Would you choose to send your child to a secondary school that only had a "satisfactory" ofsted report

[NotEnoughTime]

Hi

I would appreciate your advice opinions on this.

Our local secondary school is very large (ie 1750 pupils). I have been to look around it and I feel that my son could get "lost" there. Most of his friends from primary school will be going there. It has a "good" ofsted report however I didnt like it. (Dont ask me why, just a gut feeling). My son could walk there in 20 mins.

However he could possibly go to another school which is slightly further way (a 30 min bus journey which we would have to pay for.) I went and had a look around and really liked the atmosphere and had a good "gut" feeling about it. We are out of catchment but I was told by the school secretary that my son has a good chance of getting in as it is never oversubscribed (probably due to the ofsted only being satisfactory as she said that it scared a lot of parents off). My son will probably be the only child (or maybe there will be 1 or 2 others) going from his primary to this school if we choose it.

We have spoken to our son and he seems happy either way. On the one hand he said he would miss his friends if he didn't go tho the local school but on the other hand he quite likes the idea of going on the bus to the further away school.

I appreciate that everyones DC's are different but which school would you pick?

Thanks in advance.

As at teacher I would say go with your gut feeling. However you could do the following:

Phone both up and say that you'd both really appreciate a tour one morning. A confident school will say 'yes' immediately and tell you to come in.

Don't be fazed by students stood in the corridor (a good sign - low level tolerance of bad behaviour) or teachers who say 'come on in and have a look ' and then begin to talk about what they're doing - even if the kids suddenly stop what they're doing to gaulk at you.

Another good sign to look for is if the kids acting as tour guides aren't particularly cerebal. That shows that the school is trying to impart a degree of responsibility to possible problem students. WATCH OUT FOR CLEARLY EXCELLENT KIDS DOING THE JOB.

Look out for more than minor (internal) litter - a bad sign.complaints from the student guides about teachers being 'strict', 'boring', 'detentions' are a good sign. Finally please, please, ignore OFSTED. They're full of SH*T. I work in a a 'good' school which is damning. Put us in a competition with any private school staff for teaching excellence and I'd bet my salary on us. I mean it. But, back to the top. Your gut feeling and more importantly your child's gut feeling are not to be sniffed at. Go get 'em!!!

I've been viewing secondaries for DS and have seen several, of all classifications. The one I liked least was the only one rated outstanding - didn't like the place, the pupils, the attitude of staff......

The one up the road is rated satisfactory and was on special measures until three years ago, but has a kick-ass head, a wonderful atmosphere and ticked many more boxes.

Schools improve and schools go downhill, and I'd rather go to a place which is "on the up" than somewhere which is cruising along believing they are at the top of their game.

Apologies if you said already, but did you visit on Open Day or a regular day? I'd ask to go on a normal teaching day as well for a visit. It can be a bit more reliable. Also if you are looking at league tables, I'd pay more attention to the results including Eng and Maths than the overall figure.

So your choice is between:-
...?good? or ?satisfactory?
...?near? or ?far away?
...?with friends? or ?not with friends?
...?no expense? or ?pay for travel?
If you don?t believe OFSTED then the ?satisfactory? could well be ?poor?.
When taking in to account waiting time, a 30 minute journey could easily take 40 or 50 minutes.
Pick the nearest.

I've only been involved in the search for primaries so far, but bear in mind the influence a head has on the school. There's a secondary near to where I live that was outstanding, everyone said what a wonderful school it was, parents pulled their children out of private schools to go there etc. Then the head moved on and within 3 years the school is back to being very average. Ofsted isn't everything.

Do think about how he would feel travelling in bad weather, or after football practise as well as maybe not being at the same school as other children who live close to him. I was like this and it can be quite isolating.

I taught at a secondary school and most these days are in my opinion overly large(pupil numbers that is)
Ofsted reports vary . I would ask for the last 3 years reports on GCSE attainments. A proper brreakdown which showa how many students were entered for a subject, haw manyt passed and at what grade level.
This will give you the academic abilty of the teaching staff. A minimum of the last 3 years 4 if pos.. As a past teacher has said schools can change dramatically with a change at the top ( The Headteacher ) for better o worse. My 4 boys were at a school that had a poor leader but the staff were good and so did quite well. Since then the helm has changed and the school has surged forward.

Thanks everyone-really helpful responses so far. :)