Starting School

[RosieT]

Can anyone give me any tips as to what I should be looking out for in a primary school. My ds is due to start next year. I've looked at the league tables and ? quite apart from the fact the figures completely baffle me ? I'm a bit despondent to discover that our London borough comes bottom of all the education authorities in the entire city. My husband is not keen on private schooling at such a young age, but I don't want ds to be condemned to a lifetime of low-achievement. Any suggestions or pointers welcome.

Have to confess that I'm a bit worried about this too, even if DS is only 15 months at the moment.

Looking at the figures published yesterday our local school had some very poor results - and they've consistently been getting worse each year over the last 4 years. And this is despite being in an area with doesn't exactly have a lot of the social disadvantages which are often blamed (i.e. there's little unemployment in the area, few familes where English isn't the first language, it's mostly owner occupied detached housing in a semi-rural location, etc).

Obviously it's a while before the impact will really hit us, but if this trend continues I don't think I'd be entirely confident that going there would give him the best possible chance.

Perhaps if there's anyone who's actually working in primary schools they could thow any light on how much significance we should be attaching to these results?

The problem with the league tables is that they change so easily. We have 3 local schools, A B & C. Last year's league tables had them in that order, pretty much one after the other. This year it's B C A, with A further down from the other 2.

School C has a new head this year so it will all have changed again by next September when DS1 starts!

Basically, take the league tables as a rough guide only. They can be affected by so many things. Go and look round and get a feel for the school.

What's the pupil/teacher/teaching assitant ratio?
Are the children busy and interested?
What condition is the school in?
And most important, does it feel right for your child?

Our first choice, the closest school, just didn't feel right for DS1 and I simply couldn't imagine him there. The 2nd one we viewed was Right. I had the "feel good" factor as soon as I walked in - weird!

The private v state school thing is tough. I think that, should we not get tht school of our choice, we may consider private although we don't really agree with it. I wouldn't compromise DS1s future for the sake of principles - however, it really shouldn't have to come to this and it's a shame when it all comes down to money.

Good luck!

There was a thread on this recently, will see if I can find it.

This thread had lots of advice about what people look for in a school. It's here

Oops, hadn't noticed. There's actually very helpful couple of pages under The Big Issues/Education. It's still such a scary business I think we all need all the help we can get.

I would say don't worry too much, and don't condemn your child to a life of private schooling and the incumbent superiority complex that often accompanies it!
Both my brother and I went to low acheiving state primary and secondary schools, and both came out with straight a's and b's and went to uni etc
We were both stretched and developed interests in music and arts etc and have a generally rounded view of the world having mixed with people from all walks of life...
If your child is encourages and supported at home, and is generally happy at school, this is far more important than where a school appears on the league table.

Hi RosieT, I just wanted to say that I wasn't telling you shouldn't have posted on the subject, not at all - I was just pointing you in the direction of a discussion I thought might be useful. Have only just noticed your reponse, sorry if I seemed to be telling you "we've already talked about this", didn't mean it to come across that way at all, was pushed for time and trying to be helpful

I guess my spelling of 'achieving' totally discredits my argument...sorry!

Actually, position in the league tables doesn't as such bother me - there's bound to be some fluctuation from year. But when you see a school consistently slipping - going in the space of 4 years from getting 70%+ of the pupils to key stage 2 level, to only just scraping over 50% - it does seem to be a sign that something may not quite be right.

I agree with beejay - the help and support a child receives at home from their parents is worth more than a schools's position in the league tables.

I do, however, also agree with GillW that if a school is constantly slipping down the tables then something may be wrong.

Check out if the school has a bullying policy and how they deal with potential difficult situations.

beejay.

Three of my friends have removed thier children from the local primary school because they were not happy. In each case it wasn't one thing but a series of incidents that eroded their confidence. This all happened about the same time we had to send DD to school and we had already chosen private.

If, for financial reasons, we had to take our daughter out of her current school, I would home-educate her rather than put her in there.

Wickedwaterwitch ? you didn't sound bossy at all ? simply helpful ! I haven't been using this messageboard long, and haven't found my way around it properly yet. Just think it's so great to be able to post about something that's been bothering you, only to log on a little while later to discover all these useful, supportive comments.
Have been round local school, which is very well thought of and oversubscribed, but couldn't quite put my finger on what I didn't like about it. Perhaps it was the fact that the headmaster constantly spoke in 'management-speak?, or the huge dining hall with tiny kids lining up to get their plastic trays of nasty-looking chicken nuggets and lurid jelly... I think I need to go back on a day when I don't have pmt.