School failed Ofsted - level 4 for everything, what now?

[SmallShips]

It was awful, gist of it being that the teaching standards in Y3, 4 and 5 was, frankly crap. The reception class has had 3 different teachers this year and number 3 has just said she's leaving too. The last head was suspended due to bullying claims and we're now on supply head number 3 in less than 2 years.

DD is starting there in September and DS is in Y1 and apart from being slightly below average in everything (was thought to have SN last year but that doesn't seem to be an issue now) he's doing very well and enjoying school. His teacher, classroom assistant and I are working with him and reckon we'll be able to bring him up to average by the end of the summer term.

I'm wondering what to do, he isn't the sort of child who is going to coast through school and not sure if a struggling school is going to be best for him. I'm very happy with his teacher and the standard of learning he's received so far, but I'm doubting my own judgement, doesn't help that a group of my friends left the school this year, telling me it was rubbish and I needed to leave too, now I'm getting "told you so" and raised eyebrows that I haven't removed him yet.

My thinking is, that now they're on special measures, things can only get better?! And he's happy!

Any advice or experiences?

Why haven't you moved him yet?

It's all very well saying "move him," but are there places available elsewhere? I would imagine also that many other parents will be considering the same so any places there are, will soon be snapped up.
Investigate, see what's out there, and then make a decision based on realistic options. It's hard to compare what you know with an imagined place in an unknown school.

I would have a look and see if you can get him on the waiting list for somewhere else tbh.

having him on the waiting list can always be plan b if things improve at his current school.

With special measures you get much more support, there will be new extraneous staff, a new head and regular inspections. The school will be forced to change, in twelve months it can be unrecognizable.

If your children are young they are in the best position to benefit from changes. I sent mine to a school I knew would probably fail ofsted, it did and now is one of the best locally. There were things I was happy with, the children were happy and that was enough for us.

My friend is in the board of govs, she gets to really know what is weak and if improvements are happening. I would join the board of govs if I hadn't been able to have an insight into what was going on. The govs do a lot during an ofsted too but they do agenda set which is good.

I suppose philosophically I believe in comps, I think all schools should be good and that as patents we can help with this sometimes. Would prefer to work towards a local school that benefits all ... I am a regular volunteer and love what I see.

Extraneous? Extra...bloody phone.

I second joining the governors.

DD's school went into special measures between me applying for and accepting her place (last Ofsted was 'good') then was put in special measures by the time she started there. I was gutted.

Lots of change, lots of improvements, I am one of the Governors now so I can be more involved, we came out of SM very quickly. I am not worried about the teaching now at all and the pastoral care has always been great throughout it all.

I did ponder trying to change her school but this one is our local school, 3 mins from our house and the next nearest is very oversubscribed and would need to drive them to school, plus my youngest attends the preschool on the same site so it would be a right PITA frankly.

ime, tonnes of money will be thrown at the school & in 5 years it will become THE desirable destination school that everyone wants to take their DC to. One of the children in the current y6 will get accepted to Oxbridge.

If your child is happy, and you have a good partnership with the teacher, and you feel he is learning, then why move him? Trust your own feelings about the situation -- don't be swayed by the herd.

I would third becoming a governor. Our school had a very critical ofsted and we as governors have been really involved in the changes the school has made. Things have changed so much in 12 months since the ofsted inspection -- and tbh I was not actually unhappy with the school before. But I am more happy now.

Finally I have heard lots of stories about very unhappy children in outstanding schools. If your child is happy at school then that is beyond rubies in my opinion.

There are 2 other schools available near us, 1 is as bad as ours and the other (where all my friends have moved their kids to) seems good, but is filling up fast.

Joining the governors sounds like a good idea, didn't think of that tbh.

DH wants us to think about the possibility of moving him, but DS is happy and making great progress. I think I'm a bit worried about rocking the boat after all the issues we had last year.

Parenting is hard

Oh and the reason why most of the kids were removed was because our current school is very small, which wasn't a problem 2 years ago when we were a 3 tier system. We've now moved in line with the rest of the country and shut the middle schools, meaning we've crammed 2 extra years groups into a building not able to cope with it.

BUT they've just started building our new school and we should be moved in by early next year.

things can get better at this school, and will. my dc's school is outstanding at ofsted, but do you know what, it's not perfect. there are lots of things they do that i don't agree with, and people still do move their kids from it to other schools in the area. dd has been bullied there and was even attacked in the playground by another child. best measure of a (primary) school is how happy your dc's are going there.

Expect it to become a sponsored academy - this will be an almost certainty. Moving schools is not necessarily the answer. At the moment there is so much change going on in education, that there is no guarantee that the good schools down the road will stay the same.

What are the year 1 and 2 teachers like?

Did they get a level 4 for the safeguarding and pastoral care bits? And for leadership?

I second a lot of the advice below.It's hard though and I feel for you.

My dc are at an Outstanding school and seriously it isn't all that,the arrogance is staggering.I've taught in a variety of schools and believe you me the school my dc are at is no better imvho than many others not rated as high or the same that I've worked in.

Ofsted is only a snapshot and I think a lot of Outstanding/Good schools only get it because of intake, parental involvement,luck that week/ day or a head adept at ticking boxes(who can then leave).Personally I'd rather be in a school striving to get better which acknowledges it's faults,values parents and with teachers who are used to working hard at getting results as opposed to having it handed on a plate. Not all Outstanding/Good schools are like this but I do think some are,plenty of threads indicating this.

Your school will have money thrown at it,county swarming all over it,probably a new better head and maybe some new staff.Only you can decide but just remember also that the Ofsted criteria is now harder and the school next door they're all fighting to get in to may plummet when they have their next inspection by which time your school may well be on the up and over it's problems.

The Y1 and 2 teachers seem fine, it was only them and Y6 who weren't picked up for anything.

And yep they got level 4 for every level.

Didn't know that primaries could become sponsored academies, most of our high schools have become academies in the last 3 years - they're all crap too, in fact the secondary in our catchment is one of the worst schools in the country! Think I might just move!

It's much easier to turn a primary round than a secondary. In our LA, they tend to "lend" really good HTs to struggling schools or partner 2 schools up. It depends if the staff really are rubbish, or if they have become confused, alienated and demotivated by poor management. If the latter, then things can change very quickly if they get someone who really cares in place.

Good on you OP for taking a calm and measured approach to the situation and not just following the herd without taking into consideration for the progress and achievements of your DS. The other posters talk sense, I think especially MrsHeffley.

Watch it carefully and get as involved as you can. The LA will be all over the school like a rash - try to treat these next months as an opportunity, not a period of decline.

Also presumably the exodus of pupils has resulted in smaller class sizes which may benefit your ds. It is a difficult decision, you could look round the other school, but next time your 'friends' say they told you so, ask them specifics of what exactly is better in the other school.

From what I can gather the plus points of the other school involve a class rabbit and not much else!

For the 5 pupils that have left this year, we have had 1 come in. So yes the class sizes are small and as DS is on the 'extra help' table he's benefiting from more time with his absolutely brilliant TA.

Your son is only in year 1 and you seem happy with whats going on for him in the year group. I'd be tempted to hold out and review the situation at the end of infants (end of yr2). you can always give him a new start at the start of juniors if it's really needed.

This happened to dds school when she was in year3. I moved her out the day the report was published, but we were already unhappy.

Head was kicked out, new one was put in. Sadly she turned out to be crap as well. School got a lot of funding, new teachers, new strategies, etc.

Another new head started last sept and has turned the school round since then. It really is amazing. School is expected to get an outstanding next time. The failed inspection was three years ago. So it's taken that long. Though obviously there was some improvement during that time.

But if the school had got given the current head straight away I think the improvement would have been much quicker. Less than a year.

If you are happy with both the class he's in and the one he's moving into in Sept then I'd leave him to be honest and see how things stand beginning of 2013. I expect they will try and turn the school around quickly and if they can do this before he hits Y3 which seems to be where the problems start then I'd stick with it.

Also agree that joining governors is a good idea - at least then you'll know what is happening to make improvements.

Not sure about your DD if she is going into YR where the turnover is high. Perhaps call the local school that you like and see whether they would have places for both the children. If not at least you can rule that out.