To be shocked by this (primary ofstead rating)

[amidsummernightsdream]

DD due to start school sept

Lucky to live in an area thats great for schools, with 4 schools in catchment that are good/ outstanding.

Visited all 4 pre christmas. All seemed lovely. Torn which one to choose. Ultimately chose one on a gut feel from what we saw on the day.

Applied for said school on the deadline 2 weeks ago. Just found out today that the school has just had its ofstead report back and has dropped from Outstanding to Requires Improvement.

I feel blindsided by this, particulary because of the timings of it all (which I know cant be helped)

However, it stands, that I had no idea it was coming and would have made a different choice if we had known 2 weeks ago.

I'm really interested to hear some opinions on this. Does an ofstead rating really matter? If this happened to you would it make you want to change your choice? Is that even possible?

Just need some perpective.

AIBU to feel unhappy about this? And more than that do I need to/ can I do anything about it?

It depends what they got downgraded for. Have you read the report?

I'd want to know which areas we're graded as requires improvement and how many of them

All areas with the exception of Personal Development were down graded to Required Improvement.

I have read the report and it doesnt read great. States the curriculum isnt established in early years or delivered effectively meaning children dont require the foundation they need to move on

Details of areas attached

How long ago was the Outstanding rating given? I think it used to be the case that schools rated as Outstanding were sort of left alone and not fully inspected for many years, so standards could have dropped steadily over time, there may have been many changes in leadership or teaching since last inspection. But weren't ofsted getting rid of the single world ratings after that headteacher died?

The fact is that the children who were happy and learning are still the same as they were 24hours ago. You liked the school. The other schools on your list could similarly be downgraded. Once your child has started at the school the grade could and likely would change. The same could be true of your other possible choices. I would not give it a second thought. I am a teacher who works in a svhool currently graded good. It is so subjective.

This happened with the school my son is now at. The main thing they were criticised for was how reading was taught and that the management didn’t communicate good practice for reading approaches so that staff were unsure. I was quite worried. But after the report they brought in outside support to advise them on how they were making improvements and the advisors were happy with what they saw. Also there were problems with staffing. I had picked the school because it felt good on the tour, we were taken straight into lots of classes all hard at work and children / teachers seemed happy to see us. But when I saw the ofsted I felt like a fool. Now I’m really pleased he is there. He is thriving and doing brilliantly with his reading. The staff are great and whilst there are always a few parents moaning, we have had a good experience do far and I don‘t regret the decision at all.

It happens quite often. My teacher friends all say they’d never send their dc to an outstanding rated school, because there is no motivation (or usually funding) to continue to improve or maintain. More poorly rated schools often get a lot more support for improvement, which translates to more of the beneficial stuff on the ground.

That said, when my eldest started reception, we choose the requiring improvement school over the outstanding one and were happy. I only heard bad things about the outstanding one.

Ofsted is not fit for purpose and means practically nothing now. It really needs sorting out. I'd just go with it of it seemed the best fit.

In a way this is the best time to join the school - you didn't get a bad vibe before so kids and staff weren't visibly unhappy, and now they will have to come up with a clear plan and resources will be put in to help them improve. Lots of schools go through cycles. - an outstanding school can get complacent and end up as requiring improvement, and a school that officially requires improvement can still be a lovely place where kids can thrive. You could write to them and ask for their response to the inspection rating and what their plans are to improve? But in general single word ratings are so reductive and based on one day of observations and I'm glad they're being scrapped.

The fact they have been given this rating means that money and support will now be thrown at the school. It's likely that there will be a turnover of staff and a new head and teachers with proven track records will be encouraged to apply.

Their outstanding rating was probably given a long time ago and not relevant anyway. I'd stick with it.

My dc went to a primary school with a badly outdated Ofsted outstanding rating. I felt totally mugged! Behaviour was awful and they were blagging their way through SATS by not teaching the rest of the curriculum properly. Somehow they came out with “good” in the last year of single-word Ofsted ratings. My dc said they bribed the kids to be good the week Ofsted were in, promising the next week they’d have a party and not have to do any proper work!

I fully sympathise with your shock but it could be that the other schools you considered are no better and Ofsted is, imho, not to be relied upon.

I would give the school a chance and find out how the head plans to fix the problems identified

These replies are really helpful thank you

I'd take it as a positive, now they've been downgraded they will have to make improvements (and maybe get more money for the school?)

Ofsted isn't the be all and end all. School performance changes all the time, due to a lot of different factors, staff retention and satisfaction (national problem), crap budgets, the socioeconomic issues in the local area, etc

Your gut feeling for a school is very, very important. I'd rather a school that was just RI that had a good 'vibe' than a school that was outstanding and had done everything to tick boxes for Ofsted but underneath had children and indeed staff that were not happy and thriving. I'm a primary school teacher and know that now they will be working their arses off to fix the areas that were highlighted. They'll be trying their damndest now to improve before the next inspection, so in many ways academically they'll be at their best in the next year or so.

You don’t get more funding and why anyone thinks teachers want to work at these schools with many issues?

also the poster saying schools that are outstanding don’t have motivation to continue? Wild! They are run better, have better processes and systems and attract a better calibre of staff - why would you not want to work in a school that is considered outstanding unless you aren’t up to it?

the only lesson here is looking at the date of the ofsted report. The more recent the more relevant.

Ofsted are not fit for purpose and have usually got a grading in mind before they even set foot in the school

Our outstanding infant school was downgraded to requires improvement, then at next inspection was described as good.

Village Facebook page remained resolutely supportive of the school through out.

Local secondary school is graded outstanding.... last inspected over a decade ago and same village Facebook page is often less than complimentary!