What did/do you look for in a primary school?

[Rosebud05]

As title says, really. I'm going to look around the schools near us over the next week or so. Have read Ofsteds/talked to local parents/checked out the playground whilst walking past/being in the park etc etc. We live in a diverse and not particularly prosperous area of London; the schools all have a wide range of ability/lots of ESOL pupils/'above average free school meals' etc and in term of 'averages' come near the bottom of the Borough league tables. I'm fine about this - my dd is quite highly strung and I don't think she'd be happy at somewhere pushy.

How happy the children are/good ethnic mix/how welcoming the school feels/lots of work on walls/low turnover of staff etc are all important to me.

Can you think of anything else?

TIA

How many clubs do the staff run - our staff don't do any school clubs, they don't like to do anything extra and it shows in their attitude.

I had the same 'things I care about' list, more or less, when I went to look at schools in our area. The one we picked stood out because a) the Head gave us plenty of time, and clearly had time for all the kids too - she knew them all by name, they came running up to her in the playground etc. b) She encouraged us to talk to the children about their work, which they did with great enthusiasm c) the older kids automatically held doors open for us and talked to us with confidence d) I felt comfortable there and would have chosen it above the other schools we saw, were I the child.

HTH - but tbh I bet your own instincts will be perfectly adequate without help! Good luck

Oh - I did ask the Head about how they deal with any left out new kids (my totally wrong fantasy about dd starting in a new school) and what their policies were re bullying etc. I felt her answers were honest, and clear - as opposed to one school who just said 'oh, we don't have any bullying' which seemed to mean they didn't need a policy in place.

For me, we looked at ofsted reports and Sats results, then went for the feel of the school when we looked round. How the classrooms felt, how the children were behaving (though I know they are probably completely different if they are being watched). Size of the playground and facilities. Ease of getting an appointment to look round etc. Also depending on whether you work or plan to soon,breakfast clubs and after school club availability.

Thanks. Yes, work pt, so breakfast and after school club an advantage but not essential. Also a good idea to ask about extra-curricular activities.

Will also ask how they help kids settle in (her nursery isn't attached to a school).

I looked for:

Size - wanted a larger school - 200+. They have more pupils therefore more funding, more opportunity for fund raising and hopefully better facilities.

Honesty - from the Head. I have just been to look at the school and the head was really honest about what they expect from parents especially around reading. I found some just are wishy washy.

Good size classrooms - can't bear pokey dark classrooms. Children need lots of space.

Activity - I looked and liked schools where there was lots of activity going on

After school clubs - what's on offer and how good is it. Are they engaging with the local community

Year groups - I didn't want mixed year groups (see above re class sizes)

Outside play area - playground and grass if poss and large. Not bothered about fancy equipment tbh.

Staff turnover and number of male teachers

places!

What I should have looked for was:-
low staff turnover
good results, and a plan to deal with any weaknesses
clear and effective policy on bullying
feeder into a reasonable secondary school

Agree with Elibean, all the schools we saw were nice, clean etc, it was ALL down to the headteacher really - how they came across and how they related to DS and the children in the school. The 'outstanding' school we hated was because the headteacher was an arrogant prick.

I'd look more into which secondary school it feeds into as well.

I looked for

how the children behaved
if the teachers were approachable and friendly
the atmosphere of the school
the morals and ethics
the ofsted report re results and other areas
high school feeder

We knew which school was right for DS after a visit and moved house around it.

How the HT interacts with parents and children
How the staff appear when you are looking around (smiling/defensive/eager to answer questions/evasive etc)
How clean the loos are

I was so sure of the right school after our visit and think I'd have felt the same had it been the first school we'd seen. Head showed us round personally, older children were polite and articulate, we encountered a teacher dealing with a challenging pupil really well and there was oodles of green space (in Manchester).

We had a lot of problems with a one form entry - they're unable to split children who need to be split - and the teachers don't have anyone to work with. So I would prefer a 3 form junior / infant school over a 1 form primary.

After school clubs are a good indicator that the teachers care.

And in the SATS look at the CVA result not how many percentage pass.

1. High school feeder (had to look at this aspect first as we have a very rigid feeder school system in place). Local primary feeds into -crap high school- sports college where educational attainment isn't -anywhere near the- top of the agenda, involves crossing Manchester City Centre and would cost a fortune to get there, in spite of the fact that there are 2 high schools nearer, one which is within walking distance.

1. The atmosphere

1. SEN Provision (DD has additional needs and also needed to look at this for secondary too)

1. School secretary who didn't have 'I am a failed legal secretary' tattooed on forehead.

Thanks again. The schools are either 2 or 3 form entry - that's a good point about the benefits of being able to split children if necessary.

Secondary schools on the back burner at the moment; we have distance catchments, so it's where the child lives not what primary school they attend that matters.

Clean loos also important!

I agree that HT pupil interaction is important to observe. At our catchment school I was shown round by two lovely year 6s. The HT didn't even know their names. Contrast that with the school I chose where the HT knew all of the children by name and knew the names of all the reception intake within two weeks of starting term.

Other important things to me were the ethos of the school and attitude of the head. Ds was at a Montessori nursery. The head at the catchment school said that she had trouble with pupils who came from the nursery (but didn't elaborate). She was also dismissive of the 11+ despite the school being in catchment for grammar. I felt that she negated the educational start I had chosen for my ds and would restrict his future with her negative 11+ attitude.

Try to ignore the noise levels and how scary the bigger children look when they're running around. Any school can easily look too vigorous if your frame of reference is the cosier world of toddlers.

But look at the bigger children: what do you think of the way they speak? How they interact with teachers, the head, their peers and you as a visitor? What is behaviour like in the classroom? Does it have a purposeful buzz, or is it inappropriately random?

Look at the work displayed: do displays look recent or is it still bonfire night in February?

Even if the buildings are tatty, are they well kempt and is equipment tidy? Is there any litter or clutter? Are the loos clean and is there enough soap and loo paper?

What clubs and activities are there? Are they receptive to setting up new ones if your DC has a passion which is not currently catered for? (Not so much about getting XYZ actually provided, more an indication of attitude to new ideas and willingness to give things a go)

What are the opportunities for art, music and drama? What plays and concerts have taken place in the previous 6 months? What trips out have happened?

How does the school prefer to communicate with parents? Is there a PTA and what does it do? Are there any ongoing charitable or community projects?

But in the end, it's all gut feeling, and whether you want your child to become like the children you see who are in yr6.