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Original poster

how important is ofsted report when choosing a school?

19 replies

starlover · 04/02/2006 23:18

we've seen a niec house today that we're thinking of making an offer on.
in fact, most of the houses we've seen have been in this area.
so today i was looking up the ofsted report of the primary school which is just down the road.

it isn't great, but it isn't bad. it has got a rating of "good" for most thing, nothing outstanding, and a couple of below average (but not things that would necessarily worry me)

what did worry me a little bit was that it said that a high proportion of pupils come to the school knowing little or no english..... would that put you off?

OP posts:

Tommy · 04/02/2006 23:26

if most of it is "good" - then that is better than "satisfactory" which is still passable for OFSTED.
Don't know if this helps but the school where DS1 is at nursery apparently has most of its pupils have lower than average standard (or whatever the owrkd is - I have had 2 glasses of wine and am v tired) on joining the school. DS1 is only just 4 and he's reading and wriing already so I reckon it's probably OK. The English thing means that there will be lots of help in the school - classroom assistants etc but I can't really see how it would be a great problem - especially if OFSTED has said "good" about most things

mandieb · 05/02/2006 00:30

seriously dont believe all you read go and see the schools and see how you feel about them .

eidsvold · 05/02/2006 07:35

I would also say don't believe what you read. I taught with a woman who received an outstanding from an ofsted report BUT long term daily working with her was horrendous - she had chronic absebteeism, often turn up late to class, ill prepared and so on. It just meant the week Ofsted were in she pulled out all the stops.

I would not let that put me off - it would mean as someone else said that there is a lot of assistance and work put into assisting the children with their english.

What an opportunity for your children to have access to languages other than english. The fact that it was good for most things then that is fine. I would look for the areas such as behaviour management and areas like that.

camperkid · 05/02/2006 08:07

Ofsted reports are notoriously unreliable if you want to use them as the basis for choosing a school. Very useful as pointers, but you MUST really go and see for and judge for yourself. You know your child and you can usually tell whether you think they will fit in. Also the new style shortened Ofsted reports allow inspectors to spend so little time in the school, that they could miss elephants in the corridors if they walked through at the right moment!

What you really want to see is is the school's PANDA report. If the school/LEA won't let you have it, (they should do now if you ask) then Ofsted will! (It is open data under Freedom of Information Act). This is the school's annual Perfomance AND Assessment (hence PANDA) data. It gives trends over several years and shows much more accurately how the school really is. Guess what? This is what Ofsted inpsectors base their judgements on! BUT, but, but,..... they are really hard to interpret (ask any headteacher), especially in the new format from 2005.

Lots of other langauages? Good - might mean the school works really hard on the basics -'cos they have to! - and I want my children to now that we live in a multi-cultural world!

mandieb · 05/02/2006 12:00

so where would you find a PANDA report online .

emily05 · 05/02/2006 12:10

online you need a password and user name (headteachers get these). You can request a report: this is copied off the ofsted website - Will the Freedom of Information Act mean that anyone can access my PANDA report?

The Freedom of Information Act came into force 1st January 2005. It is likely your PANDA report will be released if requested in writing by a member of the public. Members of the public are able to request the PANDA report from the school, LEA or from Ofsted.

website here

LIZS · 05/02/2006 12:14

Presumably it has a large proportion of children for whom English is not the first language and perhaps have not attended playgroups and preschools? It may actually be quite positive in focussing on basics and cultural diversity but it may mean resources are diverted from your ds in the short term. Was it positive about those same children when they moved on to the enxt school?

How old is the report ? iirc you've got about another 3 years before your ds goes to school and it could have changed between the last report and then. Do other schools further away get oversubscribed ,as if not that may increase your choice anyway. Better to speak to soemone whose children go there and visits to see for yourself, perhaps at an open school event.

Ailsa · 05/02/2006 14:51

You also need to be careful with PANDA reports. In the parts that refer to free school meals, it uses the number of children that claim the meals, not the number that are entitled to them.

My school fares worse in these categories as alot of parents don't (or are too embarrassed) claim them.

With regard to OfSTED inspections/reports, a school with 'good' grades, could be at the top end of good. Schools don't have as much time to prepare for OfSTED these days, as they only get 3 working days notice, instead of up to 6 weeks. Although the inspectors were only in school for 2 days, they observed EVERY class (12 class junior school).

hana · 05/02/2006 14:53

an ofsted good is a great result, they are a bit mean when handing out their grades
also the ofted report might be a few years out of date, a lot can change in one or two years, depends a lot on the strength of the head teacher
I'd do a personal visit to the school , that would tell you a lot mroe

Tinker · 05/02/2006 15:04

Blimey, loads of kids who can speak 2 languages - impressive.

They're often out of date, even a few years can change the whole feel of a school, especially if there has been a new head.

My daughter's school looks pretty poor on paper but it's fine (certainly not great) but fine, she's happy, learning, loves school, confident etc

mandieb · 05/02/2006 17:01

My sons just had the new ofsted report and to be honest I am a little dissapointed as it said satisfactory .but you cant moan as you look like a sore looser and a whinger but I was dissapointed for the teachers as they work sooooooo hard . I then decided that I do not need a piece of paper to tell me what I already know that it is a great school , So basically up yours Ofsted.

WestCountryLass · 05/02/2006 21:51

Agree with mandieb.

We moved to small village and local school does not have brilliant Ofsted but visited it and other schools we were in the catchment for that had really good reports and I did prefer the local school. Obviously wants to make the suggested improvements but was not primarily focused on results

As for the children at the school knowing little or no English, DSs pre-school has a larger than average ethnic origin ratio but I love it as he is mixing with lots of different cultures/races from an early age which can only be a positive thing. His pre-school does employ additional staff to support the children whose first language is not English so no resources are "taken away" from English speaking children.

Original poster

starlover · 05/02/2006 21:58

ah ha! have only just had a chance to catch up with this thread!

Of course, the multi-cultural thing is great, and that part doesn't really put me off (75% of the children are from ethnic minorities). It was really the bit about a high proportion being unable to speak english, and i was worried about the effect that would have on ds's schooling... particularly a teacher who has maybe a quarter of her class who don't know what she's saying!

Lizs you're right, i have a few years before Linus iwll actually be starting school.. but I don't think that anything much will change demographically speaking in that time although, obviously, the school and its standards may!

the report was just last November so very up to date as it is fairly new (merge of 2 other schools).

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Original poster

starlover · 05/02/2006 21:59

at the moment our nearest school has a VERY good reputation and fantastic ofsted reports. BUT, we do need to move and it looks unlikely that we'll be able to afford anything in this bit of town

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WestCountryLass · 05/02/2006 22:01

Best to go and view the school and ask what support and provisions there are for the children whose first language is not English then.

Original poster

starlover · 05/02/2006 22:05

will they think i am mad? ds won't be there for over 3 years!

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WestCountryLass · 05/02/2006 22:09

I don't think so, not if you are basing your house move on the decision.

WestCountryLass · 05/02/2006 22:10

Plus, some people put there kids names down at specific schools when they are born

Original poster

starlover · 05/02/2006 22:15

that's true.. yeah i guess i need to go and ask them

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