The Ladymuck guide to looking for a school:-
First understand your options - find out which schools are within a suitable distance, both state and private. www.upmystreet.com will give you info on state schools (and rank them in distance from your postcode. Your phone book, or your council may be able to give you a list of private ones too.
You should find out what the entry requirements are for each school. For state schools it is usual to apply in the year before you start reception (either by 31 December or some date in January). But bear in mind that many
primaries now have a nursery attached, and you would need to apply for that a year earlier. Voluntary controlled schools may have their own proceedures (and criteria such a church attendance), and in our area have different application deadlines.
I could only work it out by going through the council literature slowly and writing down all the key dates. You could ask the council for a brochure for this current round of applications (or many councils have the information available online). This will inform you as to whether your local schools are usually oversubscribed or not. If you can't get this info, then it is worth giving the school a ring and talking to the secretaries - I have found them to be very helpful in this process, happy to tell me how many applications they usually get, and whether I would be in their catchment. In our area you can apply individually to the voluntary controlled schools, and then for the LEA controlled ones, you choose up to 3 in order of preference. All first choices are considered first, second next etc. So if your first school is oversubscribed, you will be only considered for your second choice school after all the pupils who put that school first (so you don't have a chance if the second school is oversubscribed). Thus you are recommended to put a school down as your first choice only if you have a reasonable chance of getting in there. Using our own example, most of our local schools are oversubscribed, so I need to choose my first choice carefully - I effectveily don't have a 2nd and 3 rd choice. However I can, and have, applied to 2 voluntarily controlled schools, and therefore may end up with up to 3 state schools offers. Here's the unfair bit - there is nothing to stop me holding on to all 3 offers until the start of September, effectively blocking places at 1 or 2 schools.
Private schools may work on a "first come, first served" basis, or there may be some form of assessment. You will usually have to pay a fee to register (in our case this was between £20 and £50). At some point in the year before entry you will have you place confirmed, at which point a more hefty deposit will be required.
Next you need to think about your priorities: how easy will it be to walk to the school, can you park if it is further,
are there before and after school clubs. Are there aspects of school life which are important to you (eg sports,
residential trips, music). DO you want your child to get into a particular secondary school, and if so which primaries
send their puplis there (or which primaries have their pupils selected). What is the discipline/homework/bullying policy?
Have a look at the info available about the school (Ofsted reports and SATs results are available on line), but don't necessarily rely on these. They are best used to inform a decision rather than to be the sole basis on which you decide. Do talk to other parents about the schools. You can tell a lot about a school from the enthusiasm of the parents - those who are happy with the school are also happyto talk about it. Those less happy either moan or change the subject!
Next you must arrange to visit all the schools you are considering. You can only learn so much from paper and prospectuses.
Take a look round and try and work out whether your child would be happy there. Are there aspects to the school which would attract them (eg in the playground). Is there a diversity of pupils, as well as having pupils similar to your child (one of my friends found that her dd would be the first black child in her local school for 8 years!, our local church school's current reception has 29 children in 2 parent familes, and only 1 not).
In general the private school process seems to be in advance of the state one. If you have chosen a private selective school, then see if you can find out the basis of assessment (either to reassure yourself, or to help you prepare for it!).