We are moving to a new area and wanted to get some opinions on two schools we are comparing in the area we want to move to, none of the schools in the area as oversubscribed. I'll keep them anonymous. Which of these factors would you put any weight on in choosing a school and which would you not be bothered by?
Sorry LONG! Comparing points so please just skim read if you're busy!
We are only really interested in what goes on in the lower years as we know we will have to move again in 2 - 3 years due to job contracts, but it is still a very important decision to us to get DS off to a good start.
I've noticed a lot of 'good' schools have higher attainment levels than outstanding schools so clearly there is a lot more to a school's ofsted rating than good results.
One school is good (last looked at in 2010) rural location.
One is outstanding CofE (rated 2011) large town.
KS1 results for the good school are in the above average to well above category depending on year. (schools overall progress is 100.9)
KS1 results for the outstanding school are in the average category to sometimes above average. (ofsted points out they achieve well from their starting points which are below average.) (schools overall progress is 98.6 so lower school much better than upper school.)
DS is summer born, does this suggest the good school might be better at targeting all abilities as a larger proportion are getting their level 2s? I forgot to ask about their summer born policy.
The good school is in a very economically enabled area.
The outstanding school is more mixed but seems to be favoured by the lower income families that live in closer proximity to it. The Good school is fractionally closer to where we are moving but so long as DS is accepted by the other children and gets party invites etc, I really don't care what their background is I just want the best school!
The outstanding school's newsletters seem a little bit over the top, lots of reminders to prepare for sats, lots of emphasis on the research and reading to your child, again I imagine ofsted liked this personal touch but I might find it irritating as I don't need reminding. DH says it shows they care which I suppose it does. I asked the Headteacher whether the school felt it needed to remind parents to read to their children and she said that, I quote 'a high proportion of our families come from single parent households and lower income backgrounds with low parental involvement and different expectations of their children's well being than the school would like to promote.' I was raised by a single mum so thought it a bit sweeping, but DH thinks that the school have got their outstanding because they understand their intake and probably put in more than the good school which has an easier intake.
Good School has typical cut and paste policies. To be honest their behaviour policies and typical classroom routines are not well published so I don't know much about them to compare.
The outstanding school has very personalised school policies that are set in the local context and I think this sort of thing got it ofsted outstanding. Not sure about the behaviour policy, naughty children get a red card that gets put on the wall for all to see and lose 5 minutes of free time for bad behaviour. Is that just normal? The outstanding school also have 'circle time' and group sharing which sounds very supportive.
The outstanding school invites parents in once a month to look at children's work and look at their progress books. (working parent so might not always have time but it sounds like a fab idea).
The good school just does the standard end of year report and parents evenings, curriculum summaries sent home etc.
The Good school has lots of social media, weekly newsletters and achievement letters, podcasts by the kids etc so you can see what your child has been doing in school (includes lower years), even the reception kids have their own email and all that glossy stuff that isn't really essential but shows the school is ict literate.
The outstanding school doesn't do all that stuff probably due to being a smaller more old fashioned school. Again the Good school has bigger better shinier facilities. Outstanding school has older facilities (books and pictures look a bit tatty, but ofsted wouldn't have given it outstanding if this were an issue?)
Good school has a good teaching and curriculum rating.
Outstanding school has an outstanding teaching and curriculum rating.
(I've looked at the curriculum and can see the outstanding school links themes more innovatively, but not much in it as it doesn't seem to be getting higher results.)
Good school's head is relatively new to the post and the school standards have been improving more and more.
Outstanding school's head is due to retire next year and the ofsted report says the success of the school is due to the head's vision and leadership so this might change in future.
The good school has younger teachers who seem bubbly and outgoing 30 somethings.
The (smaller) outstanding school has more mature teachers, and all seem very quiet and calm people.
I think my DS will respond better to the latter because he is very gentle natured.
The peer group at the outstanding school have more behavioural issues which might be an issue as DS is easily led at this age? But I suppose you get the 'naughty kids' everywhere.
Gut feeling -
DH thought the outstanding school was small, friendly and caring.
I was slightly left with an impression that I was missing something I couldn't put my finger on, strange but true! I don't know, something about what I was seeing didn't tally with what I was being told, maybe I just like shiny new schools! Or maybe it was the Head, who'll be leaving in a year anyway.
The good school was just that, a good school, a little underwhelming, but friendly, and everything was there to see exactly as it was.
DH thought it was big and clinical, like a hospital.