Hints and tips for those looking at secondary schools

[Blandmum]

It has come to that time when year 5 (and 6) students and their parents get to go to open days at secondary schools. I thought a list of hints and tips of what to look out for might be helpful.

1. First impressions count. Are you and your child comfortable with the environment? Does it feel like a secure and happy place to learn? It may be big, but it still should feel welcoming.

1. Along the same lines, is the school proud of its pupils? Are there lots of examples of their work on the walls, pictures of activities? Does the place look as if it is there for the pupils or the staff?

1. When you see the staff to they interact with your kids? Obvious one this! You need to feel secure in the staff, but the most important relationship isn't going to be between you and the staff, but your dc and the staff!

1. Are the staff happy and confident in answering questions?

1. Please point out to your impressionable child that all the schools will be putting on their best for the day. you can't choose one school over another because the science demos were more impressive, you will not be doing that sort of thing every day!

1. Specialist status means that more money goes to the school. People explain to your little nippers that just because they see a performing arts school, or a sports school they are still going to have to do all the regular subjects like English and Maths.

1. Check the student loos. You can tell a lot about a school from the state of the student loos!

1. Remember it is horses for courses, or in this case courses for horses. Just because St Fabbo's gets the best sports facilities, it isn't going to suit your little Brunhilda if she is allergic to exercise!

On point 7

My stepson's (perfectly decent) state secondary school here in France only has Turkish type squat loos.

I was horrified.

Great list MB, have just mentally applied it to the school we've chosen (with great difficulty) for DD1.

Unfortunately it scores badly on point 1 - neither she nor we are 100% comfortable with the environment. The only reason we have chosen it is that it is the only school locally to offer the option she wants.

(but the loos are modern!)

Tell me it's not going to be a disaster...?!

Good list MB.

I'd add that it's worth checking out the journey to/from home on a school day at the times that your dc will be making the journey and using the same method of transport (ie: if they'll be catching the bus, do actually catch the bus rather than drive along the route).

Someone where we lived found the bus was always full - they were expected to get the next one 10mins behind, but that had a slightly different route that went nowhere near the school.

This is really good MB - staggered through all this with dd and got to do same with ds this autumn

It's point 1 which can be difficult to guage

Can you tell me if going round on daytime 'normal school hours' tours are worthwhile, or whether much of that is also put on? Didn't do this with dd but may consider it this time - but have to take time out of work to do it so would have to be worth it

So, MB, since St Fabbo's is out, where CAN I send Brunhilde?

Actually, good list and thanks for posting!

Primula was just going to say that, it's worth just popping by and seeing if they will let you look round.
I work in a secondary school and a family came who said they couldn't make the open evening(good enough exuse) and we took them around there and then. They sent their child to our school and said afterwards the fact that we did that without an apt massively swayed their decision even before they had looked round.

Absolutely MB. That's exactly the criteria that I followed when I started the whole Secondary school trawl with DS1 (what seems like many moons ago) and repeated with DD1. The same will happen with DD2 and [gulp] in the dim and distant future when it's the DTs turn.

Oh many thanks for that lilyloo. There are only 2 we probably need to look at and it's more to see which one would be first preference - though both very oversubscribed!

I would deffo go and see an ordinary day.

Now, granted, if the school knows that there is a class that always kicks off, they will probably not take you there!

But I've had loads of groups of parents drop in and just see what an ordinary lesson is like. Sometimes they see kids doing somthing exciting, sometimes not, but it gives you a more realistic 'picture' than the all singing, all dancing, open evening.

MB - any chance you could name and shame secondary schools in your (our) home town that you wouldn't touch with a barge pole

I have a sinking feeling that both of the ones that we're in the catchment area for (think uphill) don't have a good reputation. My parents (ex teachers) looked horrified when I pointed out she's probably going to end up in one of these.

I would also say spread out your visits. If you have a number of possibilities, they may have open evenings on consecutive or even the same nights!

I can't stand open evenings myself, as I think they're very contrived and you don't get a real image of the school, so I mostly delegated the task to dh!

Dh went to two open evenings in yr4, and two in yr5. We both and dss went to a further one in yr5. Then dh and I went to see our top two during a regular school day during yr5.

At most schools there will be students around who are happy to answer questions. I would be asking things like:

Do you enjoy school?
What do you enjoy most about this school?
What is the one thing you think this school needs to improve on?
What happens when someone is being bullied in this school?

What about us who live in selective areas? The list won't help much then. It's all about passing the 11+.

I live in an area where the schools are very over subscribed, I would say be realistic with your choices,some people round here put the 3 most popular schools on the list, and ended up with none of them.

Or alternatively, you could have no choice but the local school as we have. I would say 5 of MB's 8 points have negative answers. We are preparing to support DD as best we can and hope things are not as bad as we fear. Particularly infuriating as she is coming from an absolutely brilliant primary school which faces all the same problems as the secondary school but doesn't use them as excuses.

I would ask the children how old the displays are. I would worry about one that had just been put up, it shows it's just for the prospective parents benefit. Also, if they show you pictures of the trips the children go on, ask when they went and how regularly they go. I went to see one school where they had a lovely display of photographs from a trip.....taken 3 years ago, they had not been on one since. If you have an energetic child who likes to ask questions, take them along. You can tell alot from a school by how the teachers handle them.

Good point about photographs avenanap.

I had my photograph taken for our school prospectus, many years ago. I was playing in a string quartet, in the Headmaster's rather lovely, period drawing room.

The quartet didn't exist and students weren't allowed in that room.

Having taught in a number of secondary schools and know the tricks they play I would not send dd to a school I had not seen on a normal working day.

Tbf, though, can a school be expected to entertain, as in one of our 'preference' schools, 300 sets of parents descending on it on a whim to witness 'an normal working day'? It's a serious question- how do you get to see one without expecting the lessons to be endlessly interrupted by yet another set of parents trooping through- I wouldn't be happy if my DCs were in that class.

You can still make an appointment so you are not descending on a whim but you go during a normal school day not when most of the kids are missing.

I recently saw a copy of my old school's prospectus, I noticed the photo of the girl doing a backflip taken from underneath was me. This made it 12 years old! I also found out the lovely pictures of children riding and skiing were activities done out of school...

See if there are any reviews on schoolsnet.

They sound great questions MB. But all irrelevant when you have a Big question that trumps them all. Such as, is it the only school within travelling distance? Or, has my child got a chance of getting in? Or (in our case), will they be expected to go up two flights of stairs in a wheelchair? We had to go before panel to get our dd into the only local school that she could access. By which time pictures on the wall seemed rather a luxury.

We have a block of about 6-8 weeks when there are regular tours of parents and kids going round the school. Parent make an appointment, you can't just drop in and say 'Give me a tour'. But they do see round the school on a normal working day (years 11 + 13 will normally not be there because of exams)