To be apprehensive about this school

[CoconutSky]

DD starts reception tomorrow. It’s a class of 60 split with 2 teachers and 1 TA
The ofsted report is good however there are serious issues with a high % of children being unable to read properly by the time they hit KS2
That isn’t my only concern. In the hand book I read the Reception class visited the library once a week, there are weekly walks to a local park to observe nature which has turned out to be untrue
The school itself is unappealing and dirty looking, the toys are battered, sparse and mismatched, the floor is filthy, there is nothing educational on the walls, all the blinds are broken, the carpet which they sit on in a morning is heavily stained and what toys and learning resources there are, are utterly shit.
She isn’t 5 til Nov but I need her in school as she is completely ready. I have left it way to late but was somewhat shoehorned into sending her here for ease of pickup

I have got her uniform and book bag ready and I’m just feeling sick with it. I don’t want my child going here at all.

Anyone?

Back in the early 70s my DM got a job at a primary school fresh out of teacher training college, where the headmistress took in as many children as possible (headteachers have an element of per capita in their pay) to boost her salary. The legal maximum was 39 at the time and my mum had more than that in her class, but she knew she couldn’t complain or else the headmistress would fail her probationary teaching year. Half the teachers were probationers out of college.

For this academy school I guess the head is doing well financially out of the situation. Shame the money doesn’t trickle down to the facilities.

Get her on waiting lists for preferred schools ASAP. That's your first and urgent job. Find out how long each waiting list runs for and make diary notes to renew her place on the list every half term or whatever. Keep reading with her at home every day.

Get her on a waiting list. You'll get her moved faster than you think. People will be offered places but decline them.

It's worth applying even to catholic schools - ours is so undersubscribed (but is decent) they wrote to us asking if we'd reconsider after we accepted our reception place (my DD starts tomorrow).

I do feel for you. It's not what you want for your baby.

I went to a very shit primary school (closed down soon after my class left), decent middle school and fair highschool (second one, the first would have closed in my GCSE years so we were on a waiting list and got moved in 2 months). It can even out.

As PPs have pointed out, it's about you supporting her and when she's older, making sure she's got friends with ambition.

Listen to your gut.
DON’T SEND HER.

Yes as many have said if you don’t already make time of an evening to read together. I wouldn’t worry to much about the classroom looking tired etc maybe down to lack of funding. My advice would be if you can juggle it try the village schools as often smaller classes with spaces available. Look at other schools and keep trying for a space. You may find she loves it.

Firstly, try not to panic. Your DD probably won't notice any of those things, and will just enjoy being at school with friends. You have time to sort this. She'll be safe and happy, and at the start that's really the main thing.

Get her name down for schools that you'd prefer. In the meantime, get her reading at home. Places like B&M quite often do little activity books which are great for practicing numbers and letters, so do some of those at home.

In terms of the school, if you can help improve things, do it. Maybe donate some toys if you can, or offer to wash some of the ones they have (my DS's class has a mum who's a great charity shopper and has picked up quite a few good games and books for the classroom really cheaply). Get involved with fundraisers etc where possible. This helps the school, but also lets your Dd see that it's good to get stuck in and help with stuff. Give her a positive attitude and it'll see her further in life than a clean carpet.

It's always a bit worrying when they start school, and especially if you have doubts about the school, but at this point you need to help her make the best of it, and explore your options.

OP you can help your child here - use Reading Chest to teach your dc to read, ensure that they do some reading with you every day (whether or not the school sends home a book), read a bedtime story every night and build maths into everyday activities.

The school is much less of an influence on your child’s success than you are, particularly at this stage. It sounds like a tough situation - I hope you’re able to help your dc through this until she can get a place somewhere better.

When did you last view the school? Chances are it had a deep clean and tidy up over the summer. Two classes of 30 is the norm, it is unlikely to be 60 at once except for free-play. Are they doing a phased start?

I do read with my child. DD can read. I’ve done everything with her.
I’ve enquired for a new school. I have to wait and see as all in the area are full
No village schools as I’m in a city.
I took her today, it looks a complete dump

Shes there all day. No staggered start. Just straight in.

I do hope she has a good day. I know it’s not ideal but hopefully the other kids are nice.

Some of the best schools I've worked in are schools that are literally falling down and somewhat tatty.

New and shiny means nothing without great teachers to back it up.

Give it a chance. There's only one school I refused to go back to and teach in. It was brand new and looked amazing.

I agree with this. I wish wholeheartedly that I hadn't sent my daughter to her first school. I didn't listen to my gut and then stuck it out for far longer than we ought. The reception teacher was awful and the culture was vile. It's taken years to undo the damage.

Interestingly there's 3 kids from her old school in her current class in her new school, so it wasn't just us! When we told her Y1 teacher we were moving her words were "I don't blame you!"

Not all schools are good.

My 3 year old taught himself to read using "Teach your Monster to read" during COVID. It's a good app.

Don't rely on the LA to tell you if places become available. Contact each school directly (wasn't sure if you've done this, apologies if you have).

Echo the thoughts in this post.

If your child learns to read quicker, and has well developed communication skills, then they have the edge over others in terms of making friends, interacting and gaining further support from adults.

There are a few comments here suggesting that parents shouldn’t attempt to be teachers. Actually, I think parents are their children’s first and most important teachers. For example, how to say please and thank you, how to speak, how to hold a knife and fork. There are so many things that mothers do that should be recognised as pretty amazing teaching!

Re reading, I recommend Englemann’s ‘teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons’. It’s scripted, easy to follow, and immensely popular (I’m not a shareholder, promise!). Please consider it. You have the power and the ability to give your child one-to-one attention.

As a baby boomer 1:56 as they ran out of classrooms and so rolled 2 year groups in one

And no TA’s