I am wandering in a maze of tables - please help me!

[motherinferior]

I am, quite literally, in tears trying to find out some incredibly basic information about schools in Lewisham. And the fact that everyone else finds this information perfectly accessible is making me feel even worse.

I can find a pdf listing stage 2 results for 2002. I can find DFES tables with all sorts of things about 'added value' for 2003, which quite frankly I can't understand. Somewhere - but where? - I've seen a table which would give a school's results against the Lewisham average and the national average.

I really am not stupid most of the time, but I clearly am on this, and I would very, very much appreciate someone's clear advice on what the hell I should do.

does this help?

It does a bit, thank you so much. Any idea where I can find the national averages?

The really consoling thing is that the school at the end of our road, which has been in special measures and has a dreadful 'oooh, no, you don't want to go there' reputation, is actually doing rather well and has a new head and dp points out we could end up showing off about how fabulous it is...

post this again during the evening and popsycal may well be able to point you in the right direction.
sorry i have to go but i wouldn't dismiss your school at the end of the road because of its current reputation. it takes years to build up a good reputation and a matter of weeks to earn a bad one.

Oh, yes, MS, quite agree. See you later!

Motherinferior I find Up my Street quite helpful. If you put in your postcode, then scroll down to 'Education' it gives the nearest school's results, and the national average. Then you can also click to get all the schools in Lewisham.

HTH

MI, have you tried checking out the News Shopper website ? I find all sorts of useful snippets about local schools and LEA performance and I am sure that they did loads of stories around the league tables when they were published, including comparing them to national averages.

MI, I know people want to look at stats etc but I would start by going to see a couple of local schools (i.e. you think your dd will get in on catchment area) to see what you think. You might find that you go into one and think wow and then see another and decide no quite quickly. It could be fairly quick and painless and save you wading through mountains of boring paperwork. Or you can call them and ask for a prospectus and that may well contain some figures. The school my stepsister's kids go to wasn't doing fantastically well when they started there but she knew it had a new head and thought it would improve quickly which it did. It's now massively oversubscribed and wonderful. So your dp could be right. A good head can make a huge difference.

Thank you everyone. We are due to go and look at three next week, actually, and another one fairly soon. Quite frankly if the two nearest to us look OK I suspect I'll give up any further searches!

Have a look at www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports then click on Greater London then Lewisham. This will give you access to the ofsted report for each school in the area. Don't bother reading the whole thing but there's a summary near the beginning of each report on what the school does well and what needs improvement. Worth reading prior to visiting for the schools you are considering as it enables you to ask questions about what they are doing to address their areas of weakness.

How old is your child MI? Ask to have a look at foundation stage/reception class(es) & Y1 class(es). Is there lots of (structured) play opportunities? How happy do the other children seem? Is to too formal/informal for you? IMO If a child is happy they seem to naturally do well