Would it be unuausal NOT to look at more than one Primary School for dd1?

[beatie]

DD1 starts school in Sept 2007. Last year we made a move out of a city and into a village. It's not a rural village, it's part of a collection of villages which border another city and a town.

DD1 goes to a lovely Pre-school in the neighbouring village and that feeds into a number of Primary Schools in the villages/town. When I visited the Pre-school, the Principal, who is an ex-teacher and run the Pre-school for 40 years said all the infant schools were good in the area.

Last week we went to visit the Infant School down the road from us. It's within 5 minutes walking distance. It's a 1960s build with nice large green playing fields. The school has 5 classes in the Infant School (instead of the 6 it is allowed), due to falling roles across the whole of the county (South East).

My husband and I were impressed enough by this school, it had a nice atmosphere and it sounded like the children were stretched i.e. the HM stressed that the whole class work to an advanced level and children are taken out for Special Needs classes, rather than the top of the class being taken out for special lessons. It seemed small enough for dd1 to cope with and not feel overwhelmed. The headteacher was friendly and approachable. Everything seemed fine to us. Plus, we really like the fact that we can walk dd1 to this school.

BUT, since parents are given a 'choice', I can't help feeling an inclination to make a 'choice' and to make a choice I'd have to look at other schools.

On the one hand, I have heard people say you should choose a school like a house, you just know it feels right. The school we visited felt right (enough) but how would we know without making a comparison? On the other hand, if we go to see any other schools, are we then going to be torturing ourselves, trying to make a decision?

The other school we'd look at is a smaller traditional village school. It is in the same village where dd1 goes to Pre-school. So, I get the impression that the commonly held view is that the small village school is better than our nearest school. But, I don't know why. The parents are perhaps wealthier (house prices are slightly higher in the other village). I imagine that the idea that the other school is better may just be an 'idea', of course, perpetuated by the people from that village whose children go to that school!

I do want dd1 to go to the local school but want to get over the niggling feeling that the other school is 'better'. How can I tell for sure that our local school is 'good enough'?

The SATS are 40% of children achieving level 3 or above at the end of KS2. Is that good? or average?

Can anyone share their experiences of 'choosing' a State Primary School. Thanks if you got this far :) I realise this post reads like a random collection of my thoughts.

[motherinferior]

I looked at several and then only got into the nearest which one I didn't like, which p*ssed me off grand style - me, I say if you like it, go for it, and relax about it all!

(DD1 did end up at a school I like, fortunately!)

[beatie]

Extra-curricular at Infant age? What types of things? I'm not sure the school we looked at does anything extra-curricular.

[nutcracker]

I only looked at one. Dd went to the private nursery on the school site so I already knew a bit about the school and felt it had a good reputation and was nice and friendly.

The only other one she would have gotten into was crap so there was no choice really.

[Bugsy2]

I looked at loads but I live in London & there are about 20 primaries within a one mile radius of our house!
I think if I lived in a village & I was happy with the local primary I wouldn't look elsewhere. Do you have any friends yet locally who you could ask about the school?

[TinyGang]

Depends what you're looking for. We have two good ones near us that produce similar good results but one is larger, very traditional and seemed a bit more old fashioned in it's methods. The other is smaller and seemed a bit friendlier (to me). Gut feeling was for the second one but I went and had a nose in the first, just so that I knew what I was comparing to.

Dd went to the second, is doing well and is happy. I have a good friend who felt her daughter would do better at the first one, and she is equally happy. Depends on the child too.

It's nice to have a choice. If you have one, then go a look round. Gut feeling counts for a lot I think because only you know your child. I think with a first school especially, a child will do better if they are happy and relaxed, rather than at the school with the best sats result. I agree with Cod, I'm not a big fan of SATS and can't really see the point of testing children so young.

A nearer school is good because it's nice to be within walking distance. When your dd makes new friends she will more easily be able to keep in touch with them and see them after school more often too.

[beatie]

Well, I mentioned having looked around the school to another of the Pre-school parents, knowing she has one dd at the school and another going in 2006. She sais "I've heard XXXX is meant to be good as well" XXXX is the neighbouring village school.

[GDG]

beatie - oh, in infants it's only football and french (in later infants I think) but there are loads in juniors (football, lacrosse, basketball, netball, cross country, chess, dance....)

I was thinking of the other stuff they do in school as well iyswim - they have lots of visitors in, theatre productions etc - the PTA fund a lot of extras.

[beatie]

Thanks GDG for the clarification.

[Wembley]

My daughter also starts school in 2007 and I can't look around any because I don't know where we'll be which is a pain in the a*!!!

I would go and have a look around the second school just so you have something to compare it too. Also when others mums comment on either school you have your own personal impression to go by too. I think it's very easy (for me) to be influenced by other peoples opinions and so I would need to get a feel of both places by myself. I bet you just set your mind at resst and end up going with the first one.

Also I agree with Cod, being able to walk to school counts for loads!

[beatie]

That might be a good way to look at it Wembley. I orignially said there would have to be something glaringly terrible about the local school to make me look around the other smaller one. But perhaps I should go and make sure there's nothing glaringly wonderful about the other school which we'll be missing out on. If there is such a thing, I'm sure some of the parents who declare it good should have benn able to define what it is. And they haven't.

[Wembley]

You have nothing to loose and maybe so much peace of mind to gain which is worth so much. At least you won't be thinking "What if......." in the future. I would be interested to know how you get on! :)

[Berries]

level 2 is the expected level at the end of ks1, but they can get 3. Level 4 is the expected level at the end of KS2 (yr6) but they can get 5 (don't do l6 anymore) - just for clarification.
Also, I'd look around the other school as well, just so I knew I'd made the right choice.

[beatie]

Oops - I meant KS1 I think. End of Year 2 not the end of KS2.

[beckybrastraps]

Only looked at one, only applied for one. I'm SO grateful for our village school when I read about the nightmare people got through in bigger towns and cities.

Walking to school, having friends nearby - all those things are important I think.

I think you may not have the SATS results right, becaise as berries says 40% at level 3 at KS2 would be considered pretty poor I think. However, as a secondary teacher, I can also say that KS2 SATs scores are a VERY unreliable indicator of ability in Science, despite what Ruth Kelly would have us believe. I don't know if that applies to English and Maths as well.

[puddle]

I would look at another one, just to compare. We had more or less decided and then looking at another couple confirmed our choice. The school we chose was the one I could 'see' my son at - hadn't got that feeling from the other two.

Cod's list is great. I'd also add how do they communicate with parents? What is the parental involvement at the school? Happy and engaged children? A good Head is vital.

Also agree that local is a huge bonus - we are 5 minutes from ours and it also means that ds's friends are near to us too, so it's easy to do playdates, to meet up in local park after school, share drop offs and pick ups from activities etc..

[rbj949703]

I didn't look at any schools, I knew which one I wanted and just called in at the school for an application form.

[clairemow]

I would go and look at the other one as well, and see how you feel when you are there.

Things I'd look at - wall displays (quantity and quality), behaviour (in class and playground), class size. Def get the ofsted reports off the internet - they are quite brutal if the school isn't performing well, and if the school is doing well, you'll be able to tell from the general wording of the report.

Do you have any neighbours whose children go to the village school?

Walking a big advantage...!

[mrsdarcy]

I looked at 2 schools and went for the one which was closer and which didn't have such good SATs results. They were very different schools and I went largely on gut feeling and distance.

I agree that asking about how they cover PPA time and staff absence is important but a good TA may be as good as a crap supply teacher - imo there isn't a right answer, rather the reasons the head gives and how you feel about his approach to your question.

Lurk around the school at pick-up time. Is the head in the playground? What are the handovers like between reception teachers and parents? Do the children look happy? What is their behaviour like?

[Posey]

I looked at 2.
One is on the cornerof our road, the other about 10 mins walk. One Victorian, on 3 floors, one modern all on one level. Both similar SATs results. One head inspirational and the school had the right vibe for me, the other head I disliked and never had a good gut feeling.
Fortunately the one I liked was the nearer one, and I only visited the other because I thought I should.

[sarochka]

Unfortunately my dd didn't get the school we wanted and we are appealing. The 2nd choice is a good school and I go in and do some MFL teaching but my gut reaction for dd was that this was not the place that we really wanted. :(

[schneebly]

I am not looking any further than the local school for DS's - it got an amazing report, has only 40 pupils and lots of teachers, recently refurbished/extended and it is 5 mins from my house - perfect! All the other schools are 10-11 miles away and much bigger.

[beatie]

Thanks. I'm beginning to see that being in walking distance of my child's school is a bigger plus than I first anticipated. I have decided not to go and see the other school afterall.

[Lara2]

As far as the SATS go (and I hate them!) the average child should achieve level 4 by the end of KS2. But what was the cohort like? Bright? Behaviour or learning problems? That percentage doesn't actually tell you anything - how many got level 3 and how many got level 4 would be more useful to know if it concerns you.