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Original poster

Is it very important for children to go to a good primary school?

116 replies

LucyJones · 29/08/2007 21:30

Or will they thrive whereever they go?
We live near a pretty bad school. We want to move to a better one but can't really afford to.
Dh told me last night he is beating himself up over it. He feels he has a duty to get them into the best primary scholl possible as it will have an impact on the rest of their lives. Is he completely overeacting or do we need to bust a gut to get the dcs into a good primary school rather than an average or below average one?

OP posts:
shergar · 30/08/2007 00:08

I would personally try to move somehow to be nearer good schools. Are there other areas not too far away - maybe even ones you haven't considered until now - that have reasonable prices and better schools? Could you rent a house for a couple of years in the catchment of a good school? I have moved to a completely different area quite a way from where I used to live (for a different reason to do with work), but it has brought me out of a rubbish catchment area and into an excellent one, and the house prices in my new place are cheaper too, weirdly.

twentypence · 30/08/2007 00:15

You need to visit the schools before you even think of moving house. I can't say this enough - you actually need to go because OFSTED don't know your child and you do.

And you also need to keep in mind that allowing for nights, holidays and weekends they are actually only at school 15% of the time.

Go and see the school first, and take your dh as he seems to be the source of a lot of the stress.

battlestar · 30/08/2007 00:17

to theop.
it depends on what makes the school a bad school.
plenty of kids fail to thrive in so called excellent schools.
plenty of kids excel in so called bad schools.

ghosty · 30/08/2007 00:36

Agree with 20p.
You can't possibly decide on reputation and results alone ...
In Australia it is hard to see 'good' schools over 'bad' as they have no league tables ... nor do they have them in NZ ...
When DS was due to start school in NZ I phoned many schools (some in our area, some outside). The ones that didn't seem keen for me to visit were crossed off immediately. I took into account loads of things when I visited:
What was the state of the classrooms
What were the facilities like
What did they have on the walls
Did the children look happy
How did the children react to the teachers
Did the teachers seem happy and relaxed or stressed and ready to burn out?

In the end we did move heaven and earth to move to a school we liked (and more importantly, an area that was zoned for a good high school).

HOWEVER ... and this is for your DH, LucyJones (who, I have to say, is to be commended for his thought in this matter), 2 years into DS's school career my DH got relocated from New Zealand to Australia - LOL ... so we had to start all over again!

This time we have lookes specifically at the primary schools and have put worrying about High Schools on the back burner for now. DS is 7 and he won't start high school until he is 11 or 12 (depending on where we will be living by then) so we will worry about that when he enters Yr 5 ....

HTH

twentypence · 30/08/2007 00:52

I have just watched everyone with a preschooler (in our subdivision) sell their house and move over the road to be in another school zone - having not even visited the school that they were zoned for, or the one they would be, they were just being sheep.

The Head is leaving at the end of this year - the school could be a different place by the time their children go.

The head is also leaving the school that ds will go to - but at least I didn't move house for that to happen! And I did visit both schools - I even worked in one of them for a while.

One school is small and rural and takes you to high school, the other is enormous (700 children) and you have to go to intermediate school before high school. Now guess which school nobody wanted to go to?

Judy1234 · 30/08/2007 08:10

It depends on you child. On Zog's list - obviously for a child with special needs or a very low IQ the school A on that list is entirely inappropriate. But if you are a parent like me who wants the children educated with very clever children from similar homes and sees that as a huge point (it's one of the things we chose to pay for) so they all work at a very high level in class then that school A would be "best". I can't see any advantage to clever childen in being driven down by being educated with very thick children. If you want them to mix with children like that then you can easily arrange that in out of school clubs etc but don't dumb down their class room education. Get them enthused and stretched and all working at the same level with bright children.

Blandmum · 30/08/2007 08:14

I teach in secondary school but I feel that getting a solid primary education is probably the most important thing you can do for a child , educationwise.

They come to us at 11 , with 'learning habits' already in place. If they have learned to learn, and to enjoy learning, they will do well.

We have children wo reach us at 11 with reading ages of 5 and 6, for them it is a near impossibility to get them to catch up.

parental input is vital, but so, IMHO, is getting good habits started early

FioFio · 30/08/2007 08:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Blandmum · 30/08/2007 08:23

Happy is utterly vital! Happy should be the most important thing, if for no other reason that you can't learn if you are miserable!

KTeePee · 30/08/2007 08:26

I would second what has been said about visiting the schools.

There is a school in my town which is not popular with parents (mainly white, middleclass) who rarely put it down as first choice and do whatever they can to avoid sending their chidren there if they don't get into the school of their choice. The school is in the middle of a council estate and has a high proportion of children whose first language is not English. But from talking to people who have dealings with the school professionally, it is actually a good school, gets good results and has far better resources than others in the area.

Schools can go in and out of favour over the years and it is not always due to the performance of the school but perceived "popularity".

Anna8888 · 30/08/2007 08:42

Yes, bust a gut.

My parents paid for an excellent private primary school. When I did my GMAT (over 15 years after leaving) I realised I had covered practically ALL the ground in maths at that primary school.

seeker · 30/08/2007 09:04

I think the atmosphere and ethos of a school is more important than the results - particularly if it has a very socially mixed catchment area where a lot of children are starting from a pretty low base. My children go to a school that only got "satisfactory" at its last OFSTED, but the children are happy, there is a purposeful buzz about the place, the discipline is good and my dd has just passed the 11+ and got two 5s and a 4a in her year 6 SATS.
Remember when thinking about the 11+ that not all the children take it (in our school ony 32 out of 60 eligible children took it) and the vast majority of those that do take it don't pass (the pass rate is,I think, someting like 23%) ANother thing about the 11% is that primary schools are not allowed to teach to it or offer any but the most basic of practice, so any specific 11+ work is down to parents, however good the school is.

tigermoth · 30/08/2007 09:31

In answer to op, yes if possible. It depends on your local secondary school choices as well. If you have selective schools and an 11+ system in your area, than getting to a good primary school matters IME if you want your child to go to a grammar school. I know from first hand expereince that a good primary school makes it more likely that your child will pass the 11+. My son went to two local primary schools, both state, one 'bad' and then on to one which was very good.

The difference in attainment and attitude was huge - the school seemed much calmer, ds leaned much more and really settled down. Aslo, in the 'less good' primary school I don't think any of his classmates passed the 11+ (held in the neibouring borough). At the 'good' school nearly half ds's classmates passed the 11+ or other selective tests. Mind you, lots of them had a bit of private tutoring as well. I don't know if this was true of the pupils at the other primary school.

However, if you do not want your child to go to a selective or grammar school at 11, and are happy with standards of the non selective or comprehensive schools in your area, then you won't have to face this issue.

Vinegar · 30/08/2007 10:14

I moved around alot as a child and attended lots of different schools. The single most important thing in my opinion is to find a school that does not tolerate bullying and has effective measures in place for dealing with any sort of antisocial behaviour. With regards to the learning aspect, parents can always support their children and even tutor if neccessary later on. Your child needs to enjoy going to school and you need to find out if this will be the case if they go to this "bad" school.

CissyCharlton · 30/08/2007 10:15

I agree with pretty much everything that has been said. That is why I'm so confused!

However, can I just add this. My ds is at a large state primary. His friend is at a small private school. They are both very much boy's boys IYKWIM. My ds is doing better than his friend and enjoying school more and I think the reason is that there are a lot more boys in his school than there are at the private school. I get the feeling that his pal believes that learning is something that only girls like to do. There are three other boys on my ds's table who are bright and naturally very competetive. This brings out the natural competitor in my ds and that has pushed him on.
I feel at times that I should send him to his friend's school because it is lovely and small and all brightly packaged (IYKWIM), but in such a feminine atmosphere, I fear that he would switch off.

Lilymaid · 30/08/2007 10:18

Yes you should bust a gut. My DSs moved from an excellent primary school to indifferent schools when we were relocated and I feel that what happened to DS2 has clouded his education ever since. A very clever child will probably do OK whatever school they attend but most children do not do as well as they should if the primary school is poor and it is very difficult to catch up on the basics later however good a secondary school may be.

Hurlyburly · 30/08/2007 10:21

Education is not my field but I think that primary school education is probably more important than secondary. So yes, bust a gut. It's necessary.

mummytoamonkey · 30/08/2007 10:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Caroline1852 · 30/08/2007 10:52

Second to love, I believe that education is the biggest gift you make to your child/children. It therefore follows that it should be of the best quality you can manage. This might mean you:
Pay
Drive across town to a better school
Drive out of town to a village school
Drive out of your village to a town school
Start going to Church
Move house
Lie about living at your mother's/best friend's house

You don't need to go to all those pre-school/after school activities which cost a fortune and seem to exist only to ensure the survival of competitive parenting (la jolie ronde French, baby classical music, baby work-out/gym, stagecoach, Kumon maths etc etc) but you DO need to get the basics right.

Hurlyburly · 30/08/2007 10:55

Lie? Don't know about that, doesn't sound like being a good example to your children.

Anna8888 · 30/08/2007 11:03

Caroline - I basically agree with all the things one might/should do to ensure one's child gets a great education.

I have the dilemma that there is a good bilingual school down the road (1.5km) where my daughter will be going next year, and a truly excellent one on the other side of Paris where I could send her from September 2008... that would mean a lot of driving, her not having friends on the doorstep etc. What would you do?

Caroline1852 · 30/08/2007 11:13

Hurlyburly, I am not suggesting you lie..... I am merely acknowledging that some people might!

Caroline1852 · 30/08/2007 11:18

Anna - Good versus truly excellent sounds no contest. But, clearly, it would depend on how far and how much commuting. Personally I would not worry about friends on the doorstep below the age of 10.

Anna8888 · 30/08/2007 11:28

The friends on the doorstep issue is different here to the UK. Children here very rarely travel far to school, so a child that does is much more "out of it" locally than in the UK where children don't always go to school on their doorstep.

But, as you say, the crux is the commute. Anyway, I shall apply for a place for her in the other school for September 2008 (I couldn't have sent here there in September 2007 in any case since it doesn't have a "petite section" class for three year olds) and see whether we get a place and take the thinking from there.

islandofsodor · 30/08/2007 11:30

I would move heaven and earth to give my children a good start to their education.

My brother's experiences at primary school shaped the rest of his school days. He never quite caught up and developed a total hatred of school even though it was only an infants school and he moved at 7 to the same excellent junior school I went to.

My parents eventually pulled him out of school in his 5th year and kept him at home.

we moved house just before I was 7 so I only spent 1 year at the bad primary.