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?

Celia2, true, but we're talking about under one percentage point iirc - how significant is that?

Also, Celia2, it is possible that the schools in question put some effort into KS1 preparation, thus undermining their KS2 value-added, but giving the children a more secure foundation.

I went to visit three and instantly knew which one I wanted dd to go to, I didnt expect it to be so clear as that but it was.
Obviously I read ofsteds etc too and the one I put as first choice isn't the highest on acheivement tables of the three but I just felt very comfortable with the place and the atmosphere.
We met the head initially who just welcomed us but the we were shown around by children.
We asked lots of questions and the children didnt stop talking which was great.
I prefered it as it is smaller, more homely and because they obviously felt confident about letting children show us around and say what kids say!

Both schools will separate the twins but will only do so in consultation with me and DH.

The VA scores for the other schools are 99.4, 101.1 and 98.4. One of the schools has one and a half form entry so I'm not clear how that works so any advice on that will be greatly appreciated.

The school with the 101.1 is the most sought after primary school as its SAT results are all in the 90s and it is only 5 minutes walk from my house. I'm seeing that one next week. I have spoken to the receptionist twice and tbh, I found her rather unhelpful and aloof. In addition, they have no breakfast club and their afterschool club is located at another school so children are bussed to it, something I am definitely not keen on. However, I will reserve judgement until I visit it.

There is only one church school amongst the 4 and as the boys go to Sunday School and DH and I regularly attend church, I don't think we will have a problem. However, a church school is not a priority for us, it just so happens that the second one is a church school and is very good too.

Please keep your thoughts coming. I'm not keen to reveal my way abouts though!

Saw another school recently and again I was very impressed. It is also only about 6 minutes walk from my house. It has a very active PTA which has raised over £30k this year alone.

Academically, it is the best school out of the 4 that I am considering and is the most sought after. However, it does not have the range of after-school clubs like the CofE school plus, after a number of probing quesitons, I got the impression that they are not really proactive in meeting the needs of working parents. There is an after-school club assigned to the school but the school does not run it and they could provide no details about. In fact, I was telling the other parents about it as well as where they could find further info. The Deputy Head was clueless.

Just one more to look at before I make my decision.

Can I ask how old your kids are? I don't know when to start looking around for DS, he will be 3 in March so no mad rush I guess, but our village school has just got an awful OFSTED report so I'm getting worried!

brendar75, my child will also be in the September 2009 intake and I am visiting schools now.

Application packs here are sent out in September and have to be returned in October. A month or so is not long enough for me to have a good look around and make a decision, which is why I have started looking now.

I have seen quite a few schools, one is fantastic (not a very high achieving school but wonderful atmosphere) but it was oversubscribed by 26 last year, and I am struggling to choose another 2 to go on my preference list.

I will of course be going to their Open Days in the summer, but am glad I have had a chance to be shown round personally now.

My boys are 3.5yo so will start school in Sept 08.

Brendar75, the school that I am putting as number 1 actually received a poorer Ofsted report compared to the other two that I have visited so far. We were shown around by the children after an introduction by the headmaster and that is what really sold it to me. They were eloquent, articulate, carried themselves with the aplomb that many adults lack and were passionate about their school. Not surprisingly, this was not reflected in the Ofsted report.

Thanks Spokette and car25, I will have to start looking around and visiting in the next year or so.