'Failing' school - what do to?

[queribus]

DD is in yr 1 at a very good infant school. The adjoining junior school has been judged to be 'failing'.

Should we try and move elsewhere now before next year in order to stand a better chance of getting into a good junior school?

We can afford private, but I so wanted DCs to go to local, state schools. I just don't want to make the wrong decision especially in the light of the 'failing' judgement.

Can you find out what lies behind the "failing" judgement, and what is happening to change it?

Also, is there an oversupply if primary places in your area (so perhaps a greater tolerance by LA to let a school go), or an undersupply so they'll want to do everything they can to fix it?

Ofsted reports aren't everything. A school can be 'failing' and still be an excellent school.

And, even if it was judged failing for something that you consider important, it'll definately be addressed immediately.

The absolutely most important thing about a school is what the headteacher is like. If you trust and like her don't worry about what Ofsted says.....

Infant / Junior Ofsted inspections can be a bit of a minefield.
The infant school is pushing the teacher led KS1 assessment as much as possible to look good for Ofsted inspections. However that then means that the Junior school faces an uphill task to make average progress by the end of KS2, which is a test externally marked.
You need to look behind the failing judgement and find out exactly what the reasons are. If it is for not making appropriate progress I would be cautious over assuming it means a bad school. If it quotes leadership and management failings, well that might be different.

I strongly suspect that it was leadership/management issues, but there was a change of head last term, so that needs time to bed in.

And the KS2 results are way below national averages, although I completely understand what you're saying about KS1/KS2 issues.

The infant school has a long waiting for places this September and is very well regarded. Its largely the same pupils who go from infant to junior, so it's worrying that there seems to be such a huge discrepancy in Ofsted reports, results etc.

Thanks for your sensible advice. Will try to find out more.

New head can be a new begining for the school and your child could not be better placed to benefit from this new beginning. They will go to the school in 2 years time by which time the new head will have instigated changes and the school will be benfiting from them.
One thing I would caution you on is assuming that staff leaving in the next 12 months is a sign that this head is no good. If the school has been coasting / failing under the previous head then a new head coming in nearly always ends with a number of staff leaving who do not appreciate the new ways of working. To me that would actually be a good sign of the school improving.

Usually the local authority will give every possible assistance to a "failing" school.

So, after a year or more the school will probably improve dramatically.

dd's current school was like this - the infants had a very good reputation, the juniors less so. A couple of years ago, the 2 schools were merged to make 1 primary, and the infant head (who is v good) was appointed head of the new school. A fair few staff did leave, mainly from the junior side, but as admission says this need not be a bad thing. The new school is now rated good with some outstanding aspects - and it's been great for dd so far.

Look at it this way - they've now got the support they need to turn the school around and there's only one way for it to go. Up.

Do you mean "failing" as in "special measures'? What score did it actually get in in it's OFSTED?