Questions for potential school

[SunnyDays06]

We are visiting my dds primary school tomorrow which she will hopefully be starting in reception in 2011. Can you help me with a list of questions I should put to the head and teachers? Thanks!!

[mummynoseynora]

we are visiting on weds and the questions I have come up with include:

their take on collective worship (its law for all schools, but what shape it takes seems to vary on the religious preferences of the head)

how classes are split (there are 3 reception classes)

How ability / potential is assessed at first, how they start teaching reading

[lucythejuggler]

Mine is about to go into year 3 now and now that we have gone though the first few years I'd ask the following as well:
Do they have a buddy system? ie if a kid is feeling lonely there is an older kid who will take them under their wing. Also a friendship bench - at dd's old school there was a bench in the playground and if someone sat on it it meant that they were in a need of a mate - other kids were encouraged to play with them..
Also what their anti bullying policy is. This all sounds a bit gloomy but in fact its relationships that kids struggle with the most- the learning bit is kinda under control most of the time but a rough time in the playground can damage that balance. My dd is a really sociable kid but she still had a few ups and downs and these strategies really helped her to cope.

[janeyjampot]

Something I always wished I'd asked was how they ensure that everyone gets to try everything. For example, neither of my DDs ever got picked for a sports team, even though there were plenty of sports events and only 25 children in the year - you'd think everyone could have been given a go at something!

As a result both of mine left primary thinking they were rubbish at sport, which is most unhelpful if you're trying to bring up healthy children. Fortunately secondary has sorted that out, but I don't know how it is that they play for teams now, when they're one of 180, and they never got picked when were one of 25...

[sitdownpleasegeorge]

If you are a working parent ask about breakfast club/afterschool childcare/holiday childcare provisions, not just whether they exist, do they have any spare capacity.

This caught friends of ours out as they just assumed that as the facility was set up already , their child would be able to use it as much as they needed. HUUUUGE mistake and it took almost a year before it got sorted out.

Are there hot dinners, how much do they cost and how flexible are they with the ordering, do you need to order a month in adance or just a week or even choose on the day.

Playground stuff as mentioned above. Most schools have the education side of things sorted but your child can become miserable very quickly if break-time is a social minefield or literally a battlefield.

Do they give all children homework, if so what sort of thing, ask to see a reception child's homework book if possible to get an honest picture as it will get more complex each year.

What range of clubs do they run (music/sport/art/languages/choir) and do these run permanently or just every now and agin in order to get ticks in boxes when ofsted pay a visit !

When can you talk to teachers, morning or afternoon or either, does it fit in with your working patterns.

Can you tell I'm a working mum ?

[sitdownpleasegeorge]

Oh and one more.

Casting your mind ahead to junior school (if it is an infants you are visiting) or secondary school if it is a primary school. Which schools do most children go to after leaving the school, are they part of a feeder school system for any secondary schools ? You may then need to the research the quality of these secondary schools to get an idea of the head's aspirations as far as his/her year 6 pupils are concerned and the level to which the school is equipping them to compete for places at quality secondary schools. This is not relevant to all areas of the country but it certainly applies to us.