secondary schools - how many did you visit and when?

[CristinaTheAstonishing]

DS is in year 2, so we still have plenty of time. I've seen there are open days at lots of schools over the next few weekends, so it occurred to me that maybe we need to start visiting at some stage? If we see 2-3 a year then we'll barely have covered a few until it's time to make a decision for/with him. Is it way too early?

Well,I think it's bit early to be honest,for couple of reasons- children change alot between age 6 nd 9/10 so what you may think will suit yr child may infact not when the time comes to change schools,also schools can change for better or worse in that amount of yrs and finally i believe the child should be party to the decision of where they will carry out their secondary education,so not something they can really do at such young age!

We're visiting 3 in the local area in year 5.

I think children should believe they are party to the decision: but actually it's far too important for them to really have any say.
My ds1 would choose the school at which he got most food at the open evening!
So we wanted to visit any/all possibilities before him, and then he will get to visit the real options in yr6.

So in yr4 we visited 3 schools, and 2 in yr5. (We have a limited number of schools here, so it's a relatively easy job.)

Cristina, I think you may be starting a little early, for the reasons interstellar gives. You really need to be able to look at your child and those at the school showing you around as a "before" and "after" picture in order to decide whether sending him or her there is credible and likely to prove beneficial.

I looked at 5 schools in Year 6 and none earlier. And, shock horror, I did allow DS1 to make his own decision, while maintaining a fiction it was really our decision (as if you say you are leaving such important decisions up to a child, various other forces will step into the vacuum and try to influence the decision).

year 2 is way too little, when you visit the secondary schools they are interested in how your child would like the school not you, you often get older children at that school showing your child around etc.

Another point - all the open days we went to were very crowded. I suspect a year 2 child would be rather overwhelmed, and if everyone took younger children the overcrowding would be completely intolerable. southeastastra, I don't think the secondary schools really take in how either you or your child likes the school - there are just too many people there.

maybe but alot of the activites at the open evening were for the children, they could join in with science experiments, design things, do a mock english lesson etc. suppose it depends on the school!

southeastastra, I think I'd better clarify my last post. I agree that many of the open day activities are aimed at the children (another reason for not taking Year 2 children imo), I just don't think the schools are taking note of which potential applicants look promising.

Agree with all that's been said. A lot can happen in 3/4 years, one secondary school here had a terrible repuation when my ds was in Y2 but by the time he was in Y6 it had a new head and was really on the up.

And yes they are horrendous occasions, very busy and intimidating even for a child who's almost the right age. Year 5 at the earliest IMO.

I have just visited the last of five - DD is in Year 5 - and I am totally exhausted. Went on my own - DD has SEN and finds change very difficult - next year is plenty soon enough to take her round - me having ruled a couple out at this stage.

Only reason I can think of to look so early is if you might want to move house to be in-catchement for a school. Even so, it is still very early... We looked at one that we would have had to move for in year 4 (I think) and two in year 5. As we would have been happy with either, ds had the choice - I do think that a childs happiness at a school is paramount so they do need some input imo.

Didn't make that clear - we discounted moving and ds only had choice of other two. In fact we didn't take him to visit the school we'd have had to move for.

2-3 a year! Crumbs...

We saw two - right next door to one another. In our town, all Yr5 children spend a whole school day at each of these two schools - they go as a whole class with their teacher and have a great time.

Then there are open days at the schools for parents of Yr5 children, followed by open evenings in the September they are in Yr 6, i.e. a few weeks before application forms have to be in.

I would say Yr 5 is a good time rather than Yr 2, schools can change so much over a 4 year period, you really want a more up to date view of the schools. Also, most of the open days/evenings and activities there are geared more towards Yr 5/6 children.

As a family, we didn't actually let our children choose, although we listened to their views. For one thing, we wanted one school for all 3 children, so we had to do the choosing for no.1 otherwise the other 2 would have thought it unfair.

Also, from what we could see of other children allowed to choose, they couldn't see any wider picture but made their decisions on really trivial grounds (liking the school dinners, liking the look of the P.E. changing rooms...) or on the basis of where their friends might go. Since both our elder two have made new friends and more or less left all their old friends behind within a few weeks of starting secondary school this didn't seem wise!

Between now and Yr 5, I would try to narrow your list to a maximum of 3-5 real possibles, then take it from there. You'll go mad otherwise!

We started looking in year 5 because there were quite a few to get round. I think year 2 is a bit early, to be honest, but of course we all see things differently. I looked at every school that my dd could possibly have got into, including private and state. I wanted to make the best possible judgement and so looked at the good schools and the poor schools.

We are pleased with our choices as both girls are doing well.

I don't agree with the rest - it is not too early. You will get an idea of the physical layout of the schools, an idea of how they are doing now, but most of all you wil get experience in visiting secondary schools! Soem of the year 6 parents around here are in a panic because they did not start earlier, and there are dozens of schools in a five-mile radius (it's a London suburb).

DW is visitng 3-4 schoosl this year, by herself. Then in Year 5 she will take DD (any maybe me) and will know where to head e.g. art room.

I would recommend you do not take your DS this year. DD had to visit shcools at that age with DS, was bored stupid, and became quite disruptive.

I would wait until Yr 5 really and even then it might be better to visit without your son. Hopefully you will be able to narrow it down at that stage to a few schools you like and then you can go back again in Yr6 with your ds to make your final decision. It is also worth going to visit the school during the day (as well) if you can. It's sometimes hard to get a proper feel for a place on a busy open evening.

Thank you for all the replies. I think I was in a panic as I saw most schools have open days within a 2-3 week period and I didn't know if we'd be able to cover enough in Y5.

We'll maybe wait until Y4 and meanwhile I'll keep my ears open to hear of others' experiences with local secondary schools. It's a subject I had ignored until now. Thanks again.

Oh definitely keep your ear to the ground - you can pick up a lot. Stories in the local press are also useful.