith based school, we’re not overly religious to be honest and put him in there as it’s known for good behaviour and hard working kids. The kids are all so lovely and parents are lovely too. The issue is I’ve had a nagging feeling for a couple of years to take him out, I can’t explain it but it’s just been an awful feeling. I just put it down to anxiety etc. The school had a recent ofsted which downgraded it and it doesn’t look good at all. The school is now ofsted requires improvement. Lots of parents taking their kids out now.

I’m just really worried in case I’m making a mistake by taking him out. When I was having my doubts I got him to take entrance tests at the local private schools and he passed and got accepted into one. We’re planning to put him in there but I really don’t know what to do.

I know the private school will be amazing education and opportunities but say if socially I’m making a mistake and the kids and parents are not as nice and my child is not happy. I feel sad the friendships he’s made and will be leaving them now. financially we can afford it as we both are professionals working in good jobs. I just don’t know what to do.

He's in year 2 so there is plenty of time to wait and see. Ignore OFTSED, or at least read the whole report, not just the overall grading. Schools can end up being downgraded for paperwork issues whilst their actual teaching is great. If he is happy and making progress and has friends, I'd stay out for now. I am actually a big fan of what private schools can offer and am not at all against using them if you can, but this young, if he is happy, I'd stay for now. Private schools tend to have a higher turnover of kids coming and going quite frequently so if he transfers later, he won't be especially unusual as the new kid.

WRT the faith school element - this is slightly different - if its just a standard CofE or RC school and they're doing bible stories in assembly, fine. Plenty of ways to say "yes some people believe that is true and some don't". If its creationist type effort where they deny the reality of evolution or dinosaurs then no I'd hoick him out now!

@ChiselandBits thank you. No I believe the ofsted is accurate and not just paperwork. I wouldn’t say the education is amazing there as my son is very behind age related expectations. I only recently found out that other children in his class have tutoring. I didn’t even consider this young. The rest are on average as they have interventions outside of school. I’m really confused. My DH couldn’t care less so it’s all my decision. I’m worried in case I put him in private then realise it’s not good or some other things.

Is he happy at the current school? Is he learning?

Have a look at the Ofsted report - sometimes requires improvement isn't that bad - and whatever it is they've picked up on will now be being worked on. Have a look at what the issues are and how easily they might be fixed. Both our village schools have had the "requires improvement" label in recent years, and we've still had confidence in them. When it happened at the primary, one parent said "if that's what requires improvement looks like, I'm no longer so worried about the secondary!"

Are parents taking them out because the report is damning, or because it's the sort of intake where a lot of people were considering switching to private at some point?

As far as the private school goes, I'm sure he'd make new friends there, so that would probably work out well too. As ever, be sure that you can manage the fees (bear in mind inflation and any possible changes to your circumstances) before switching.

It's very easy (especially reading Mumsnet) to think that your child's future depends entirely on you getting them into the right school, and I think that's feeding your anxiety. The reality may well be that either school will be fine!

You’ve said that your son passed t entrance tests into the local private school but he’s very behind age related expectations. It’s a bit strange, surely he wouldn’t pass entrance tests into a private school if he’s so behind?

It depends why it is downgraded to me. I’ve seen schools get downgraded but when you read the reports it’s for ridiculous reasons.

Private, most people/children are nice and ok!

He's so young there will be plenty of time to make friends and it sounds like at any moment his current pals could get pulled out anyway.

Being behind at this age is really not good!

Have you looked at the ofsted report to see what its problems are?

My 3 DCs went through schools which were variously requires improvement/special measures/headless/given up by their academy overlord. This was all the way through primary and secondary.

Longterm low ofsted ratings IMO impacted on recruitment and retention of staff. SLT particularly at the secondary level struggled. In DD1's GCSE year we managed to be one of the lowest performing schools in the country. This was down to management incompetence.

If it had been possible or there had been a choice we would have sent DCs elsewhere especially for secondary.

Agree with@ComDummings, and also note that the current Ofsted guidelines are much stricter than previous ones so a number of schools are getting down-graded, it doesn't necessarily mean they have suddenly got a lot worse.

I'd separate the 2 factors out. Personally, I'd ignore the Ofsted report. Your feelings, on the other hand, are important. You say you aren't entirely happy with current school but can't say exactly why. I think you need to try to figure this out a bit further – I'm a big believer in gut instinct, but changing schools needs to be based on more than just wondering if the grass might be greener elsewhere imo.

@Summerwhereareyou unfortunately not all children follow the Government’s linear expectations

What were your nagging doubts OP? If you have had them for a couple of years that is most of the time your DC has been there. What do you think the private school will do better?

@toomuchlaundry

I know I've got one of them. Which is why I would urge op to work on it now with urgency.
Or if he stays, tutors.

Look at the date of the previous Ofsted. I know lots of schools who have chuntered along merrily on the basis of an OFSTED report from ten or even more years ago, but in reality they are completely different schools, different SMT, different teachers, obviously different children! A “requires improvement” can be a good shake up for a coasting school, they will put in the work, tighten up on the slack bits and reinvent themselves within 18 months. Plenty of time for your child to get the benefit. You chose the school for reasons other than the previous OFSTED, remember why you liked it, your child is happy there, that counts for a lot. Keep up with reading during the summer, do a bit of recall on number bonds/ multiplication facts/ counting in fives, twos and tens to keep him sharp. Review age appropriate spellings, encourage him to do a bit of writing, shopping lists, postcards etc.

The staff by the way will be feeling like shit, a box of biscuits for the staff room and a supportive note will go a long way to raise morale.

a school with requiring improvement will have a lot of money and support thrown at it. It will be improving every day.
if they had good friends and were settled I wouldn’t move them.

they will have been at “requiring improvement” for some time, it doesn’t just happen on the day of inspection. Same as the good / outstanding, they are there before inspection day.

the anxiety you feel is an issue though, if you and he is not feeling safe, secure and settled than I’d move them.

Due to COVID OFSTED is behind in doing their inspections. If previously outstanding grade it could be many years since the last inspection and many things could have changed since then

For these reasons alone, I wonder why you aren't moving him already. The school doesn't sound great by any means. I have a ds 6yo in private and I can tell you that the parents and kids are all just lovely. I'm not sure why you would think otherwise? He is in a small class of 18, all the parents know each other and are really supportive of all the kids. You have some negative view of not finding this in a private school?
A big factor is the education, which your school seems to be failing in. Why on earth would you keep him there??

one of the best times to be in a school is just after an RI judgement. There will be a relentless pursuit for better. As a pp said, it doesn’t just happen overnight. If children are leaving, you’ll get the bonus of smaller class sizes too.
both of my children have been in RI schools that were later rated as Good because of the work that has to happen.

A local school was given RI by Ofsted, best thing to happen as it was given lots of help to improve. A few years later parents were desperate to send their children, it was over subscribed.

As a PP how can he be behind if with no tutoring he has passed the entrance exam for private school?

They'll probably put loads of effort now to improve and class sizes will shrink as people leave. So it's completely up to you, either follow your instinct or see how it's goes over the next year.

Not all private schools are selective. You do an entrance exam for assessment purposes only, so they can see what level the child is at.

For me any decision would be based on why it was downgraded, sometimes it's for relatively minor admin procedure issues which isn't a big deal. Also what steps are being put in place to rectify the issue(s).

What is the ofsted report like in the private school? What’s their approach with children who are way behind their peers?

I had a child who struggled at school. I changed his school and got him lots of tutoring and we tutored ourselves. There are a lot of great free online resources. We were lucky to have a wide spread of university degrees even though I had to learn Spanish. We didn't initially realise he was falling behind. At this stage you can get him caught up quite quickly but the longer you leave it, the harder it is. My son is doing okay at university now but the struggle to get him there was very hard. You should have his hearing and vision checked. My son's initial falling behind was caused by his hearing issues which were resolved but it left him with speech and spelling issues.

Yes, his old school was improved but while they were working on that he was in a school which was very much better. The new school helped with his issues while all his old school did was raise issues. One day I ran into his form teacher of his old school crossing the quad and she chirpily told me that Scarlet Junior couldn't catch balls and that was why he couldn't spell. I looked blankly at her since I couldn't catch balls either and was a gifted natural speller as a child - almost a prodigy. I really couldn't think of anything to say to that. The new school got him started on remedial reading. We were lucky to get him a place and if I'd gone in after the mid-term holiday, rather than rushing in that week there wouldn't have been a place for him. Lots of other parents were making the very same choice I was.

He made great friends and enjoyed his time there. He went to high school with lots of those children. I did a few over the top birthday parties to get him mixing with people and to help him make friends - the magician with the rabbit, the horse trek etc.

“As a PP how can he be behind if with no tutoring he has passed the entrance exam for private school?“

I taught him at home with the previous entrance test papers and with help from the 7+ boards on mumsnet. Just to check u did a previous test with him without any help and he got 8%. My work with him st home is the sole reason he got in. I’m not trained at all I just went through all the books/past papers and lots of YouTube videos in things I had no idea in. It was crazy and I felt I was going mad through all the prep! I will stress again if I’m rambling and not making sense - the school had ZERO contribution to him passing the entrance test. They actually told me not to bother as he don’t get in!

*wont get in

apologies for the numerous typos