What would persuade you to choose a school like mine?

[AChickenCalledKorma]

This is going to be very hard to explain without offending anyone, but I'll have a go.

My children attend a school which:

• traditionally attracts a high proportion of families from a part of town with a high level of social deprivation;
• has a high proportion of children with SEN - partly because it has a specialist learning;
• support unit, and partly because we have all the usual issues associated with areas of social deprivation;
• has a handful of children from the traveller site on the edge of town;
• is generally avoided by people from the posh side of town, a high proportion of whome opt to go private, while most of the rest ship their children out to schools in neighbouring villages.

The school has a history of below average attainment, partly because of the SEN provision, partly because of the nature of the catchment area, and, frankly, because it needed shaking up a bit. However, it has reached a point where all children are demonstrably progressing well and SATs results are improving every year. We also have a new building, lovely facilities, motivated staff, lots of extra-curricular opportunities and a caring, inclusive atmosphere.

Ofsted still says "satisfactory", but if you read the report, it is clear that it would have been "good" if one or two things had been addressed. Those have now been tackled.

Governors are asking for parents' response to the question: how can we now "promote" the school as a great choice for everyone in the town. How can we persuade those who are avoiding their local school out of something that feels a bit like snobbery, but is probably much more complicated than that.

I wonder whether anyone has experience of a school that has been in a similar position, but managed to become much more socially mixed. It just seems daft that so many people are driving so many miles, when there is a great school on their doorstep!

My son's school is "good with outstanding features". It was satisfactory about two OFSTEDs ago. It is in a socially deprived area and has gone from being the sink school to being very popular in a space of ten years.

How have they done it?

Several factors.

Change of head teacher. Our head teacher is very hard working and wants the best.

One of the biggest factors has been having a consistant and well thought out behaviour policy. There are clear expectations of behaviour that both the parents and children know. There consequences which are always followed through. There has been a massive effort to involve parents and get parents to know how best support their children. The school also makes an effort to get themselves in the paper to celebrate their sucess.

The school has strong links with pre schools and children's centres so that SEN is identified as early as possible. Ie. SEN children don't create havoc as hopefully they are supported in reception.

Also my son's school has put in a lot of effort into having good wrap around care and an exceptional range of after school activites. There is a choice of 22 clubs. My son's school has 500 children. The after school activites are a mixture of free activites and privately funded. The school has been very pro active in applying for grants.

Thanks Reallytired - that's very helpful. Also quite encouraging, since several of the things you mention are happening already!

Interesting that it's taken about 10 years for you. We are probably about 5 years into the process of improving, so I guess time will tell.

Can you comment on any of the things that were done to get parents more involved in school life. That is definitely something that the school struggles with. They have just introduced a new reading programme, with lots of fanfares. The children are highly enthused and responding really well. There are over 150 children on the programme, but only about 15 people turned up to the session to find out all about how it would affect their child .

how about getting involved in some community activities?

our shool used to have a really bad reputation but have really improved perception by developing community links -they are involved in community gardening activities, sang at the local town hall christmas event for the old folk (now an annual event), got some artwork displayed in the local library

the school really raised it's profile in the community which got prospective parents to look round the school -once you are inside you can't help but fall in love with it

the school has now become so over subscribed they are putting a proposal forward to move to a 3 form entry!

(and it's a really old building with multiple mobile classrooms and from the road does not look very appealing)

Letting it be known that it is a school with fast improving results should help - local papers love Good News stories - when the SATS results come out, choose the stat with the best spin - 'XX% INCREASE in above average passes or 'Rising VAT score' or something. Also get the Head to get one of teh awards - a Gold ArtsMark award and get the local paper to take a pic of children doing fab arts activity in the new facilities.

Guerilla warfare: Mention at a few local Pre-school groups that as the school is improving so fast it is hard to get into, and becoming over-subscribed, and watch people sit up and listen!

However, the possible result of this will be that as soon as the Ofsted hits good or outstanding, or the demography changes to a critical mass competitive parents will flock, rent temporarily to get a place, then fill subsequent years with siblings etc, an before you know it the community who rely on the school as the beacon in a disadvantaged area will find it harder and harder to get in.

You need to influence the parents of pre-school children. A lot of the angst about particular schools starts with gossip at toddler groups and it is often totally unfounded. You could try to emulate private schools by constantly being in the local paper. Other than that, you could try an open afternoon/morning for parents of pre-school children and publicise it through the toddler groups. If the school has the resources (which I know it probably won't) they could send out a teacher to talk to parents at toddler groups or produce a newsletter about the school's achievements aimed at getting pre-schoolers parents interested. Good luck!

My son's school has an open evening every year where they show off the children's work. They actively invite everyone in the area to come into the school to see all the fanastic work they do.

Recently there was a bring your parent to school week. Parents were invited for a morning to sit in on lessons. The school had an international evening where the doors were open to the entire community. (Even children at other local schools and pre schools ofcourse!) The school celebrated the diversity of the local community and there was different types of food on offer, music from different countries and activites like cooking, belly dancing, art.

agree with pp, you need to influence the parents of pre-school children.

ds goes to a school in a deprived area, new houses were built close by in the catchment of the school, but for a long time parents did not send their children there.

new head has been there 12 years and school has went from a few people from new houses attending to a waiting list.

once the head had instilled his vision for the school, he actively sought out pre-school childrens parents and invited them into open days/evenings to show off a school/staff/pupils you could tell he was immensly proud of, but the most succesful evenings he had were when he invited parents to talk openly to parents who already had children in the school.

He managed to pitch the evening just right, a few more parents from the new houses enrolled and over the last 5-6 years of continued postive press/word of mouth the role has increased from ~60 intake each year to ~100.

I love the idea of guerilla warfare - that would SO work around here.

Agree about making contact with the parents of preschoolers. My dd was allocated a place at a school like yours - we refused the place. A new head came shortly afterwards and was incredibly proactive about contacting nurseries etc - there was a poster telling people about the school in every playgroup I went to, at dd2's nursery etc. He was featured on national television talking about various initiatives, and generally was great at PR. He was helped by a baby boom - a lot of people had no choice but to send their kids to the school. But the way people talked about the school changed almost instantly, and a lot of people I knew with younger children happily sent their children there the following year.

We did end up going to another school with roughly the same intake. It was fantastic in many ways but the head was shy and not very engaged with parents, PTA really struggled and middle-class families did tend to leave the school. What would have helped, I think, was doing a lot more art and drama (big draws for m-c parents) and having the head out in the playground chatting to parents so they felt less distanced from the school. Also the teachers did not talk to parents as equals, and that's quite hard to take if you are an educated professional used to being treated with respect.

I have moved my dd out of the school despite the fact that she did really well there. The main reason was social. So I wouldn't underestimate the importance of nurturing friendships between pupils - three other families left the school at the same time as us for the same reason.

Good luck. I'd send my DCs to your school, but it sounds like they're at a similar one. I think that the suggestions here are good especially community involvement and respect for parents, both of which are lacking in DCs' school and annoys me to the point I have felt like they should be in a different school. I don't want to cut and run out of the community I live in though, but equally don't want to make it hard for my DCs to succeed. So far things have been getting better, so that all the people who told me that 'I'd never send my child to X' might have to eat their words... eventually .

You are similar to the school I live near and am not putting on my preferences.

I visited and really wanted to like it. It has gone from near special measures to grade 2 (with lots of 1s) on Ofsted and has great results in the league tables. The 'new' head has been in place 6 years.

The head explained that it has improved by introducing a nursery class to improve entry standards and by 'bringing the family into school'. Family coffee mornings, family numeracy and phonics sessions, pre-reception weekly story sessions with young siblings welcome etc

To promote to me they would have to:

1. Change their language from expecting my child to be below average on entry, even if only to mention differentiation (but I am very impressed with the results so do realise the teaching must be great)

1. Expect and accomodate working families (my child would not like to be the only one without a parent at the many family sessions)

1. Provide wrap-around care even if only a breakfast club (the head said she surveys parents every year and there is no need - she is surveying the wrong audience and should be looking at those that are not using the school!)

1. Attract a whole bunch together if possible because going to the local school would not result in my child going with his neighbours who have avoided it (perhaps linking with the local private nurseries more?)

I should send this thread to my local school!

I'm currently looking for schools for my DD. I went to see a school a little like the one you're describing (although to be fair OFSTED was overall good but with some satisfactory especially in Reception). The head was very keen to emphasise their CVA score (101.7 which was in to 14% nationwide). They also emphasised the family atmosphere of the school and extra curricular activities. I was impressed by improvements made to the the things rated as satisfactory in OFSTED report so think that is worth pointing out where there are improvements. They also said what other improvements were planned (to rather tired playground for older kids and planting a veg garden). Also I personally find having a socio-economic mix is a good think for children so don't think you need to avoid that.

Also having a nursery for younger siblings and wrap around care are both big positives for me and would make me choose you over another school with better OFSTED.

I should say I am going to put the school I mentioned down on my preferences although probably second behind our nearest school.

my friend's nearest school is very like yours - I urged her to visit - she was very impressed and although its wasn't down as her 1st choice -private isn't a big thing in this town - it was the one her DC got into and its worked well - it has fantastic wrap around care with the children's centre next door
when she had her visit they did talk about how they worked with kids starting at a higher level

YellowYoYo - thank you for your honest response. I particularly like this bit: "Change their language from expecting my child to be below average on entry ..."

I do think this is an issue for our school and I've been trying to decide how to phrase it. My children are not below average - in fact they are considerably above average, academically speaking. I sometimes overhear staff and governors talking about "the kind of children we get at our school" and feel like I'm being lumped in with "problem" families, based purely on my postcode and the school I have chosen.

In reality, both our children are progressing really well and the differentiation is great. I have no issue with their educational experience. But the language used doesn't always reflect that.

Get a good or outstanding Ofsted, improve your SATs results, be a feeder for a highly regarded secondary, show how you are using the Pupil Premium to enhance opportunities and improve aspirations / attainment.

We did send our DS, back in 1999 to type of school you are describing, it had lot of issues at the time, high proportion of free school meals, high number of children with SEN, majority of children had EAAL and so on, the whole school just about scraped satisfactory in every aspect.
Positives were: very gentle environment, bullying almost unheard of, children genuinely very caring about one another and very respectful. I remember when we went to see it for the first time, it was atmosphere of the school that grabbed me, children in the school might have come from a very modest background, but they were very hard working and trying there best.
At the time that school was truly our local school, not two roads away, and I had reservations about sending DS there, but my worries were put at rest soon after he started R, he was very happy there.
Fast forward 2011 June DS completed secondary education with 12 GCSE's majority of them A's, happy now at sixth form getting in grips with A levels, my point being, mediocre school won't make or brake a child, and even "poor preforming schools" have there strengths and positives, although it may take some faith on part of parents to make the positives stand out, and lastly to your question, Would I choose such school for my child?
Yes I would, especially now with a benefit of hindsight, good luck.

Encourage, encourage, encourage parents or pre-school children to visit. Our school is like the one that you describe. Anyone who visits it tends to put it first choice. We had that experience: arranging a visit with trepidation, and leaving with beaming smiles.
Stress the high expectations that you have for your pupils, and that you have the right balance between empathy for where some of them have come from while refusing to let them make excuses for poor behaviour or attainment.

strictlovingmum I think I'm going to print out your post and keep it for those times when I have a wobble and wonder "am I doing the right thing!"

Those tumbleweed moments when I tell some local mum where my children go to school do sap one's confidence sometimes. Even though, in my heart of hearts, I know that they are doing really well!

Teaching in such schools is often very good, children often join mid term some of them unable to even speak word of English, so the teachers have to be on top of their game and teach well to get everybody to a certain level, in my opinion they have their work cut out, but they menage.
And as far other mums go, don't let it subdued you, just because their DC's are in "better preforming schools" it doesn't mean they will be doing any better then your children, nor receiving better quality teaching.
Local school is just that, for local people serving local community, it needs support.
As long as you children are doing well, that is all that counts, and most important factor is that they are happy and engaged.
Snobbery has no place in such matters.

I am a governor of a school very similar to the one you are talking about. 2 years ago a new head replaced one that had been there for over 20 years! The school was satisfactory and is now good with outstanding and an example of good practice in our county. This is a sort of school that nobody really looks around before they choose and the parents that do choose this school aren't the type of parents to go 'looking' around at schools. (that sounds bad!! but it is true).

The new head had a rocky start and after restructuring the staff when he arrived he now has an excellent team of fantastic teachers who have made a big impact on getting 'reluctant' parents into school. The school now runs stay and play sessions for parents (grandparents), family cinema evenings and lots of parent helpers come in for reading etc.

The school has had a big revamp and is very clean, newly painted and the culture of the school and behaviour of the children have changed for the better.
BUT alot of parents, many of them good friends of mine, still prefer to send their children to the small village schools where they are terribly bullied but at least they are with children of the same 'social status' or so they think!! As governors we are trying desperately to get over this stigma but it is proving very difficult.

My children are doing well, yes i would like them to have a good mix friends with slightly better aspirations and communication skills, but they are happy and have never experienced any bullying. The teachers are fantastic and are very welcoming which is a big 'positive' for me.

"how can we now "promote" the school as a great choice for everyone in the town"

An article in the local paper, preferable a series entitled

"stop thinking about other children's results, think what YOUR child will achieve here"

Do a case study of different children, one a week from pupils different backgrounds and look at what the school has done for individual children.

Then do a break down of results with the other schools in your area. Made up example to follow.

Maybe school X got 90% pass in Maths, your school got 80% pass, but school X has 100% non SEN, white middle class English spoken at home children.

Out of your results, children with the same demographic, white middles class, English spoken at home, your results were actually 100%.

So basically if you send your child here they will get GCSE maths, if you wend them down the road they might not.

Do this for all the ebac subjects.

I know the above my come accross as my only caring about certain children, that is not true, but the parents you are describing will probably be white and middle class.

just other thought - have a really good website -most schools ones are not good
have a clear place for prospective parents - explain what you are doing to improve and the concept of value added

This sounds like the school DH started teaching in and spent 8 happy years in. He moved because otherwise he'd never do so and would be the " sad old git" who had trained taught and retired from the same school!

What did they do to attract more middle class parents?

Wrap around care was v important, as was the fact that they were the only local school nursery offering full days, (and allowing nursery kids in before and after school care ). The full days in nursery was equally important for the kids from less supportive homes too.

DH was quite involved in getting the school " out there and known" by really getting an excellent choir going ( think Gareth Malone in a primary school lol). They won awards, took part in some big events and were a regular featured spot at the local " carnival" .

The special needs numbers were high as was English as a second language ( but not particularly high in any language individually so no extra input/ workers unfortunately - but actually all the kids benefit from the mixed environment.

Interestingly the one thing they ever did was get the parents into school to help, the socially deprived ones either have hoards of smaller kids or can't be bothered, the non English speaking mums aren't keen (? Aren't allowed ?) and the middle class parents are working!! At least no one feels left out lol.
( at my kids more " middle class" school there was expectation that you'd join your child for an activity a term - when you have 3 kids in the school and work that really is cloud cuckoo land - especially when the kids father teaches too!)