What would you do to get your child into a good school?

[bossykate]

guardian article

nothing we don't already know of course, but still interesting i thought, especially given schools are clamping down on dishonest parents.

For us it's more like a question of 'what wouldn't you do', b/c there isn't a whole lot I wouldn't do to get DD to a good school - drive across town, etc.

I wouldn't, however, lie about religion. I couldn't do that in good conscience.

I don't think anyone here defines a 'good school' simply by league tables. Lots of other factors - quality of teaching, facilities, and very importantly the culture of the school. Is it OK to want to learn? Is bullying an issue?
The primary that - all being well! - ds will go to doesn't actually feature that highly on league tables, partly because it has quite a high proportion of children with Special Needs, but it has, my friends tell me, an excellent supportive atmosphere, teaches reading by phonics, prioritises singing and arts over sport, is not religious, does not seem to have a bullying problem and children feel comfortable when they try hard at school, reading is cool etc.

The only reason I wouldn't lie to get my son into school is because I would be afraid of getting caught so it prob wouldn't be worth the stress. Don't think it is unethical. We all pay the same taxes so I don't see why some people should have to send their kids to worse schools than others.

The thing is the results information is so easily accessible, and comparable. For instance the GCSE results (5 A-C grades) for our local secondary schools are:
16, 39, 45 and 89(private)
National average is 53.7%

Any other impartial information is hard to come by, and even so how do you know what will suit your particular child best, especially if they are not terribly 'normal'!!!

Expatinscotland - you mentioned being willing to 'drive across town'.

Some children spend considerable time travelling to and from school. What is the maximum amount of daily (unaccompanied) travelling time people would consider reasonable for your 11 yr-old?

Well, my DD is only 21 months old. But I use public transport, and see plenty of kids who look abuot my niece's age (11) taking a bus into town centre and then catching another one out to their school unaccompanied.

I went to a private primary school in my native city that took about 40 minutes (with traffic, which was normally extremely heavy) each way to drive to. My mom dropped us (me and my sister) off and picked us up daily.

Quick q about league tables. Aloha and Pamina you have obviously looked at them. Which league tables are they? For KS2? Reason I am asking is because the school DS is due to go to isn't on the league tables, and none of the other local primaries are, because we have middle schools in this area which means that the Sats are taken at middle school. If you are not using the league tables as a guide what do you use?

I must admit I've never used league tables, I've just gone by local word of mouth, but that's probably because it's only primary and it's been an easy choice - the nearest school, five minutes round the corner, is a "good" school, so that was good enough for me. I guess secondary is much more of a minefield.

Bozza - if the school(s) has had a recent Ofsted you can view it here and it does include KS1 SATs results.

I think most (all?) schools put their KS1 results in their prospectuses too.

HTH a bit!

Thanks. Its all a bit hypothetical really because he has been accepted by the local villageschool. TBH I would send him there unless I felt definitely unhappy with it. I have checked out the Ofsted report and there were two main criticims - the deputy head and the ICT provision. When we looked round the school the head pointed out that there had been significant investment in computers since then so thats been addressed. The next nearest school seemed to be on a par although being CofE had slightly smaller class sizes but decided this was outweighed by being able to walk to school and DS's friends going there. Both feed the same middle school.

Does anyone feel like me about church schools? I have nothing against religion - it gives a moral framework, is a community focal point for families, etc. - but I would feel hypocritical going to church now or sending dd to a church school as I have avoided it since the age of 13. The best schools near where I live are Catholic rather than CofE as I was brought up. But that means my 'choice' is really reduced. It seems elitist and discriminatory that they exist at all - if they're private, OK, but not in the state sector. I wish our system was non-secular as in France. And the glimpse I got of Labour's manifesto allowing primary schools to opt out of LEA control makes me very nervous - isn't that going to encourage yet another division?

I actually couldn't care less about computers. There is little evidence that they benefit younger children anyway. Would prefer more books.

I mean secular (duh!)

I certainly wouldn't lie about where I lived because I couldn't sleep at night.

We have moved house and are now in the catchment for one of the top state primaries in the borough (which is a really good borough anyway so hard to go wrong - we are lucky) - we were moving anyway as it's my parents house and we needed a bigger house now we have ds3.

The head did turn on up on my doorstep a few weeks ago to check I really lived here because our names were not on the old electoral roll the LEA checked (we only moved in Jan)!! He said he'd checked 4 addresses that morning and one was definitely dodgy and up for further investigations. Luckily, I now know ds is in the school - phew.

When it comes to secondary we have the 11+ and some of the top state grammars in the country - so if ds's pass 11+ we are sorted, if not, I'm afraid I'll be digging deep in my pockets too, much as it would pain me.

sleep with the headmaster?

Muminlondon - I could not agree more. I think the existence of sectarian education is a disgrace. Horribly discriminatory, reduces choice, means children are excluded from their nearest school for reasons of their parents' beliefs, and we all pay taxes for state schools - the church's contribution is negligible, yet it gives them the right to decide who gets into an otherwise entirely state funded school. It makes my blood boil!
And as for the idea of yet more muslim/jewish/catholic/cofe schools - what is the government trying to do? Whatever happened to multi-cultural education? What ever happened to integration?
Can you imagine state funded schools just for Labour voters, or Conservative party members? Or for children whose parents believe in astrology?

Totally agree. I think all religious schools should be banned from the state system, if they want to exist, let them fund themselves without tax breaks.

Joolstoo - that won't work!
The applications are now handled centrally by the LEA (well they are in our County anyway)
So you have to sleep with the appropriate bod at the admissions office in Carlisle ..

Get your facts straight woman!

Caligula and Aloha - I wholeheartedly agree.

But keep my gob shut (I know, how do I do it ) because most of my NCT friends are catholic and their kids are going to the rather fabulous catholic primary down the road from me.

I think they are 90% state funded so their 10% contribution allows them to just take catholic children? I think it's disgusting actually.

Not sure I could keep schtum if my non-secular primary wasn't as good though!

Did anyone else hear a news report a few weeks ago about a state-funded Jewish school in Manchester, I think, where the parents pay a 'voluntary contribution' each year ... £1230!!! I don't care what the religion is, in that case it's state-assisted private education and I think it's outrageous.

Report is here

Is anyone else still waiting to hear if their children have got a place in their chosen school for this September? I still haven't heard - very surprised as it is now mid-April.

I also have friends who send their children to religious schools - cofe and catholic - I don't think they are wrong to do so, and I don't criticise them. what I think is wrong is that the schools exist as religious schools.
I think everyone should be free to practise whatever religion they like - but churches shouldn't have the right to practise state-funded discriminate against children.

Me Sandyballs - we don't hear until 6th May.