choosing first school - how important to look to the future?

[comedaygoday]

DS1 will be starting school next Sept. Yesterday we visited an infants school, where he would be able to go, and to be honest, we loved it and both came away feeling really excited. There is however a problem. If he were to go to this infants school he would probably go to.a linked junior school and the junior school does not seem that great. I have not visited the juniors but am going on its latest ofsted (2009) which rated it as satisfactory ( infants school's latest rating is outstanding). Now, I know Ofsted does not tell the whole story, but I..worried that if we send DS to the infants we like, it could be a mistake in the long.term.

So, am I worrying needlessly?

No, I think you are right to be concerned. We are in the same boat looking for reception next year. The option that we are most likely to get but is second closest is exactly as you describe infact.

Are there any primary schools near you that you could apply to instead? I would certainly be taking KS2 into account as well as KS1.

There are 2 and we have visited them and they were fine, just didn't have the same buzz and good feeling did with yesterday's infants. Gah! Whatever I do now, I'll wonder if it's the right choice. If I favour one of the primaries and DS isn't happy I will wish I had stuck with my initial instinct. If I go for the infants I risk DS having poor KS2.

I would go for the one that you love and is buzzy. The Juniors may have changed by then (4 years is a long time for schools) and if not could you transfer to a different school at this age?

mollysmum82 is right; your ds won't be going into KS2 until nearly 4 years from now.

The Ofsted is 2 years out of date. Has their been a change in head (if so, disregard the Ofsted completely)? What do other parents think about the school? Have you visited it, what do you think?

Satisfactory means doing its job properly. It's only in education that that's seen to be a failure.

The satisfactory school will have to have targets on its school development plan to make it a good school (based on Ofsted findings), and may have achieved that within the last two years.

Thanks for all the replies. I have done some digging around and it seems that the juniors had lost its head and some other senior members of staff before the inspection. Its results had (perhaps surprisingly) gone down and so therefore it couldn't be rated as anything other than satisfactory. Since then results have improved and whilst it is still the poorest in.our town, it is above national average and purely on that factor would probably be rated good.

DS has a storytelling session at the infants next month and provided he likes it we are minded to stick with our initial choice.

I would go with it- a good start is very important.
It sounds as if the juniors was having problems and it is hardly surprising they didn't have a good Ofsted. It was 2009 and 2 years is a long time in the life of a school. They will have to be working on an action plan.There is another 3 years to go before your DC gets there so it has plenty of time to be a completely different school by then. A Head makes all the difference to a school and even if it had been outstanding in 2009 it could have gone right downhill since then.
Go to the school you like and think about it in 2 years time-you could choose another junior, if it is bad other parents will be doing the same.
Make an appointment to go and visit the juniors now-you don't have to wait 2 years.