Considering changing primary schools due to its' low aspirations. Opinions please>

[bowerbird]

My dd goes to a local state school, currently in Y2. It's an inner city London school. She is pretty happy there and has lots of friends. The last Ofsted report was only Satisfactory, then there was a change of head and she's worked hard at improving relationships with staff and the school is far better managed, all of which is good.

However, I am concerned about the lack of ... well, aspiration for the pupils. The school has no ambition to be Outstanding, just Good. They're incredilby pleased when a student in Y6 attains the national average. There's not a culture of excellence, or pursuit of excellence. I'm not just talking academic achievement here - but creative arts and sports. Most just seem content to noodle along, particularly the middle class parents, who "just want my DC to be happy". As if you can't have achievement and happiness in the same young person.

I worry my DD won't be challenged, particularly in the upper grades. She's not a genius, but she's bright, and she needs to be pushed or she'll just get bored. I'm now considering (very reluctantly) moving her to a "better" school, but dread the upheaval for her.

Has anyone faced a similar dilemma? Thoughts about this would be really appreciated.

Tricky one, OP, I can see good arguments both ways. I would personally start from - quietly - investigating alternatives. As you say, your DD is pretty happy atm so you don't have to rush into any decisions.
But, you could, say, list your 3-4 alternative primaries nearby. Go and visit, track down parents with DC there, talk to them, go to their summer fetes to get a feel for the vibe on the ground. Consider logistics, siblings etc (eg if you found a fab school but it would be 40mins away would that be a realistic option?). You may discover that whilst your school isn't perfect - nowhere is - it may be the best overall package available. If not, that means you may have a realistic better alternative to seriously consider. Then you are in a better position to list pros and cons and come to a conclusion.

And whilst you do all this, be visible at your current school (and I mean not only pick up drop off - I don't do many as I work FT - but PTA events, cake sales, sports day, whatever). Not only you'll get a better feel for how much "coasting" there really is, but also you may find other parents with similar thoughts, perhaps a platform to build on for engaging with the school further - not necessarily in a pushy way, but things like organising a Sports Day with all funds raised donated to the school to buy further sports equipment etc seem to work well - kids have a fun day out, teachers get to look beyond their immediate "to do" list, parents feel involved, everyone benefits.

Good luck.

"I think most aspirations come from the parents, don't they, rather than the school?"

I totally agree.

When we were discussing what secondary schools we were putting on our form a mom with a post code we would kill for said she wasn't going to put that school down because her DD wasn't that academic. She herself wasn't academic and didn't go to university and she turned out ok was her argument. The thing was that her DD was about the same level as my DD.

The mum has already decided at the age of 10 that her DD isn't academic and that not going to university is no big deal. Talk about being a aspiration balls crusher.

I think children should attend their local school/the school they are allocated unless that school is judged to be less than satisfactory, then you may be given another option. If that school is satisfactory or above you must take it (or go private). Perhaps this would encourage parents to commit to their local school and support it more, get more involved and thereby improve it for all concerned. I know that many schools are crying out for PTA members. It usually only involves one meeting per term but it is amazing what can be achieved. As a very small primary school that is lucky enough to have a strong PTA, we are able to provide lots of extras in terms of equipment and activities through our fund raising.
The other benefits to going 'local' is that it builds communities and your child has local friends.

@ mopswerver - I think that is an admirable suggestion, but part of the reason we went private is that if we'd stayed with the local state primary, it would have been very hard to escape the local secondaries where knives and drugs are part of the deal and the police are never far away at the start and end of the school day. In other words, things are not that simple unfortunately!

Yes, I realise that in the cities/the south things are more complicated. I just get a bit frustrated with parents who seem to move their children on a whim e.g "so and so's child is on Grade ?? in reading at such a school" etc. Not judging you. Having lived in London for 20yrs I do know what you mean. I remember my friend moving from Stockwell to Essex and saying what a relief it was not to witness drive-by shootings on the school run!

OP - do you know any parents with children higher up the school? Is there a similar atmosphere in higher years? Year 2 is still quite young and my personal experience is that I became much more aware of the school setting my children aspirational targets once they were in KS2.

My children are also at a "satisfactory" school at which the staff are aiming strenuously at a "good" but know that the odds are stacked heavily against ever being "outstanding" because of certain characteristics of the school population.

However there is most definitely a culture of expecting every individual child to aim as high as they can. Differentiation is excellent and more able children are set appropriate work and given targets that go significantly beyond "expectations" for their age. I definitely wouldn't be happy with a child that was satisfied with merely getting every child to level 4, but that hasn't been an issue.

I am now having similar worries about our 'good' rated infant school. Whenever I asked DS's teachers they told me he is fine. At the end of Y1 I asked his teacher how Ds is doing in maths, she said that he was fine, but not so interested in maths - I didn't think maths was optional. If he was not so interested in art - OK, but maths?

In Y2 I found out he was in bottom set (with Y1s), still I got the 'he's fine, but often not paying attention'. It was really hard to find out anything from the school. I ended up teaching him maths myself, pushed for him to get re-assessed and now he is in a good Y2 set. Had they given up on my DS, they just let him potter and dream in a large class without any support - I am still angry .

I think things must be different in England as here in Wales we don't have SATS or sets so I guess we don't feel the pressure that that involves. Having said that my DD is on course for Level 5's at the end of her yr 6 (this yr) and this is at a 'Good' school with only 20 pupils, and a high level of SEN pupils. Ratings aren't everything. Our %ages in science are lower than the country average but then with only 4/5 kids per school yr, 2 fails =50% so you can see how misleading they can be.
I have always looked at their schooling as a partnership really so I expect to have to put some work in with them at home and 'add some value' myself where I think it is needed.

I'd just second all of catastrophewaitress's first paragraph - take it seriously, because it might be a real problem later on if you dont act now, consider your options and research research research.

Thanks catastrophe and most other MNers for their thoughts. I will diligently research, if only to know what my options are.

I'm quite active in the school, as a reading volunteer and PTA member. I ran for governor but wasn't elected this time (though encouraged to run again next year).

Mopswerver, do you seriously think people switch schools "on a whim"? I'll ignore your other staggeringly patronising comments, thank you.