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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Am I the only person who has NOT done any research on schools whatsoever????

19 replies

oliveoil · 10/01/2007 15:05

Am starting to worry.

dd1 goes to a lovely playgroup, linked to the CofE next door.

I have just shoved her name down and hoped for the best.

Not looked at Ofsted, or SATS or anything. Or visited (although I have been in for her Nativity play)

Is this really bad?

There are tons of threads on here and I am thinking that maybe I should have analysed it more or something.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

fairyjay · 10/01/2007 15:32

A school's like a house, you walk in and you either feel comfortable or you don't.

frances5 · 10/01/2007 16:43

Nah! Dont worry. School choice isnt a reality unless you can afford private education.

snuffy143 · 10/01/2007 17:10

I agree. Went to local infant and junior to look. Seemed ok to me. Wanted to commit to the community thing. Never thought about looking anywhere else. And I am a teacher! Kids in reception and Y3 and thriving and very happy.

Tortington · 10/01/2007 17:12

that you even have a choise is illusion my dear olive

illusion

govt spin doctor illusion

McDreamy · 10/01/2007 17:13

I think it depends on your situation. If you know that local school and are happy with it then why waste time looking for something that might be better. DD is due to start school in Sept (we have have no choice only one school on camp she can go to) but summer 2008 we are due back to teh UK and I don't even know which area we will be living in. But once i find out I will be looking into Ofsted, visiting schools etc until I find one like you have found

GrumpyOldHorsewoman · 10/01/2007 17:22

Totally agree. Choice is an illusion, carefully crafted but a total fantasy. DD1 has missed 2 months of Yr 7 schooling this year because we moved in August (having only found out we were moving in July). Applied for every decent school within a 20 mile radius and knocked back from every one, no help from LEA (either Notts or Doncaster) and now she's in the catchment school which I am really unhappy with, quite honestly. It had quite a poor OFSTED and have been very unimpressed by it thus far. Sorry not to post a positive thread, but a touchy subject for me right now and pissed off about it.

Ladymuck · 10/01/2007 17:26

Are we talking playgroup or school here? Amazed that for somewhere she will spend 7 formative years you didn't even pay a visit personally.

If we're talking playgroup - they don't have sats for 3 year olds - yet

knittingtinsel · 10/01/2007 17:30

Choice in education is a "smoke and mirrors" trick.

Anything better than what's on offer locally you pay for either by inflated house prices in another area, caused by the perceived quality of the school or by paying for the additional transport costs - time and money factor- in ferrying kids to somewhere else.

Or you pay big bucks and hope its worth it by going private. You then do you own smoke and mirrors trick to convince yourself that it's worth the extra money.

cynical , moi - not at all.

knittingtinsel · 10/01/2007 17:32

Plus -schools seem to be very dependenat on the headteacher. A good school can go down the pan very quickly with a poor choice of replacement headteacher.

Original poster

oliveoil · 11/01/2007 11:26

No I didn't visit it and I didn't think it strange actually until I started reading threads on here with lots of handwringing and angst.

There are 3 local schools - the CofE, a Catholic and another one slightly further away.

All ok from what I have heard via other mums (dh went to the Catholic one).

I worked on a process of elimination - no to one further away, no to Catholic (cue frowns from inlaws) so I went with the CofE as she goes to the playgroup linked and will have a group of friends to go with.

OP posts:

Bekks · 11/01/2007 12:19

I haven't done anything, dd due to go in September. School just down the road, practically everyone we know goes to it. What is there going to be not to like? I do know that it's fairly good though I suppose. I have been shocked by how stressed people are getting and how many schools they are visiting and possibly going private, although I suppose I live right on the edge of the city and very close to the school and not close to others and in a "nice" area so the decision is more obvious. I occasionally feel that I should be trying harder though!

igotissues · 12/01/2007 21:58

I have to say that I did the exact opposite of you - tooooo much research and think that it has ended up biting me on the arse. I moved last year to be near a school which had fantastic results on paper... in the top 5% in the country (allegedly). BUT the headmaster has now moved to another school, and guess what? this years tables show that the school i moved to be close to has dropped by over 10 places for the borough! Its a bitter pill to swallow as the new school that the head is at (a previously 'failing' school has improved its position by over 20 this year alone!)I learnt a tough lesson the hard way. The success of a school may largely be dependent on the headteacher, but Im yet to hear of anyone who has changed their address or school because of a headteacher!

I will say though that as you have three choices, go with whatever is a priority FOR YOU. So if its distance from home, other children your child already knows who are at/ are applying for the school, the general feel of the school or gut instinct, choose on that basis. I have swallowed humble pie in learning that education is about so much more than academic results. You know your child and what where they will be most comfortable and what environment will nurture them best and enable them to flourish. Visit some schools to aid your decision, but i'd say dont go overboard about the research - its only ever PART of the picture.

maggiems · 13/01/2007 09:00

I had something similiar to igotissues. I did a lot of research and was down to 2, the local school which had a great reputation but big class sizes and i felt Dt2 would be a bit lost, and one further away, also with a great reputation but smaller class sizes. I really liked the head in the smaller school but didnt in the bigger one as he was a bit too "old school" for my liking. I went with the smaller school and guess what the head of the smaller one got a promotion to the bigger one this year! Wasnt too pleased. We now have a new head who seems very nice but time will tell. Boys very happy though. I think if you have a good local school and it seems appropriate to your childs needs then i wouldnt be looking elsewhere.

Edam · 13/01/2007 09:06

I didn't research my no. 1 school - think I'd seen league tables in the papers anyway - but I felt I knew the school already. Been to a few fetes and know lots of parents who are very happy with it. It's our nearest school, bar a small CofE school which is hard to get into unless you have a letter from the vicar.

I did go and look at the church school and put it second (pretty pointless but just in case don't get no. 1) and looked at two others, given I had to put three down.

PeachesMcLean · 13/01/2007 09:20

Oliveoil, sit back and feel pleased. Do you want angst? You're so lucky. You have a school with an acceptable reputation (according to the other mums) and it's nearby. Don't underestimate the importance of a school closeby, with an existing social group from playschool. If the school had failings, you'd have heard about it. (though I have to say I'd go for a look round - just out of curiosity....)

SnafuOutOfHiding · 13/01/2007 10:04

I didn't really research school 'choices' (ha ha) except to have a quick look at Ofsted. No. 1 choice is the local village school, 5 mins walk, which has always had a good reputation and I've known it forever. I haven't visited it for years, though. No 2 is larger and slightly further away (but still walkable) with a good academic rep - in fact better than no 1 but the 5 min walk swung it I know mothers of children at all of our first three choices and they're all happy.

I know we're extremely lucky with schools here, though. Angst didn't really come into it. Although time will tell, of course...

brimfull · 13/01/2007 10:06

All depends where you live.We too are lucky and haven't needed to worry anout doing research into schools.THe schools are oversubscribed but we live in the catchment and have had no problems.
I feel really sorry for people who have crap schools in their catchment .
DD is in the fab senior school within walking distance and ds will follow her so I regularly thank my lucky stars and pray that the schools stay successful.

twinsetandpearls · 13/01/2007 12:37

I didn't research nay other state schools as the one we sent her to is fantastic and linked to her nursery and our church, looked at a few private and decidied dd was better of at the local primary

MummyPenguin · 14/01/2007 20:49

When my Sister and BIL moved to their current house, their eldest Son, now 6, was a baby, and they didn't think about the schools in the area at all. As it turned out, all the schools were awful, apart from a very oversubscribed Catholic one. As my Sister and BIL aren't churchgoers, and have no intention to become so, they are highly unlikely to get their Son a place there, and were told so in no uncertain terms by somebody at the school when they approached them. So in the abscence of good school options they have had to send their Son to a private school, and will have to do so with their second child, now 20 months. My DH has always been on the ball about this sort of thing, and he couldn't believe that they'd bought a house without checking out the school catchments.

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