DS' School has been put on special measures. what should i expect and can i stop Dd going there in sept??

[fattiemumma]

thats it basicly.
got the OFSTED report today and the school has been placed on special measures after scoring "poor" on everything.

what does this mean though, in real terms, for Ds. what is going to happen at the school?

also DD is sue to start there in september and i don't want her to now.
can i use this information to ask for a change of school? obviously i didn't know of this when i applied for her place. the last ofsted report was quite good.

High school DD is going to is just coming out of special measures, so no direct experience yet. But from what I've seen of local schools which have been in special measures, they do seem to get a lot of extra attention and I think some additional funding. One local school got an outstanding in a recent ofsted (not ours unfortunately) but was in special measures a few years ago. Would be interested to read other responses

Often going into special measure is the best thing for a struggling school as they will get funding and extra help. I would rather work in a school in special measure than one just out of the reach of SM.

I would not have thought that you could use it as a reason to change schools unless you could proove that your dd needs something in particular that the school is failing to provide. But I am making that up - I dont know.

Yes, sometimes going into special measures can really turn a school around - they will get lots of local authority support, and of course there is always the possibility of a new head (which can really turn a school around imo). So, for example, if there are problems with teaching, they will find out what they are and deal with them. The kids shouldn't notice anything though, one would hope.

TBH, I think there is a fine line between 'satisfactory' and 'unsatisfactory' in these things, and often a school can be rated 'satisfactory' by Ofsted but still be pretty crap. So at least here everybody can see there is problem and do something about it.

is it a primary or a secondary fattiemumma?

It depends on how it is handled as well sometimes lots of staff will leave a school in special measures and new staff are reluctant to apply especially those teachers who can pick and choose where they work. Sometimes though money is made available to pay staff more to work in that school.

its encouraging to hear that its not all bad.
the school is indeed getting a nw head in the summer term.

There is a meeting on wednesday for us to ask questions. i shall attend of course and will want to hear what they are intending to do to turn things around.

i didn't realise they would get extra funding. is there also more frequent inspections?

its a primary.

If they have been given a notice to improve there will be an inspection again within a year. Otherwise it will be within 2 years. There will be frequent checks in.

My old school got a satisfactory in its OFSTED but became a challenge school, idenetified in that list of failing schools earlier in the year. They are constantly inspected in maths, english and science. There are significant pots of money being ploughed into these schools for staff training and resources. i am not sure if it is the case with primary

hmmm im now concerned as to what will happen with Ds.
he is Sn and althugh we are hoping to start moving him slowly over to a SN school thid is unlikely to be a full time thing until at least september.

i hope tyhey dont start making things difficult for him in order to reach targets.

Were you happy when you went on your visit?-I should base it more on what you saw. You also need to look at the alternatives, because at least in special measures they will have lots of attention and support and will have to put things right.