Becoming despondent about choosing a primary school and I have only looked at one so far!

[spokette]

I want them to walk to school so I am looking at 4 schools that are within 10 minutes walk.

I have produced a matrix with a list of about 15 questions that I plan to ask each headteacher plus I am noting my observations as I look around (are the children orderly and polite, do they work well in their groups, are artwork/trophies on display, how many books in library, modern ICT equipment, general housekeeping etc).

I visited the first school on Tuesday and was so impressed with it. The children were really attentive in their lessons, groups moving from one area to another walked quietly and in an orderly fashion. The school has its own orchestra and choir and is very sporty. Sats results are in the 80s and one third go onto grammar school.

I came away feeling really positive about it. I mentioned it to several people who live in the area and they all slated it! One of the issues is the fact many of the children come from single parent families and live in council housing!!

Surely what matters is that most of the parents support the school, teachers are committed and children receive a rounded education or am I being naive?

No, I don't think you're being naive at all -- but fortunately your friends' reaction means there's less likely to be competition for places and your DC should find it easier to get a place

You need to learn to ignore the opinions of twitterers, spokette. You're in for a miserable few years if you don't. (You're right, they're wrong - OK?) Before DS1 started school, I was told that my local primary school was terribly rough and that I should really apply to another one further away. As I preferred the local one, and nobody taught me the special handshake, he went there and did fine

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(Although, oops, spokette has 4 possible schools within 10 minutes walk, so this one isn't really "the local school", just one of several local schools)

There were only 15 pupils in the September intake for the reception class - much smaller than all the private schools round here. We observed the reception class whilst the children were working and they were totally absorbed in what they were doing. There is one teacher, one TA and there was also a special needs teacher with a young boy.

The school does have a higher percentage of special needs children compared to the others I plan to look at. However, I think that is a good thing because it shows that they are inclusive and they have the resources as well as the right attitude in attending to the needs of these children.

The headteacher also pointed out that more able children are given more challenging work to ensure that they are stretched so they aim to ensure that each child works to their own ability.

I was so impressed with the school but I still have to visit 3 others.

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The Ofsted report rated the school as good but could do more in stretching the children in maths. However the Sat results for maths were 81%, English 91% and science 93%. The value added score was 99.6. I thought that was very good.

DH and I are both scientists and are maths orientated so I am quite happy with those scores. Maybe I am missing something.

Well, exactly. Results are good, you're very happy with the ethos of the school, and the one point for improvement (extra stretching in maths) is something you and your DH can easily help with.

Wait till you've seen the others, perhaps you'll notice a difference and one school will stand out. I think comparisons are quite useful.

I have spoken to the receptionist at all 4 schools and based on that, my gut instinct told me that this school was the right one for my twins. Visiting it confirmed my instincts.

It will be interesting to see what the other 3 schools are like.

Thanks for your words of wisdom. It is only since I had children that it has gradually dawned on me that there is some sort of social apartheid practised by some parents. As a child of Jamaican immigrants, I was thankfully immune to this when I was growing up as we were the undesirables.

Spokette it sounds like you will be able to get for free (small classes, individual attention, inclusiveness, brighter children stretched good extra curricular) what I am having to pay for at private school.

Sounds a great school. What the hell does it matter where the kids come from as long as when they are in school they are well behaved, challenged in their work and are well mannered. Their parents can be druggies for all I'd care as long as the kids are not disruptive and harmful to my child's education.

PS Where do you live, can I come and move there?)

Ooh snobbery at play again . Lovely! Ignore the whisperers and go with what you think. I would see the other schools first though.

I've always been amazed how people bolster their own choices by critising other people's.

Well I saw another school today and this one left me lost for words. After an introduction by the headteacher, parents were shown round in small groups by year 6 pupils. These children were articulate, eloquent, oozed the self-assuredness and aplomb that is absent in many adults but more than anything, it was obvious that they passionately and sincerely cared for and supported their school! One girl told me that she did not want to go to secondary school because she really loved it there.

It is a CofE school and like the first one, it has good Ofsted reports and SAT results. It is bigger than the first school and because it is very popular it has two classes of 30 in reception. It also has a popular choir and orchestra plus 14 clubs including German, Athletics, Science and Fencing!!

I was so impressed and the advantage of this school over the first one is that it is closer to my house (7 minutes walk as oppose to 10 minutes).

I have mentioned this school to my "friends" and comments received include "don't like the headmaster", "they fudge their 11+ results", "the standards have gone down since my children were there".

The only reason I'm asking these people is because I have only been in the area for a few years so don't really know what the schools are like. I plan to see another two but I won't be asking for any of their advice because they seem to enjoy tearing down my enthusiasm.

Sounds like you've got some great schools near you, so you can relax and go for the one that your gut tells you is best for your child.

But then, I'm the one who picked the only "satisfactory" school in the area, turning down several "good" and "outstanding" ones, because it was the one where I thought DD would be happy. It's suiting us just fine.

Spokette, if you are willing to indicate roughly where you are, maybe someone can give you some less prejudiced tips
Both schools sound terrific

You've seen two good schools that are near to your house. You are very very fortunate. The problem with asking people is that if you don't know them well, you can't be sure their values are yours.

You are lucky you have a choice. We only have one primary school (and it's a big rural one) where we live so no choice at all. What does the OFSTED report say? Go with your gut.

Marina, I think spokette might be wise not to tell us where she lives - we'll all be moving there!

LOL - I wondered because it doesn't sound all that dissimilar to our own local situation, although I cannot think of any nice schools that are undersubscribed because of catchment area snobbery!

This is a similar thing I have been experiencing too. Dh and I took DD to view 2 schools yesterday. One had a good reputation the other didn't but like most people, we are going to look at everything that is available and make a decision based on that.

So we went to the first school, it has had a bad reputation for some years as it was merged together from a really good school with a failing school.

When we arrived the Head teacher showed us round and it was evident she knew what she was talking about. The school was light, airy and spacious with modern equipment, the kids were all polite, holding doors open for us and saying hello as we walked past. She also seemed to 'know' all the kids, their names and their needs which I thought was quite good considering how big the place is. The reception classes are smaller than average which I took as a good thing, they promote free flow play and the outdoor area is something else.

We took a list of questions and rattled them off to the h/t and she knew the answers to all of them. She was never unsure of the answers and seemed to have a genuine passion for her job and the school. The h/t came from the old good school before the merge and has always had a good reputation.

Went to see the next one in the afternoon and by comparison, it was grim, the kids running around, lots of bullying posters all over the place which (rightly or wrongly) suggested a problem to DH and I. Needless to say DD will not be going there.

When I spoke to my friend about the school in the morning, she visibly shuddered and said there was no way she would onsider it because of all the negative things she has heard. I said fair enough but its worth having a look. Their results are higher than the national average in english, maths and science and they work hard on children's emotional development.

Dh started to doubt the school because of the comments of my friend, but when we revisited our pros/cons list he seemed a bit happier.

Just go with your instinct as others have said. Even though this school doesn't have a very good reputation, we were immensley impressed and it will definately be one of our three options for DD.

I think an impressive head teacher is the key to a good school...

If you are interested in the SATs results and each of the schools seems to have good results you may wish to look at the numbers getting level 5s. For some schools/areas the level 4 results are not very relevent as all children bar some with SN achieve the level 4. Look out for skewed results, ask for the separate results for reading AND writing and the split between girls and noys to see if it shows up anything.

Sorry can't type BOYS!

Also check with your local council how far they offered places from the schools in the last few years (assuming you will be hoping to get in under distance criteria) and exactly how far they calculate you are from the schools. 7 mins or 10 mins might seem very close but there are schools where i live where you wouldn't get in from those distances! You mention the two you have seen so far are CofE - do you meet their religious criteria? Assume nothing!

Did you say you have twins? Have you thought about whether you want a school with two classes for each year if you might want them in different classes or you prefer them in one class. I know some people in our area with twins were told that a school they were looking at had a policy of separating twins (they had two classes of course) and she didnt want hers separated. In fact later on she decided they would be better separated so it might be worth having the flexibility in the bigger school?
Also we had a smaller school near us that kept getting low intake numbers and has had to merge classes (i.e. mixed year1/year2) and now is threatened with closure.
Just some things to consider.