How important are school size and ofsted in the grand scheme of things?

[Daisybell1]

Apologies for the numpty question!

We live in a very rural area and there are 3 local schools. The closest is the largest with about 200 pupils and was last rated by ofsted as a 4 (sorry I can't remember the technical term). Next closest is a school rated as a 3 but with only 35 pupils, and this is where most of DD's friends would go. The furthest away is also small with about 50 pupils but is rated a 2.

How important are these reports in the grand scheme of things? Is it important, or are they outweighed by DD being able to be with her friends?

Also, what is the general feeling on such small schools? I had assumed that they would be wonderful with masses of personal attention for the kids, but my best friend who's a primary teacher in a large city school said she wouldn't entertain a small school as she felt the teachers couldn't teach across the age ranges.

We're starting to think about where would be best for DD and are struggling a bit. Does anyone have any thoughts?

200 is not very big in terms of primary schools - it will be one full class of 30 per year group. Depending on how the smaller schools are organised they could have similar sized classes.

One of the major issues you need to consider with small schools is how secure their future is. If you live in an area where it would be fairly easy to send children to neighbouring schools if they were to close, then the school could be at risk of closure, especially as local authority budgets fall.

A 4 means that the school has failed an ofsted inspection. However they should be getting lots of support to improve things so it could be a lot better by the time your dd starts. The only way to find out is to visit the school, find out what the issues are and what the school is doing to improve. Then you can make a more informed decision.

Have you looked at the schools? Personally I prefer bigger schools, as they have more teachers so can be more flexible, and there are more other children to be friends with, in a small school if one person doesn't like you that can be a big thing.

Teachers in small school teach across the ages all the time. perhaps your friend meant that SHE couldn't do it as it takes a rather special teacher to do so

from snowball ( a small school teacher!)

Thanks for the responses! Snowball, I must confess I had the same thoughts as you - my friend keeps telling me about how she has to plan for several age ranges across her class, so I simply assumed that it would be the same for a class with different aged kids.

Thanks Hockey and Mummy, those are good points to think about - I think all the schools are isolated enough to make them safe. That's a good point about big fish little pond, I hadn't thought about that.