To choose “poor” state primary over amazing prep?

[Bedsleet]

My children are registered at a well-regarded local prep school. My husband was privately educated and signed them up at birth, because it’s apparently the done thing. I have always presumed we would send them to state school, and sort of viewed this as a back up plan.

Our closest primaries are all a bit of a mixed bag. Two are Ofsted “good” and the closest (which would probably have been our top choice) has just gone from a very old “outstanding” to a mix of “inadequate” and “requires improvement”. We would, especially now, likely be allocated this school.

Prep is expensive. State is free. But will it be a disaster at a “failed” school? Don’t know how much attention to pay to the Ofsted as parents seem to think it’s OK. We can afford prep but it would impact on savings and holidays. I don’t know whether I’m being naive in hoping my children would be fine in the state option, or whether I ought to buy into the private option given that it’s there.

WWYD? Especially keen to hear from parents of primary age kids, or who have made a similar call. Appreciate am fortunate to have these options.

YANBU - state
YABU - prep

State for primary private for secondary

I've worked in state schools and would choose 100% private for my children if I could.

Those Ofsted reports must be out of date. Now there is a 5 point scale.
When was the closest one last inspected?.

You need to go and look round them it's all about the right school for the right child. Noone here can tell you what's best for your particular child in those particular schools.

A few weeks ago. The previous “outstanding” was over a decade ago.

Yes, that term isn't used now.
So, a few weeks ago? How did they do on the 5 point scale?

If it has been labels as Requires improvement I would look at the Ofsted report and find out why. But you can also be assured that resources will be being piled in to improve it.
What other changes have happened there recently. A new head? Before or after Ofsted? Staff turnover?

Thanks, I understand that, but I suppose I’m wondering if I’m naive in thinking an “inadequate” school is still worth considering if private is an option.

What is the pupil premium percentage at thee state school. That’s the main metric I look at. You can supplement less than stellar academics and extracurricular . You can’t change the cohort.

I sent mine to a state primary for reception. Academically strong, small classes, high levels of deprivation. When my 4 year old asked me what “shanking” meant, we hightailed it out of there and into a prep for Y1. Have never regretted it.

Inadequate/RI for all areas.

This. Plus an inspection a few weeks ago - I'm guessing at the end of term? I'm surprised, but it does happen. The report must have come out quickly, nevertheless.

There’s money incoming from private school parents, so the state primary school should improve soon.

If that doesn’t happen 🫣, and you can afford it without struggle, go for private. Different world. If it would be a struggle, save pennies for private high school.

Ignore the headline. What does the report actually say? Why is it inadequate... safeguarding? Teaching? Administration? Behaviour?

Sorry, I'm confused - this obviously wasn't the recent report, is this the old one? In which case, things may have changed?

I was a teacher and this would be my two-pence.

1. Private is not always better than state.
2. Private is usually better than state.
3. You rarely pay for private just for the academics. It's the behaviour, the small classes, the extra-curriculars and the facilities.
4. Ofsted is generally ridiculous. I've seen several reports that are blatantly wrong or patently incorrect. I've known Ofsted inspectors follow the wrong child and then slam a school for poor SEN provision (for example) because the child they followed wasn't given the appropriate support (because they weren't the child with SEN!)).
5. An outstanding school will be outstanding.
6. A inadequate school or a requires improvement will be AWFUL unless it's a paperwork slip (i.e. a school that didn't file teacher's DBS certificates properly so got inadequate but will be reinspected in six months and go back up to outstanding).
7. A good school will vary between absolutely brilliant and so bad that I wouldn't send my child there for any amount of money.
8. Parents views (especially on Facebook) are nonsense - it'll just be whoever shouts the loudest.
9. KS1 matters. Children who perform poorly in KS1 perform poorly at A Levels. The flightpath for GCSEs and A Levels starts at their baseline when they join reception. If a school has a child predicted a 9 at GCSE and they're getting a 7 then they'll give support but a child predicted a 7 and getting a 7 won't get support. Whether they're predicted a 9 or 7 starts to be decided when they're 4/5/6. It really matters.

I wouldn't send my child to a school that wasn't either outstanding or a very good one of the good schools if I had any other option available to me.

No this is the new one. Inspected in June.

If private is going to impact on savings I would really worry about getting them through primary then potentially having to take them out of secondary.

Depends if you value cash over your kids education.

That's what it boils down to basically.

Then it can't be Requires Improvement, because that term no longer exists.
Sorry to be pedantic, but perhaps check the 5 point scale, maybe they had a Cause for Concern?

This is very insightful. Your last point makes me feel quite sick! Not sure how much we can support this at home.

Practically, how do I find out how “good” the two good schools are? Everyone I know uses the one that’s just had the terrible inspection. Have been to open days but I don’t think you can get a proper feel when the school is on show like that.

I think it depends enormously on the state primary and your DC. Some are fine, despite Ofsted reports, and some are not. From my experience, even though primary schools are small, a bigger one is actually better because there are more children for your DC to meet.

Our local was a one-form intake and that meant that there were 29 pupils for DD to meet. Over the years this dwindled until there were just 20 in year 6. People rave about small class sizes but the reality is there is no social leeway. There were 10 girls including the girl bully in DD1's year 6 class. Several girls paired off and the remainders floated around playing 'musical friends'. It was really tough for DD. The parents at our village school were brilliant. When my DDs were there, most parents had university degrees and/or professional qualifications (pediatric consultants, long-haul pilots, technocrats, solicitors, teachers, architects, speech therapists); many had been to private school/university.

The independent school in our village has an even smaller intake so friendships are even more fraught. Also, it has 'extras' like swimming and music but the village primary managed to provide those too. Plus, since we weren't paying fees, we could take them to the local leisure centre for swimming lessons and both DDs had flute/violin lessons at the village school.

I think people are confused about this, the new point system doesn't start until the autumn term. So if they where inspected in July it will be under the old system.

I would be looking closely at why they got requires improvement. Some areas matter more then other you should be able to read the report online. If it's bad, the I would apply for state hoping to get one of the good schools, but at lest you will have the prep for backup if not.

I don't think sending kits private for primary is always the best option, but only if you have good state primary schools locally.

A RI school can improve. I live in an area where there are good and outstanding primaries and one received RI. A couple of years later, they were classed as good. A motivated (of change in) Head can change the RI rating.

If cash is an issue then I’d save it for secondary or a late primary transfer if you want help with Common Entrance/private school entrance exam preparation. It’s all very well being “well regarded” but it might not suit your child. For example a school that has a good reputation for academics or sport won’t suit a child who isn’t academic or sporty but a gentler school with lots of creative subjects like art and music might be perfect.

The five point scale hasn’t been fully implement yet. We were also inspected in June under the old terms. I believe they have pushed it back to November

I don’t think I’m looking at the wrong thing. It’s assessed in five areas. Two are requires improvement (behaviour and attitudes and, early years) two (quality of education and leadership and management) are inadequate.