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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

School next to an open prison

21 replies

WhoAreWe · 20/05/2011 20:12

A very quick straw poll: Good school, not so good neighbours! I'm guessing this is why there are only 30 odd children at a 60 capacity school. So, would you send your child there?

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CURLYMAMMA · 20/05/2011 20:16

Probably not

meditrina · 20/05/2011 20:17

Yes (provided I liked the school).

The immediate environment of a prison is almost invariably a low crime area.

whomovedmychocolate · 20/05/2011 20:19

Yes I probably would actually. At least the school would not be blase about security and safety measures like a lot of rural schools I've visited.

roadkillbunny · 20/05/2011 20:29

Yes I would, I would think security would be good and the type of offenders who may be a worry are not (as far as I know) sent to open prisons.

Original poster

WhoAreWe · 20/05/2011 20:31

Hmm...I was offered my 3rd choice school (catchment, so was advised to put it as 3rd), but have heard dreadful reports about it. So now I'm looking into different school. Other schools in the area are full, and then I stumbled across this one. Small school, capacity 60, Ofsted is good, some nice features...but only half full and a fair few reception places left.

I couldn't for the life of me work out why this would be until I remembered that there was an open prison in the village. Checked on the map and it's close to the school. I can't imagine what other reason there can be for it being half full.

I'm not sure exactly what I'm afraid of, I know prisoners do abscond from time to time with it being an open prison (you hear the helicopters whirring overhead at night, and they make the room bright as they have full beams on), but even then, I'm still not sure what worries me. If it wasn't for the prison, I'd send my DC there, definitely.

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thisisyesterday · 20/05/2011 20:34

yes, i think i would. if it was a good school

roadkillbunny · 20/05/2011 20:40

People who abscond from prison don't hang round the immediate area, they try and get as far as possible, probably one of the safest schools in the country, one of the few places all criminals want to be as fer as possible from!
I get why you have an unease that you can't pin point, I would think it is just the 24 hour news, constant media state of alert we seem to live in these days. From the sound of it this school is going to be the best bet for your DC.

curtaincall · 21/05/2011 22:13

I know what you'd be worried about. The likes of Jeffrey Archer trying out his new novel on your DC outside the school gates.

ZZZenAgain · 21/05/2011 22:14

no, not if I had any choice

Original poster

WhoAreWe · 21/05/2011 22:15

Very good curtaincall . Why not ZZZen?

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catsareevil · 21/05/2011 22:15

This wouldnt bother me at all. I imagine that the proximity to the school will be fctor in influencing who gets placed in that prison.

suebfg · 21/05/2011 22:20

It wouldn't bother me. Our first choice state primary school is located across from an open young offenders institute and we have a number of Ofsted outstanding primary schools in the area including this particular one. You get the occasional dodgy looking person in the local pub (visiting an inmate) but this never affected the school.

Bohica · 21/05/2011 22:23

I went through the same dilema when choosing a nursery for DD. I worked in a hospital with a lovely nursery newly built on site but right next door to the phsyciatric unit.

We attended the nursery for 4 years with no problems at all & I wouldn't hesitate in choosing a better school in this location, at least you know the security will be on top form.

curtaincall · 21/05/2011 22:30

Yes, I think security would be excellent. It's easy to say from where I'm sitting, as we don't have a prison nearby but if you liked it and it meant class sizes were low, I would go with it. None of us know what dangers lurk in prison-less areas anyway. A couple of years ago an acquaintance and father of ds' friend just up the road was sent to jail for an unmentionable crime - NOT an open prison. We'd never have seen that one coming.

sunnyday123 · 22/05/2011 07:52

i work in a prison (for 10 years teaching them) and see people transferred to open prisons all the time and they are generally the lower risk ones who have been in for fraud etc - not violent crimes. Although people who have done bigger crimes will go there towards the end of their sentence when approaching release. Curtaincall - noone really goes to an open prison, they go to a 'normal' category prison and then get transferred at a later date once trust and behaviour have been established - inmates have to be pretty 'good' before they end up in an open prison.

As long as the school has the typical security i would send my DC there. Inmates who abscond do so generally when on day release in the community i.e. they go out to work in the day and don't return - they'd have to be pretty trustworthy to be allowed such routine anyway so go for it!

asdx2 · 22/05/2011 09:36

No I wouldn't but not because of the prison but because I would want a school with more pupils and so more opportunities tbh.

sunnyday123 · 22/05/2011 14:07

sorry hadn't noticed school size - no, that would be far too small for me - my DD school has 450 pupils and the opportunities are endless (and not to mention the money that gets thrown at it) - i would go for a bigger school as i'm not a fan of mixed classes either.

Original poster

WhoAreWe · 22/05/2011 14:23

What are these opportunities? (genuine question, not sure what you mean)

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asdx2 · 22/05/2011 15:28

Opportunities for an extensive peer group for a start. Smaller schools have fewer resources from staff to equipment. Mixed year groups might be ok but what if you get a poor teacher? you might be stuck with the same person for three years.What opportunities will there be for team sports against other schools if there aren't sufficient numbers? Will there be enough pupils for a school choir and orchestra? What about before and after school provision. What about enrichment activities? Our school runs clubs every night for everything from football and Tai chi to Dance and Cheerleading, Orchestra and French, Art and Film. A small school is unlikely to provide such a range of activities because of the small numbers of interested pupils and the lack of available staff to lead them.

sunnyday123 · 22/05/2011 19:28

i agree with asdx2 totally , our large school is the same. We have a school nearby which takes only 70 and they hardly do anything! In addition relationships are intensified in small schools so if your child finds someone he/she doesnt get on with, their is little escape. My DD is in a reception class of 30 but there are two reception classes and they pretty much share the daytime activities. As such she plays with over 60 kids - just during lesson time. Each task in school is so much more fun because she has so many friends. Outside of school its great as everywhere we go she bumps into people she knows.

I understand there are some benefits from a small school in terms of friendly atmosphere (theoretically) but i think by small i mean 80-100 kids - 30 is far too small for my liking. Also i imagine the move to secondary would be terrifying!

I would imagine the small numbers already in the school are to do with school size than the open prison.

Original poster

WhoAreWe · 22/05/2011 21:29

Interesting. Might start a new thread. Thanks for your input .

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