Been offered brand new free school or last choice

[Lazymama2]

We're not sure what to do as have been offered a place at a brand new school which is with walking distance but has not been 'fitted out' yet (buildings are there). There is very little concrete info on term dates, start and finish times, curriculum and obviously no past performance on which to base a decision. Also no older kids to look up to. Other school is our last choice and has improved from satisfactory to good. DH does not want Dd to go to this school and would prefer private. I, on the other hand, quite like idea of a brand new school.

Thoughts/ideas anyone?

PS please dont turn this into a debate of state vs. private as I believe every parent does what is best for thier child/family circumstances and im not for/against one or the other.

The OFSTED report for Whitehall Park School has actually just been published -
Download Here. They received a grade of Good with Outstanding features and reading the glowing report it looks like the school must have only just missed out on Outstanding.

A couple of my favourite comments:

“Parents are thrilled with the high-quality education their children receive at Whitehall Park. They can see how teachers excite and enthuse pupils in stimulating lessons.”

“The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Pupils are highly motivated learners. They talk confidently about how to improve their work. Staff and pupils have developed strong and respectful relationships. As a result, pupils respond positively in class to any adult interventions.”

I’ve been a parent of a child at the school since it first opened 3 years ago and it is great to see the amazing work done by the staff recognised by OFSTED. They really have built a school that will be the hub of our community for decades to come.

thank you

Thenewbrown but of course no national performance data as there are no KS2 results. Hardly a fair comparison in terms of outcomes against other schools and easy for Ofsted to judge at this point.

Doesn't read, in my experience, as a school that 'only just missed out on outstanding'.

Went to the fete at Whitehall Park over the weekend and was impressed by how nice the new building is. The school uniform is a bit OTT though - do children really need to wear blazers in reception?

Same here. Lovely environment, children enjoyed themselves.
TBH I think all schools are going that way with the blazers. It's probably a requirement but I doubt any of the children wear them very often. The uniform itself was definitely OTT. I think I quite liked it though