Considering leaving an Ofsted 'Outstanding' for an Ofsted 'Good' school?

[Ticklylemon]

Three years ago I moved from an affluent county to an inner city to care for my aging parent. I enrolled DD in an Ofsted outstanding nursery/ school which is very diverse and very academically rigorous. DD has been identified as greater depth and we are also awaiting SEN assessment. The school have been nothing but swift and supportive in this. Now that my parent is settled in a home do I stay and complete DD primary education at the outstanding school before moving back to the county for secondary? Or do a go back now and pull her out of this fantastic school. DD is currently in year 1.

Reasons to go include we are living in a tiny flat infested with mice and a dodgy landlord. DD has not made firm friendships with anyone yet and still complains of having no one to play with (possibly a SEN issue). We both have friends in the county and her dad lives there so much less of a commute to see them and of course they provide support I don’t have here. New school is newly built, has large woodland area and backs onto an Area of Outstanding Beauty. I currently pay for private ballet and swimming lessons which are included in the county schools extracurriculars although perhaps not RADA trained teachers.

Reasons to stay include county school is only Ofsted ‘Good’. There are no Ofsted outstanding primary schools in the area- they are all just ‘Good’. New school is much less diverse, it’s had a few complaints of bullying not being handled well. Of course, there are other schools in the county that don’t have this issue but they lack the great location and extracurriculars. Unsure how the county school will challenge her academically being that she’s greater depth or how they will respond to a possible SEN diagnosis.

Am I putting too much weight on an Ofsted rating or is overall quality of life more important than academics? I’m a low-key Tiger mom so academics are important to me. No judgement please. First time poster.

Thank you all for your responses. Lots of food for thought on both sides and I've been pondering these exact points for almost a year.

Just to clarify DD has no idea we have mice but if she found out she would be just as traumatised as I am! Thankfully they only come out at night but I am constantly on edge.

I must admit I struggled to write the reasons to stay other we have no complaints about the school. Teacher friends have also said to wait for EHCP but Local Authority have said its another 12 months before we're likely to be assessed for SEN.

As others have suggested I'll have to do some research on how the county school meet SEN needs. My instinct is to go. Fear of the unknown is not a good reason to stay put. I can supplement her education if she's not being challenged enough and hopefully she will make friends for life. I think she will be happier.

Depending on how recently the OFSTED was done, I'd stay in the outstanding school if your child is bright and reasonably happy there. If she's not happy there, then I might consider moving her cos I don't like the sound of your flat

In my experience, the gulf between a good and outstanding school is MASSIVE.

I think you're setting too much store by Ofsted, no children in my area have the option to go to an outstanding primary school as there aren't any and I imagine most children in the whole country don't go to one. Having experienced Ofsted as a governor I have next to no faith in what they say, the recent troubles are long overdue attention

Absolutely, if it’s the right school with the right feel. We chose a ‘Requiring improvement’ school over an ‘Outstanding’ one and were very happy. It was a great school. The once ‘Outstanding’ secondary school near us is now very poorly rated. It’s swings and roundabouts. Choose the one that feels right.

I worked for 6 years at an outstanding school... It was hard work and not as perfect as perhaps the ofsted report implied. When it was time for my own child to go to school, I was determined that I wouldn't send him there...
I interviewed at a good school which had an excellent atmosphere and a fun, caring nature. He is in his second year there and thriving. The opportunities he has there for extra-curricular and other opportunities (like fun runs, events with other schools, cycling lessons, lots of interesting visitors etc) are great and outstrip the outstanding school's offering (which was so driven by academic results that everything fun had been taken away).

So, outstanding vs good is a non-issue in my opinion (or at least, outstanding isn't always better than good).

However, I would wait until the EHCP had gone through as it is a long process and you don't want to have to restart it if you can avoid it. Once your child has it, the new school will take on the follow up etc so she can safely move schools then.

Honestly I think if I did it again I would look at the children, did they seem happy and well adjusted? There is not much in good versus outstanding imo.

Worst school in our area is outstanding...not re visited for 14 years...if you unhappy move your dc. I take the ratings with a pinch of salt now. And yes we all reported the school but it's outstanding....ofsted says

All the schools round here are good except 1 that's outstanding.

I hear lots of complaints about the outstanding one. There's a HUGE difference in all the good ones.

Go and see the school for yourself. Decide if it is a good fit for your dd personally.

Ignore ofsted gradings. They are a snapshot of what paperwork a school can provide in a 36 hour period.

I actively avoided the outstanding primary and secondary in my area for good reasons.

IMHO DD school deserves its 'outstanding' ranking.

It was inspected in 2017 and again in 2023. Outstanding both times. The teachers NEVER strike because they are happy and many of them moved their children to this school once they started working there. It's that good. Many of the teachers have been there for decades.

Perhaps I should stay until the EHCP is sorted and keep on at the landlord about the mice. Its a gentrified area so housing is extortionate for anything decent.

I have just worked through an OFSTED inspection and can tell you that the place I worked at in those two long days is not the school I've worked in for the last two years 🤣 Utter bullshit so please do not be swayed by an OFSTED rating. Look at the SEN policy if that is what is important to you and read what the OFSTED report says around this aspect of the 'good' school.

I looked round an outstanding school and thought it was bloody awful. Tiny, village school that was built in the 1800s and looked like it had barely been updated. Local people rave about it, but I chose a ‘good’ school a bit further away.

If you think your DD will be happier if you move, then I guess that’s your answer.

I also have a DD in Year 1 who’s doing well academically, but has suspected SEN. Her school is completing paperwork for a SEN referral. DD is already being given targeted support by her teacher on the advice of the SENCO and I don’t think a diagnosis would make much difference to that at this stage. But I was advised that it’s important to get an assessment/diagnosis before secondary school, and the process takes about three years here.

Ofsted ratings are crap. There are no consistencies. You have non specialists making judgements on specialist teachers. They don't bother looking at data that the schools have gathered. It's all on the whim of the lead inspector and they often go in with an agenda. You need to look at a school on it's open day/evenings and get a feel for what you think. Speak to parents with kids there as well. My school has been outstanding, good and needs improvement all with the same outcomes and cohorts. Ofsted needs reinventing or getting rid of.

Far too much weight on ofsted rating.

I think your child needs taking by social services if you choose to make them stay in a mouse infested flat.

The school sounds fantastic; it's not just the recent outstanding rating (which isn't the be all and end all, but still impressive), it's everything else you say about the school.

The landlord has a legal obligation to deal with infestations and you should contact the environmental health team at the council if they are not dealing with it promptly.

I think you're the one who wants to move and you're trying to convince yourself that it's the best thing for DD, even though her current school sounds better than the potential new one. However, it's important for DD that you are happy so perhaps you should move for your own sake and not hers.

I belive that happy children learn more. Where would your child be happiest outside of school? I wouldn’t stay in a rat infested flat for a school tbh

I actually think it’s pretty strange that none of the teachers went on strike because ‘they’re all so happy’ . I don’t believe that at all.

I would move, your kids happiness and health is more important - why would you stay in a rat infested flat, just because a school is outstanding. They could be inspected tomorrow and be re-rated as good!!
Also your D’s relationship with her Dad is important having him closer by maybe something your D would like - she may also have different opportunities to make friends. Plus there are ballet classes etc everywhere!
Whilst education is important its not the be all and end all, I think you need to take a step back and reassess this.

I wouldn’t base anything on an ofsted report. Unless they’d flagged up something serious about the school, I wouldn’t consider the rating in my decision making.

I would move back 100%. As far as I can see, the only reason to stay is the ofsted grading, which is pretty meaningless really, and could change in the blink of an eye if the head teacher leaves. Being in a nice place in a nice house near friends and family is worth so much more.

Lots of outstanding schools babe t been inspected for a long time and many of them are being downgraded. Check when their inspections were done as it doesn’t mean that this is what they are currently like. Also don’t take the word of ofsted as your main measure. As a teacher and a parent I always take them with a pinch of salt.

Speak to the sendco at the potential school to see how they manage potential sen. It’s interesting that you mention potential sen and everyone jumps to assume this means an EHCP. Not always. Firstly the sen will need to be recognised via some kind of assessment and waiting lists for these can vary around the country. Also getting a specific diagnosis does not guarantee or require an EHCP. Also you can get an EHCP without any kind of formal diagnosis. An EHCP is when the school needs to make adjustments over and above good quality teaching and the abundance of reasonable adjustments the LA advises the school to make. Having a gifted child with sen can also make EHCP process a bit of a battle to leave they need the additional help. I speak as someone who is a parent of an autistic child who is very capable and attends mainstream school. Her school is a ‘good’ school and they make all the reasonable adjustments we feel are needed to allow my child to achieve her best. I do know that if we chose the other school she would have been eligible to attend we would not have had any of the adjustments put in place and we would have likely needed to pursue an EHCP to get them, which would have been denied as they are standard adjustments the should be put in place but not all schools are that inclusive on their policies, environments and teaching methods. I also have experience of the primary school being equally as terrible at identifying, accepting and supporting my child’s sen.

It does sound like the OP’s current outstanding school is actually doing all the right things so it would be a risk to move and I’d be exploring the possibility of moving house from the rat infested place. If you can get assuring that the good school will support your child then it’s worth exploring. Maybe take a visit, ask around the place you used to live or want to move to and find out what other parents say.

I also agree with other posters about the fact the move would be nearer her father, family support and friends and this could really make a difference.

@Mumof2girls2121

The families on either side of me also have mice, and so do several other families on the street. Some of whom live in 1.2 million pound homes. Should we all have our kids taken away?

"As recently as 2019, exterminators were called to Buckingham Palace because rats were seen tearing through the royal kitchens." Should Kate and William have their kids taken away too?

According to the British Pest Control Association there are about 80,000 call outs for mice every year. Are they all bad parents too?

We are in a housing crisis. Why bash the victims of said crisis?

Haha You are spot on!

I want to go but I just feel bad for taking her out of such a lovely school. By the sounds of it good schools are hard to come by.

There are just so many pros to moving.

Absolutely move out of a rest-infested flat as a priority! I stopped paying attention to ofsted after they did a 3 hour inspection on my shit childminder and rated her good.

The rating wouldn't worry me. I've seen pretty poor schools with outstanding grades when I worked in social services.

However good quality sen support is like gold dust. I'm not saying don't do it but you run the risk of going somewhere where your dd is not supported sufficiently and school do not work with parents. Do your research ask about Sen and how they support be as confident as you can before making any changes