Brand new school - any experience?

[Octoberrat]

One of the options we will have for our DD who will be entering reception in 2017 is a brand new school that hasn't been built yet.

They will be opening it to a full 2-class entry for 60 reception kids, plus 30 children in Y1 and Y2.

It will be operated by an academy.

I have a few "downsides" already in my mind - the classrooms won't be ready for the first year and they'll be in temporary accommodation. Plus there will only be a hard play area for the first year (no grass). Plus no much older children to mentor etc. I also imagine that there will be building work going on.

Would be interested in hearing from anyone who has either sent their child to a brand new school (what was good, what was a nasty surprise, if anything), or anyone who decided not to (why)?

Also, does anyone know that if you are in a grammar school area, do academies support 11+ etc (e.g. the same practice runs that county schools do)?

Lots of questions! Thanks.

We did just that. Exactly the same set-up. It was (and is) fantastic. It is essentially a small infant school. The children all know each other and the head can get to know all the children. The teachers are generally really committed and up for the challenge of a new school they can help create. We had surprisingly few teething issues. Our school has always said it is a parent-teacher partnership so they are amazing at listening to concerns. We have been in temporary accommodation for 2 years, and all has been fine (it is nice in a little small now the school is growing). The parents are generally as committed to making the school great as the teachers and so all in all, it creates a great atmosphere.

Thank you. Were yours in temporary classrooms for the first year? Did it cause any problems?

We really don't have the weather for the availability of grass to be an issue. I went to primary school for 7 years that had no grass and I survived very happily.

Same set up here. Very happy. All the kids know each other, the parents have all been very motivated as have the teachers. Building work has been ongoing but finally over. Any school could initiate a building project, ethos and staff are most important. Does the academy have any other branches?

Yes re: other branches - it's operated by REACH2. None local enough for me to be able to find much out beyond their marketing.

Glad to hear of so many positive experiences with brand new schools. Did you have any positives or negatives with your DC being always the eldest in the school? (DD is September born.)

I have friends who did it and love it. The temp buildings don't matter as you'll hardly know the difference with modern mobile classrooms. The lack of grass is not an issue - hundreds of city schools have no grass, inc ours. If can be a great experience as far as I hear. The downside is no yr5/6 etc to look up to but we are a huge school, so contact with other years is limited anyway. Same in areas with separate infant and junior schools.
It's likely to be a great community of teachers and parents who want the best for the school

I spent 8 years at an inner city first/middle school with no grass, I really wouldn't let that be a big concern.

I wanted to return to this thread almost 10 years later and update!

We chose the new-build school and DD went through the entire school from Reception to Y6. It was excellent - by and large - being a new school. The head did indeed know every family, and DD knew the older year (eventually two older years) much better than she would have done in an established school.

Parents were really motivated to build the school they wanted to see, and the PTA flourished.

DD left the school a couple of years ago and has gone off to grammar, which was always our hope.

I joined as a Parent Governor, and am still there all these years later!

DD2 is now at the same school, has been there from their nursery and is now in Y5. The initial head has moved on but there has been the minimum amount of turbulence, and the school is a key community hub.

Were there any downsides to a new school? Not very many. The school has grown year-on-year - so from being literally 90 children when it opened, it's now over 500. So for those who loved the "village school" feel, I guess it feels a different beast now, but that was always planned. A bigger school means a bigger budget and better resources - so dedicated SENCO, pastoral care etc.

There was some noisy building work from time to time, but contractors were experienced with this type of site build and it was never unsafe.

The one major downside was that the school wasn't full to start with (e.g. 25 reception children per class) as a lot of people were unwilling to take a chance on a new school. This meant it soon filled up with children of parents who had either forgotten to apply for a school place, had applied for unrealistic school places, or whose children hadn't settled in their initial school - meaning there was a higher level of need in DD1's year group - both PPG and SEN than in subsequent year groups.

The major bonuses have been fantastic, brand new facilities and resources (like VR headsets and beautiful sports grounds), enthusiastic teaching staff and very little "we tried that once and it didn't work" or "we always do it like this" - so it's been lovely to really feel involved like you can make a difference.

It has been fabulous to be on the journey building a brand new community, and not for a single second do I feel we made the wrong choice. I hope this helps anyone else in a similar situation.

What a lovely update!