How much notice do you take of OFSTED reports?

[CrapBag]

DS isn't due to start school until next year but I have started to think about where I want to send him.

My closest school, and the best one in the area is Catholic. They take non Catholic children and it will be my first choice. I don't know what to put for second choice though. The next 2 schools in my area are not good and I don't want DS to go to either. I have looked into others around here that are rated good by OFSTED, all the others are satisfactory with some comments about behaviour etc that makes me not want to send DS.

Are people that bothered by OFSTED reports in general?

As a teacher applying for a job I look at Ofsted reports because I might get asked about key issues at an interview.

As a parent I didn't even consider reading an Ofsted report to help inform my choice; I visited the schools and spoke to the people there/whose children attend the schools.

Both as a teacher and a parent I'm not that interested in what a couple of inspectors have to say about a data set combined with 20 minute observations of lessons on one, maybe two, days in a 3-year period!

DS2's infant school got a solid "good" in their (very recent) Ofsted....personally I think they deserved better. I think in the last few years they've changed their criteria for inspections so it's much MUCH harder to get an outstanding.

Ofsted reports are a useful tool for parents, but they shouldn't be treated as the final arbiter of a good school. They certainly don't replace a proper school visit.

However, they may help you to start crystallising your thoughts before a visit and giving you some ideas about questions you want to ask.

I wonder what kind of teacher is attracted to a job in school simply because it's Ofsted Outstanding. Are they the outstanding teachers who want to make a difference in children's lives?

No, they are the teachers who don't want to have to go through another OFSTED for a few more years!

Yes, teachers can be relieved that they won't get an OFSTED visit, but they do get lots of other observations and monitoring, and that is still horribly stressful. We are constantly having trainee inspectors, LA advisors and othe schools in due to our rating. So some staff are attracted to those schools, but once a school has an "outstanding" label they often get a wider and stronger field of applicants for a job, so stand a better chance of getting a really good teacher. Some schools, due to location, etc. struggle to attract really strong teachers and have to select from the best of those that apply.

There are also teachers who genuinely want to teach in schools that aren't outstanding! I think I'm a good teacher but also believe that children in tricky circumstances deserve good teachers. For that reason I've always applied to schools that reflect that. 'Outstanding' schools don't necessarily have/nor attract the best teachers...

I agree with what has been said about OFSTED reports; a visit is vital and you then go with the atmosphere in the school, do you like the head etc.

However, I have in the past removed my older children from a school I felt was truly terrible - a few months later it went into special measures. There is an atmosphere within a school when it is going down; it's important not to ignore your instincts.

My younger children are in a school that over the past twelve months has had a very bad atmosphere and the sense the head had given up. This previously "good" school achieved a level three OFSTED and one of the governors said they were very lucky to avoid special measures.

In the same way, you can sense a school on the "up".There is now a new head and a more positive vibe within the school again.

I guess I am trying to say that although OFSTED is just a snap shot, they are pretty good at pickingup on what the parents already know.

Outstanding schools are not necessarily the right one for your children, sometimes they are so focussed on results, they are lacking in the pastoral care department and can be somewhat cold and clinical.

My youngest daughter was at an outstanding primary school and said these were the happiest days of her life, filled with good memories. My eldest daughter absolutely hated it, found it to strict and formal and did not flourish.

Just a couple of different perspectives here.

Not much. I mentally pull a face every time DD's new, keen head says "we want to make this an outstanding school" in meetings.

I have pulled mine OUT of an outstanding school and put them in to a GOOD school because they were spending so much bloody time focusing on keeping their ratings up and not enough on the blinking teaching.

Also the school had gone from titchy to swamped because of the outstanding and it has changed the character of the school.

One important point - of the five schools we visited, three had heads who were leaving that year. Now for me that can totally change a school for better or worse, sadly the heads we met who were fantastic were leaving and I couldn't help feeling they were on the way down because of it.

The school we picked is definitely on its way up and the parents are downright passionate about it being a good place for their kids. The results aren't stunning but they reflect the kids that go there, not the amount of time they are spending practicing their SATS papers.

Good points about an outstanding school focusing too much on keeping their status. Didn't think of that.

The only outstanding school I know of is probably just outside of my catchment area anyway. There are a few good schools around here. I must admit I wasn't keen on what I read about the satisfactory ones. The only problem is location. The one I want to send DS to is a catholic school, we are not catholic and I am not going to pretend to be but I do know they take non catholic children. It is my closest school and I can walk there. However any other school would mean a short drive as I have M.E. and wouldn't be able to walk there and it is very hilly where I live which would make it worse to walk, they are scrapping the buses that I could possibly use too.

Its complicated. Ofsted reports cover a lot of detail but they can miss out on very big things that are key to the quality of a school. A local school is considered good after its inspected post-heavy turmoil (longstanding head leaving and big changes not yet fully standing) but is then snubbed because another is outstanding which didn't have such turmoil. Also important is a school's self evaluation form and how it matches up with the ofsted evaluation. Any head teacher should be willing to talk about how the school is doing relative to its ideal and how it is making progress and what evidence there is to support that evaluation. If a SEF is broadly in line with what ofsted has had to say, and the school is making progress, no worries. If its very dissimilar, then the school doesn't know what it needs to do to improve and that is a worry. I think that a visit to a school and maybe a couple and a chat with the head are the most important things.

My kids have been at their current school (satisfactory) since the last term of the last school year. Now that I know the school, I re-read the its Ofsted report - just out of curiosity - and it all rings true. I wouldn't choose a school on the presumption that it's actually better that it's Ofsted report.