Good or outstanding school?

[Timide]

We are moving to England from another country soon and looking for a school for our 4yo. My husband is suggesting sending her to his Catholic school that he remembers to be ok. However it only has a Good rating by OFSTED. So have the other schools nearby. Only one has an Outstanding rating but he says it is actually in a rougher area.
I'm not native and don't have a feeling for all of this at all. How do you choose a school for your child? Where do you find reviews? What to look for and where? Any tips highly appreciated

The outstanding/good ratings can be meaningless... often out of date and an indication of how well the school can tick boxes.
You need to look at progress scores and results if you want to compare data.look at the government website for these.

Also, if wanting a place for this September you are reliant on the waiting lists now (applications closed January unfortunately) and you can't apply until resident. Waiting lists are held in order of how well you qualify, which is mainly distance. The Catholic school may have Church attendance criteria.

Local social media might give you a general feel about how the schoolscare perceived.

Good luck.

As posted above the good and outstanding are meaningless especially as if they are good or outstanding they can not be seen again by OFSTED for years. One of the schools near us is good but hasn’t been seen in ten years and the last time was a short report so no meaningful report to read.

It’s worth seeing if the school gives a tour as it can give you more of a feel for a school. We moved part way through a year so toured schools before moving and decided based on the tour not OFSTED although it is a ‘good’ school.

Oh great! Thanks! That's very helpful. I knew I have no clue about this.
What about school exams? Do children take them at primary? Are the results made public?
I thought a tour would give us an idea about the wellbeing at school but how to find out how strong it is academically?

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/

Heres the data website. They do take exams at 11, but they haven't the past two years due to Covid, so most recent data is 2019.
The progress scores compares the results from internal tests in early years to the Yr6 exams (SATs) for the same year group.

So the SATs exams are also available for public right?

What else do you think is important when choosing a school?

Being a resident is tricky as we are not coming until early May. So DD might not get a place at all until she reaches the compulsory age (5)?

The most "outstanding" school here in Ireland, had the highest rate of eating disorders amongst its students, it has been recently discovered.There is no list to rate which school has the more happiest children.
What is considered "outstanding"
Academic results?? Third level education take up is high??
Not much use if your child is so unhappy that they require support of mental health services for the rest of their lives.
I'm sorry but to even consider your child's future in those ridiculous lists is complete snobbery!

The Council will find her a place. Just not necessarily in a school you chose, just one with available places. You can then stay on waiting lists for preferred schools. You don't have to send her until the term after 5, but she's entitled to a place the September after she turns four.

Thank you very much! Very helpful. We will keep looking.
It will be completely new environment for DD so ideally we wouldn't want to take her out of the school in the middle of the year but completely understand we might not get the place we want.

I wouldn't pay much attention to the Ofsted ratings. My DGD was at an outstanding primary school and endured horrific bullying because of her disability. The staff and head were useless. She transferred to a school that required improvement and was cared for so well and was happy and settled. The other issue is that schools are over subscribed. You may have no choice where your DC is allocated a place.

@navydear

The most "outstanding" school here in Ireland, had the highest rate of eating disorders amongst its students, it has been recently discovered.There is no list to rate which school has the more happiest children. What is considered "outstanding" Academic results?? Third level education take up is high?? Not much use if your child is so unhappy that they require support of mental health services for the rest of their lives. I'm sorry but to even consider your child's future in those ridiculous lists is complete snobbery!

I suspect that your experiences of a (presumably secondary) school on a different country isn’t terribly relevant to OP looking go for a primary school in England.

Of course looking for advice on choosing a good school isn’t snobbery!

Good luck OP.

Oh dear so sad @Goodbyetowinter
That's the thing! How do you find out the school is caring until you try it? How to find out? You cannot try all schools in the area

I wouldn't go on the Ofsted ratings. It's very political.

Go and look at the schools and you'll get a feel for them.

@Timide It's difficult. We have an influx of new families in our area due to massive new build estates. Mums regularly ask for school recommendations on Facebook. Every school in the area gets a recommendation from someone who has a child there, so it's no real guide to what the school is like. In fact, there's not much to choose between them if your child doesn't have special needs. If they do, that's very different. Now there's no real choice as only one out of about 15 schools has any spaces as it's recently been extended.

I agree with the posts above. In my experience Outstanding means all the paperwork is correct and the Head Teacher is ambitious. A Good school is more likely to prioritise the well being of the children.

A better guide would be to visit the school and see if there is a good balance between older, experienced teachers and younger enthusiastic ones. (Not that older teachers can't be enthusiastic and in a well managed school they would be.) Many Acaemies in particular manage out the more expensive, experienced staff in favour of cheaper, more easily manipulated newly qualified teachers.

We have just moved from an "outstanding" to a "good" school. And we feel so happy with our decision. Outstanding was appalling in our eyes.

Go and visit the schools - you’ll get a sense of them and how the children are taught/looked after.

Thank you for all the advice! Helpful!
We will do as said and try and schedule visits to schools as soon as we are in England. We will start getting in touch with them now to see what they say. Hopefully it gets us somewhere
Moving countries is stressful as it is. Would be a shame to mess up with the school and make it even more difficult for a 4yo

I agree with the posts above. In my experience Outstanding means all the paperwork is correct and the Head Teacher is ambitious. A Good school is more likely to prioritise the well being of the children

This is my experience too, and that of many friends and family who are teachers. We’ve deliberately chosen a ‘Good’ over an ‘Outstanding’ school for DD.