What to look for in a primary school?

[Needadvce]

We would be soon applying for primary schools admission for our first DC. We are speaking to other parents in the area to see which school would be best suited for him. I am looking for some advice from experienced parents about what to look for in a prospective primary school. Some of the things we are considering are proximity, performance at various key stages in maths and English and have some open days planned in. What else would be your advice for us to consider?

Available outdoor space. I really appreciate that my children’s primary school has a large field, great for after school football and also events such as sports day/summer fayre.

@raysofhope thanks, that's a good point to consider.

Consider whether you’ll actually get in - no point setting your heart on somewhere you don’t stand a chance of being offered a place at. There’s a lot to be said for being able to walk to school and having very local friends.

Key stage results do tell you something but not everything, so use with caution. Eg a school near us gets very high results but part of that is they really discourage children with special educational needs (SEND) from attending the school. A more inclusive school may get lower results but focus more on diversity and empathy.

Ultimately your gut will tell you a lot when you go and look round. What are the people like? Are they warm & friendly? Can they answer your questions?

What your first impressions are on the open days

Ours are at a village school with about 200 students. However the headmistress on the way round was greeting every child by name. I also liked the school ethos and how most children seemed to have manners. With excuse me please miss or thank you etc. It's a very nurturing school and whilst aiming for the academics it is also clear on how the academy want to create rounded individuals.

Distance is the main thing I think. You'll be going there twice a day, being able to walk is a huge positive, better for the kids and the planet. As long as the school is decent you won't go far wrong. The biggest impact on a child's experience in primary school is their teacher, and that's the one thing you don't have any control over!

This might be irrelevant to your situation but my advise is to not get set on a particular school. We ended up with our fourth choice, due to a massively oversubscribed area. It's been fine, which leads me to believe most primary schools are basically fine.

Kind and caring staff

Breakfast / afterschool club, if you need them

Distance is vital. You want to be able to walk there and back.

Well supported (at home) children, will do well enough anywhere. Read lots, talk to your child about their day, and value education.

Just vibe. Personally for primary school I wouldn't be looking at English and maths results, I'd be more concerned with pastoral care and an emphasis on children's qualities outside of test results.

Our school does a full day of forest school in P1 and P2 which is a huge plus for me. And we're in NI where the 11+ (by various other names) is a big deal, but after they sit the exams they have a forest school day where they burn the test papers and make smores.

But mainly we chose it as it's walkable from our house and well regarded locally. Job done.

@Needadvce In many areas you won’t get a wide “choice”. You need to be fairly sure DC will stand a chance of getting in. No point wasting your time and loving a school you cannot get into. First of all check the past admission data on your LA admissions web site. Then check the schools admissions policy. Do they select on religion, or do they have a catchment area? You must put a “banker” school within your preferences. If you only pick ones you are likely to be rejected from, and are, the LA will choose for you. Remember criteria and catchments can change. Make a reasonable shortlist (it might be very short) and then look in more detail. Ask parents about those schools. Apologies if you have already done this.

My main tip is look at the whole school. Look at sats, government data about attainment, Ofsted if within last 4 years, and Sen data. Then look at organisation of YR and, crucially, what’s on offer for KS2. It’s easy to love YR and never consider what’s it’s like for 11 year olds. Do they have lots going on? Are classrooms places where learning is purposeful or a mess?What is the head like? Do teachers seem competent and happy? Look at dc coming out of the schools and the parents. Would you see yourself there?

Most schools rated Good by Ofsted are good. Don’t seek out Outstanding. Look at RI rated if they have sustained improvement. Always look for happy and enthusiastic dc. A red flag for me is not getting average attainment. Below average would make me want to know what the school is doing about it.

You need to consider your catchment and what schools are oversubscribed. Councils are, quite rightly reducing intake to encourage children into their catchment schools.

If you’re in an area with generally good schools then my experience is that primary schools are all much of a muchness.

If schools have lots of dc who cannot access secondary curriculum due to poor English and maths, that is a concern. Vibe tells you very little. Noisy would put me off. Plenty of activities such as sport and music are vital for me. Lots of Sen and school resources will be stretched. I guarantee it.

Different strokes. Different folks.
Distance wasn't an issue for us.
How they stretch bright kids and how they assist those who need more help i.e. making sure they aren't going to be the average.
Communication with parents.
How calm it feels. We saw one school with multiple form entry and it was free flow and not conducive to learning at all.
Saying that, if I had my time again, I'd not go with one form entry because social issues become magnified and there is less opportunity for (1) peer learning and kids at your level and (2) less opportunity to meet kids with your particular interests.

The open day will give the best idea of whether it's right for you/your child.
Also, have a look on the website and read through their newsletters if they're on there. They will give you an idea of the 'life' of the school eg after school clubs, sports tournaments, events, what happens each week.
Ps Ofsted rating 'good' = bloody marvellous!!!!!

Our top considerations were:

Wraparound care - vital for us as we both work and have no family help
Distance - for practical reasons
Friendly feel, more than anything I wanted DD to go somewhere kind and gentle rather than dictatorial. She’s naturally very bright but also quite sensitive.

We are fortunate to live in a small rural county with no bad schools (all Good and Outstanding), they are all great and only differ subtly. Our village school is good so we viewed others to see if we liked any of them better than the one on our doorstep. Fortunately we didn’t so it was a no brainer.

DH ’s old school was our next nearest and he liked it there, we viewed it and it was a bit smarter than our village school but felt slightly less friendly. Our village school felt like it gave you a hug when we looked around and I was mightily relieved. But DH’s became our 2nd choice.

We knew older children at both schools already too so had already sounded out the parents.

I would start my presuming you will use your catchment school and then look for any reasons not to. We couldn’t find any in our case.

For you to think about what your child needs, the kind of child they are and whether the schools suit them.

I think we have a tendency to try for the "best" school but actually it doesn't suit the specific DC.

• Whether it’s a feeder school with priority for any local secondary
• How big class sizes are and if it’s reception, whether it’s free flow (we chose a school that did t do this)
• what their stance on homework, uniforms and lunchbox policing is
• whether they have a PTA (if important to you)
• do they offer clubs / music lessons within school, if it’s something you’ll want in later years
• how they accommodate kids at either end of the learning curve ie either stretching them or what extra support they give
• what the expectations / offering is to parents ie we can join a weekly assembly if we want to, we have class teacher emails to contact them if needed

I like mixed age classes. So they stay in class for 2 years, being guided/inspired by the older ones at first then doing the same to the younger ones the next year.
Lots of collaboration between year groups, big school themed projects.
Giving older ones as much autonomy as possible.
Learning about global issues and environmental issues as key parts of each theme.
Really imaginative teachers.
Use of first names with teachers and no doors or locks, very open plan.
No exams or tests.
Children given the chance to create their own learning materials. Involve the whole school. So this decreases inter age bullying.
No strong competition element. Everyone treated as an individual who should exceed their personal best.
No study of any religion as superior. all religions to be covered in a balanced way.
No uniform.
Kids have as much autonomy somewhat during the school day in what they do. With reason!
Plenty of access to nature/architecture.
Lots of guest performers and educators from many different cultural or geographic backgrounds.
Encourage free thought and individuals but also nurture respect for everyone.
Make children of all ages feel as equal and as important in the school as eachother.

Look at Sats and Ofsted ratings.

Go to the school around pick up time and talk to some of the parents to get a vibe about the school.

Distance, catchment, class size, whether or not it is a feeder into a secondary school.

Breakfast club or afterschool club if you need them.

Extracurriculars: Check out their enrichment club offerings. My DC's school offer a range: basketball, cricket, dodgeball, football, lacrosse, taekwondo, hockey, tennis, cheerleading, theatre, science club, coding, knitting, arts & crafts, and Spanish. Lunchtime clubs include choir and chess. During school hours they also offer musical instrument lessons: piano, flute, guitar, violin etc.. as well as forest school.

@BobbyBiscuits Some of that isn’t possible. RE agreed syllabus for a start is followed and it’s not what you say. All religions cannot be covered. I would also suggest you would have to go a long way to find all those sports in a state school. A village school won’t have enough teachers! There is a national curriculum. Global issues in every element is a stretch! Most state schools cannot offer piano lessons. Many won’t have a piano. Most teachers don’t want first name used and lack of structure is virtually impossible.

I suggest OP is at least realistic.

Do you think your child will be happy there.

It can be a brilliant school but wrong for your child.

Make sure you're only looking at schools you've actually got a chance of getting into. I have friends who just couldn't understand the admissions procedure and were really upset they didn't get into schools they had no chance of (and people are doing the same for secondary).

Take ofsted with a pinch of salt- one of our village schools is still dining out on an Outstanding rating from 2012.

Look at the entry criteria and whether or not you fit them.
Distance
Does the school feel welcoming, with a calm but busy atmosphere. Do the children ( if it’s daytime) look happy and engaged.
Before and after school club if you need it.
What provision they have for both ends of the ability range, so promoting learning suited to need for everyone.

@TizerorFizz I know. But bits of it might be. I went to school like that, it was awesome.

Ask for the bullying policy. Any school who tells you they don’t have any bullying are either ignorant or lying, it happens everywhere but it’s how they deal with it that’s important!