salient questions to ask of new primary school??

[Leln]

Hello
We are starting to look for a primary scholl for DD and I would like to know what are thre key questions you would ask of a head teacher when considering any school?

Thanks!

I want to know the same thing. So far I have asked what percentage of teachers are doing a Jobshare ( I know teachers should be allowed to work part time, but I'm not sure primary is suitable for this...), what provision is made for school lunches, Sats and Ofsted results. One school I was shown around by a 10 year old - he isn't going to lie, is he? Another we were taken around by the headmaster with no opportunity for talking to techers or children. Size of class...? Streaming...? Policy on exclusions (to find out if they have the guts to do it)... Another school I visited had mixed year classes. I couldn't get my head around that at all! Have you had any thoughts yet? Good Luck!

I would ask:

How do you make sure that every child works to their own ability (especially if the classes are large and mixed ability)?

How many adults do you have in a class? Is at least one of them full time? (I agree with the other poster about job shares, although DD1's class has two part time teachers and two full time TAs, which seems to work OK).

What are your value added results (much more important than SATs, because they take into account the baseline ability of the children when they arrive.)

How much time do they spend playing outside? (because they will be very keen to tell you about academic performance - but do thay also allow the children out to be normal, lively, active children, make friends and let off steam).

And then I would relax, have a look around and see whether you think your child would fit in and thrive. And remember that the overall results for the whole school are, to some extent, irrelevant. You just need to know that YOUR child will achieve their potential there. And IMO they will do that best if they are happy, engaged and interested, but not hot-housed.

The most important question IMO is 'How do you teach reading?'

They should say, 'we use a synthetic phonics programme', but further questioning is still necessary - do they do it 'first, fast and exclusively', and do they use decodable books?

How many children leave the school each year as poor readers or unable to read? If it's more than a couple, then they've got a problem - with their teaching.

The following chart may prove useful:
www.syntheticphonics.com/pdf%20files/Criteria%20for%20evaluating%20a%20phonics%20programme.pdf

Don't forget the watch the CH4 series of programmes on illiteracy, Lost for words' - it starts tonight at 8pm

I didn't ask hardly any questions. I just went, looked around and got a feeling for it. Were the children happy and busy? Was the classroom full of focus little children, enjoying their work in a snsible manner? Was there children's work all over the wall displays? Did the teachers seem friendly and approachable - we took DD so we could see how they interacted with her for example.

And we finally chose the school that felt right for us and more importantly that seemed the best choice for DD.

And so far, a year or so, it seems we were right.

Do they have a hot lunches service, can you sample the lunches and what is the pupil take up of hot lunches ?

If you need to use before/after school club facilities is this rationed or freely available ? If you need regular before/after school club make sure you have it agreed as available and booked in advance with the (ususally) seperate childcare provider before you commit to the particular school to which it is attached.

Can the children take holidays in term-time or is it completely forbidden ?

Is the playground zoned so that football games don't take over everything. Is there a seperate area for smaller kids to play, how many staff supervise the playground at lunchtime etc ?

Do they teachers have adequate support for both statemented and unstatemented children who need it ? The head will say yes but watching and listening for hesitation in the response here is interesting.

Ask about free clubs and other extra curricular actitivities they offer. Teachers who, despite their heavy work loads, give up their free time at lunch times and after school to take clubs, show evidence of a caring environment and a commitment to producing a well rounded individual. Core subjects are all very well and v important but opportunities to develop and show off other skills such as art, sports or music give those less academic kids a chance to shine and develop self esteem. In my experience, kids who are happy with high self esteem tend to be more motivated which in turn leads to higher acaemic success.