satisfactory infant school

[freakazoidroid]

would you consider it. it seems to have fallen from a good school.

If its "satisfactory"or grade 3 in every aspect - no I'd not consider it seriously. What does the Ofsted report say in terms of improvements needed, if any?
It could well be on the cusp of becoming grade 4 - if you say its come down from a 2 (good)...Can you find out what is going on? Has the head moved, is there a temporary head? what needs fixing,.

Actually satisfactory means it's OK. OFSTED have moved the goal posts and it is now much harder for schools to obtain a "Good" category than it used to be.
What you need to look at are the numbers for leadership/management and teaching. If these are classed as 2 or above then these areas are Good and there are no significant problems.
The overall value of satisfactory could be based on just the KS1 SATs results or could be limited by attendance.
Other questions to ask are: has the catchment area changed since the previous inspection ?

Yes I would consider, and DC are at such a school now. Only on MN would anybody ask such a question and presume they already knew the answer?!

Although, of course, one would like 'Outstanding' or 'Good', in practice there's not much wrong with 'Satisfactory'.

?Satisfactory? means:- there?s nothing wrong with student performance, school leadership, value for money, or possibilities for improvement.

Most pupils work effectively in a range of subjects when provided with appropriate tasks and guidance but lack confidence in improving the quality of their work. They generally work steadily and occasionally show high levels of enthusiasm and interest. The pupils make the progress expected given their starting points and some, although not the majority, may make good progress. Progress is inadequate in no major respect (for example, a key stage or particular groups of pupils), and may be good in some respects.

Ofsted promise to inspect the school again within 3 years, and will make an interim visit just about half the time.

I suggest you don't take an Ofsted rating at face value. It might be correct and fair or it might simply reflect the fact that Ofsted don't like the way the school does things. They have their boxes and if you don't tick them the way they like then you will get kicked. I'm thinking particularly of our local primary which was recently damned with a 'satisfactory' rating. Well, there are two local primary schools in this location - one with the 'satisfactory' rating and another with an 'outstanding' rating. Both are inner city with high levels of free school meals. The fact is that the local professional parents ALL choose the 'satisfactory' school or one of the local private schools. The reason for that is that many of the things that Ofsted likes (eg easy to understand single year class system, school uniform, utter priority on getting level 4 for SATS regardless of individual needs or any nod to getting an education) are not what the school is about. The old head retired and a new head has been brought in with the brief of getting the school the 'Outstanding' rating in its next inspection. Which I expect she will do, unfortunately changing all the things that made the school truly outstanding.

Ofsted values are a total nonsense. My friend's schoool ws classed s "goog" for a deprived school, their free school meals numbers dropped by 2 (TWO!!!!) and the y are no longer deprived, so are no longer "good"!