What the best way to research primary schools?

[edgarsuit]

Am starting to look at schools for dp and I know how to check the ofstead and look at the websited and all the online stuff but whats the best way to really get to the nitty gritty of what certain schools were really like

I just remember when i was at secondary school all the grown ups ravied about my school my mum would brag about where i wnet and it was the most horrendous school ...

Ask around at toddler groups.

Hang around local parks at the end of the school day. You could strike up a conversation with the other parents and gently grill them on their schools. My friend did this.

Do you have to apply this year for a sept 15 start? If not then go along to the school summer fetes next june / july.

Ask around, go to fetes and fayres and most importantly, visit the schools. I wouldn't worry too much about ofsted. The attitude of the Head is usually the key at primary, so ask what other parents think.

what sort of question am i looking to ask and is there anything in particular i am looking to stand out to make one school better than than an other ....
in what ways might they differ ?

Visit the schools.
Ask questions (it almost doesn't matter what, it is how the HT answers that is interesting).
Look out for an atmosphere of busy activity - it might look chaotic to start with but focus on a child or two and watch to see if they are engaged and purposeful.
Does the school seem proud of the children's work, displaying work and details of achievements.

You'll get a gut feeling. Can you imagine your child there? I don't think results are everything, it is the atmosphere. Are the children engaged and happy. Are the staff approachable?

just written a couple of the dates down for the differnt schools xmas fetes etc ..and one has a fun run tomorrow i may go an linger around the park to see whats going on ... and try not to look dodgy ... !!

the best school i know is out of our catchment but the county said i can still apply on the off-chance ... i am wondering if i should put this as my 1st place as she said they will take that into consideration.. but its very unlikely they will consider us either way ... and then i'm woried the second best school will only be second place on the list but is the closest school in distance????

what would you'll do??

It's vital to visit. You will see big differences

It shouldn't make a difference to the order. So, put them in order of preference, but make sure you include a dead cert (catchment school) otherwise you might risk ending up on other side of the county.

By all means read the OFSTED reports, but please be aware that if they are more than a year old, they could be out of date.
For example the report may praise a particular Head for their leadership and management skills, but that Head may have left to help another school and vice-versa.
Also OFTED requirements have changed a lot and they have made inspection tougher so the Good school inspected in 2014 could be better than the Outstanding school inspected in 2012.
I would also advise looking at the school newsletters for parents on the website to see how the school communicates what is going on. Most primary schools send these out every week and they can be very revealing.

Ask what their approach is to teaching reading. Schools have a statutory duty to teach phonics now, but a lot of them are ignoring it or not teaching it properly. Find out if they are using decodable readers - a good sign that the school is taking phonics seriously.

Look at stats for your local areas to see if you are likely to get a choice. In practice, many children only have one school they are likely to get into. By all means visit and put others down too but be aware of this.

Visit the school. We were lucky, DD could have gotten into 5 different schools, all good and outstanding, great results and good facilities. We only liked 2 of them.

In the end a lot is gut feeling. How is the interaction between HT, teacher and children? If you are toured by Y6 children how open and happy do they speak about the school or do they have nothing to say about activities and fun.

While learning obviously is important what else is seemed important by the HT? In one school they couldn't stop talking about results and curriculum. It felt like an exam factory. In another school the main things shown to us where facilities for outdoor learning, sport, trips the children take, music and responsibilities the older children take. Results were mentioned but in a relaxed way. It felt these two schools had attitudes which were miles apart.

If you have CoE or RC schools you need to check if there are additional admission criteria like church attendance.

If you read Ofsted check in which areas the school are deemed less outstanding/less good. We found some of the points were not relevant, they felt like box ticking went wrong.

..I completly agree aboutthe ofstead reports when researching pre schools the one that had the certificate for the best in the area all the children seemed like robots it was loud and one massive dark hall ... the one i put him in was only good in ofstead and lasst year became outstanding .. which means it is CURRENTLY outstanding .

in regards to the schools obviously i am at the beginning of my research and have not visited any yet but will make appointments after half term.. the one i was always lead to believe is the best i am not not sure baout as the fun factor seems to be missing ,, and getting out into the community. its outstanding ofstead was 2006 so doesn't mean a lot to me and they have changed heads in the mean time ...

i have liked all there face book pages so will receive updates and just about to check out news letters now .. i also have all oft here upcoming events on my calender so i can plan impromptu visits to where they may be like a crazy school stalker mum

thanx so much for all your advice all has been extremely usefull ...

2006 does seem a long time ago OP. I think that sometimes schools that have been Outstanding for a long time have shorter HMI inspections to make sure that they are still achieving this standard. The time period for a full inspection may be extended if HMI agree that high standards are still being maintained. I am not sure whether (or not) these reports are published.
If you have the opportunity this would be a very good question to ask.
dds former primary school went from Good to Special Measures (eek) within 4 years and within a year was back up to Good and is now Good with Outstanding Features. The same year group that were deemed as "achieving far below average" in Y1 by OFSTED achieved the best SATs results in the school's history at the end of Y6, so you are correct to be sceptical about OFSTED.