To ask you honestly how good your local state school is

[bliepenco]

Just that really. I’ve heard so many bad things about state. If you are totally honest, is there violence, disruption etc? What do your kids say about their days? I’m worried about Dd starting school as have no understanding of the state sector (not from the uk) and have read some bleak things about it!

Primary or secondary?

It all depends where you live. I’m in a rural area with amazing schools. I can’t say there’s zero issues at secondary but they are very good here. If you go 30 miles to the city though it’s a different story and I wouldn’t touch those schools with a bargepole.

A lot of violence and disruption. However truancy is so high now the teachers say its great as the kids that don't want to be there aren't...

However, I really really wish there was an alternative

Primary or Secondary.
Mine are at Secondary. Its not perfect. There are a small number of disruptive children, fights etc. But according to DDs... its easy to avoid. Some bullying.
But the teachers seem to really care and do go the extra mile, not just box ticking. For example, they take the whole of Yr7 camping. A large number of staff camp with them. Others are on site until 11pm both nights, then back for breakfast. Its a massive logistical organisation, and they genuinely seem to enjoy it.

As I said.. . Its not perfect. But I'm happy with it.

Primary, excellent. Secondary, awful.

They are excellent.

No violence but my DD is in Yr9 and apparently theirs is the most disruptive year in the school.
It's not ideal but she's keeping her head down & overall the school is good & the teachers are accessible when I have concerns.

The ones here are fantastic. Private would be a waste of money. Some of the state schools here are some of the best schools in the country. Only downside is the house prices are very high!

Ours varied from goodish to bloody amazing. (My 16 year old boy wept when he left that one, the soppy lad.)

I chose where I live based on the state school.
It is a very good state school and the property prices and availability of housing stock in the local area reflect that.

If people have financial flexibility, they weigh up whether it makes more sense to move house to be within the catchment area of a great school - or pay to send to a private school.

I'd start by looking at the Ofsted reports and speaking to local parents. If the school has been consistently rated 'good' or ideally 'outstanding' by Ofsted then you should be ok. I believe the Ofsted system is now changing so it might not be categorised but you should still get a sense of whether it's a good school.

We live in London with excellent state schools. Ds went to a gorgeous, nurturing, community focused primary school and now attends a well regarded, progressive, ambitious secondary school. Exam results are good and the children I’ve met further up the school are confident and happy.

there is one school round here that had a terrible reputation. But when it came to selecting our preferences (for both primary and secondary) we were spoilt for choice. You can list 6 schools and there were at least 6 good schools we would have been happy for him to go to each time. The only difference was the commute really.

I've got children in state primary and secondary schools and they're both great schools.

My eldest started y7 recently, and I was scared (largely bc of the horror stories ppl here have posted) but her secondary school is fantastic. She's thriving. And attending after sch clubs every day too. She prefers it to primary.

I’m in cambridge. All the state school is good academically but even so i still choose the area. My son first primary school is near my house, lots of council house near my house and i’m sorry to say but the quality of the children not very good, there is no bullying but i dont like it there. Then i move him to more affluent area, the quality of children much better, my son thriving there. So its depends on the locations

The primary school in our village is excellent in every way. The local comprehensive is very good. They don't deal with bullying very well, but I don't think independent schools are immune from bullies either.

Every school is different and some schools look great on paper but are awful in reality and vice versa. My son has been to a lot of schools and has found his place in a school that is really, really awful on paper but he is thriving for the first time ever.

Our local village primary school is amazing both my kids thrived there, very low staff turn over which speaks volumes I think, happy teachers/TAs and brilliant head who seemed to genuinely know and care about each child. Their secondary is ok, definitely no violence and behavior is good BUT I don't think it's inspiring them to want to do well, expectations seem kind of low.

Mine have gone to 3 different schools in a big city. One with a "rough" catchment. All teenagers None of them have been bullied, been in a fight etc. All have done pretty good academically. Loads of lovely friends and engaged teachers.

I'm in a small NE town. Personally I think the schools are good, I have two at secondary and one at primary. The secondary has it's issues (as most do) but they are well managed and the staff are absolutely brilliant and very dedicated.

The primary is also lovely, great staff, small classes, I really can't complain.

I should’ve also said that we have several “good” independent boarding senior schools locally. At least one of which is known to have quite a drugs problem, and the other (my DH went to it) isn’t very good for bullying. So whilst they are better on paper the reality is they have their own issues. They are still very good schools, we’d use one (as a day school) if we had the cash, but they aren’t immune to issues.

Great state school. Known as a bit of a rough option, but my son and his friend group got a full brace of 9s at GCSE. So what more can you ask? Extracurricular was ok, enough for them.

At primary level, very good. At secondary level? A dumpster fire.

Mine are in our local state primary and my 9 year old's class was disrupted a lot last year but it seems better this year so far. No violence. It's not perfect but generally I am very happy with the school and think their teachers are amazing.

'Quality of children are no good' even though there isn't bullying? Basically you mean 'they're poor'? What is quality based on?

Primary great. Secondary appalling. Not least because 70% of the school is closed due to asbestos. Behaviour appalling. Good teachers leaving in droves. Woefully inadequate SLT. The stories my DD comes home with make my blood boil! I can't wait for her to finish.

Quality of children are no good' even though there isn't bullying? Basically you mean 'they're poor'? What is quality based on?

I'm near Cambridge too, and sadly opinions like this are fairly common.

All 5 of mine have gone to the same primary school and 2 of them are still there and it is honestly fantastic.

Out of my older 3, 1 of them goes to an all girls grammar school and the other goes to an all boys grammar school so only one goes to the local state one. Honestly, I was surprised by it. I hear so many bad stories about secondary schools but it wasn't awful. Definitely not perfect though, a lot of the teachers were completely screwed up and so many messed up rules and misunderstandings. But generally, a good environment and I feel like some teachers genuinely care about the students.