Questions to ask at primary school prospective parents evening

[mummydummyabc]

This week we are due to visit our local primary school for an open evening which is being held for prospective parents. As a first time Mum I am extremely anxious about it! Really, really, really not looking forward to it:( Any advice on what types of questions to ask and can anybody else share their experiences of these sorts of events. Not sure what to expect at all.

Don't be anxious! This is a great new start for your little one.

Do check, first and foremost, admission criteria to make sure you have a somewhat decent chance of getting in.

You might also like to ask about

• settling in processes in Reception (you have the right to a full time place from Day 1, some schools stretch out half days for weeks)
• breakfast club/ after care
• how much of the day is devoted to continuous provision and how much to teacher-led time

Why would you be anxious about it OP?

What do you want to know? You'll probably find out lots just being there, listening and looking around. Think about your own child and what they might need and find out if they have/do it. Eg if your child is anxious in new situations how do they manage settling in.

Also you don't have to ask any questions if you don't want to!

How many dressing up days there are, what homework and what sort is set (ie to avoid crap ‘projects on...make a model of...homework’s!).

What parental financial contributions are asked for.

How much free play and outdoor time the reception children have?
When does homework start?
When do they start spelling tests?
Transition to year one is it gradual?
Discipline policy what age might child miss playtime.
How does headteacher approach national curriculum.
To be honest though you can learn quite a lot by just standing in the background and letting the other parents ask questions!

I'm anxious for a few reasons. I don't have great memories of school myself and I do not come from the area. I worry that all the other mums/parents will know other people there and I feel at a disadvantage. It's stupid really, but I just want the best possible start for my son and do not want him to pick up on any of this.

Just sit with people who are not talking to anyone else. That means they probably don’t know anyone else either. Enrol DC in a nursery so DC and you might know someone before starting school.

I didn’t ask anything. I listened to others. I knew the school was great by looking round and talking with mums I trusted at nursery. My children didn’t have any needs and just slotted in. I didn’t expect them to continue playing. I was happy for them to bring books home and do homework. My DCs were happy and they made excellent progress. I trusted the school and they didn’t let us down.

What the school did have was an innovative curriculum, high expectations, parents with high expectations (Grammar county), great reading books and library, good playground, excellent experienced teachers and a first class head, fantastic work displayed around the school and an active pta. Ticked my boxes.

I'm in the middle of doing KS2 admissions for my eldest (we're at an infants school so have to transfer to juniors). I found the prospective parents evening didn't really give us much of an actual "feel" for the school as they very much tried to hide behind new initiatives and educational jargon, so I asked to go back and have a tour when the school was actually working to get a better feel for the place.

I had a list of things I was specifically looking for in terms of wanting to see how SN provision was actually working in class (relevant to my child) - so I was looking for things that indicated this was just being done as part of day-to-day teaching in terms of kids being allowed to record on laptops, wearing ear defenders for sensory issues, kids using things like writing slopes - which is why I wanted to see the school during lesson time.

The Head sold us our current school - looking around and she was constantly stopping to chat to kids who she knew by name, who were desperately eager to show her their work, and giving her huge hugs and the like - there was just such a warmth about the place. Again - I looked round during a school day though.

We knew no one incidentally, kids had gone to nursery in a different area (we're out of catchment) - and now I'm one of the "PTA bods", usually have people to chat to on the yard and DD1 has a social life that puts me to shame!

It would be a poor school where enthusiastic children didn’t show the Head their work and equally poor if the Head didn’t know their names, even in quite large schools. That’s all normal for most schools. Hugs less so, especially in combined/junior schools where there might be a male Head. However do go back on a working day and see what you think if the open evening doesn’t give you a feel for the school. Seeing the children in the school will tell you a lot.

I'd say look beyond reception. Its really hard to think what your child will be like in a few years time but I found that as the children got older the schools differed more in their approach. Some got very formal very quickly, some did SATs revision worksheets for year 2 etc and others kept forest school going until year 6.

Head in the school we moved our kids out of used to resort to a crib sheet and the staff lining the kids up in a specific order to pretend to the parents she knew the kids names. Kids were really wary of her - not surprising since the only time she emerged from the office was to complain about stuff.

So you found out she was a crap Head then, Reverse. Nursery gossip usually alerts prospective parents to this! That’s very unusual and not what I’ve seen in primary schools.