should I change ds' school based on a chronic negative gut feeling?

[preggerspoppet]

ds1's school is 2 miles down the road, he gets collected and dropped home by minibus, it has 35 kids in the whole school, 6 in his year.

it is small and in a village, some might say it were ther pefect school, but since ds started there I have been disappointed.

the atmosphere is flat, the school is soul-less and the kids seem scared all the time. (although ds enjoys his friends there)
He is now in year 2 and will next term join the junior class where he will spend 4 years in the same room with a very sourfaced teacher.

the alternative is a bit of an unknown, I am visiting tomorrow morning, it has one place left for his year group next term. The school has a good reputation and is still quite small but is a car drive away.

In september I will have three under 2's to take on a school run every day should I change schools.
Is this a factor or should it be irelavent if the school 'feels' better??

oh help!!

Absolutely. During my time working for education authorities I always advised parents to go for gut feeling over SATS etc. Logistics of taking kids to school ( and vacancies in the school you prefer) are important but also remember the teacher may be replaced at some stage.

Well, your visit will probably clinch this for you, one way or the other!
Is there any chance that there are other parents you could team up with for school runs if you change?

Go on the visit with an open mind, but if you feel your children would flourish better there, then yes, change!

Yes, in my experience (5 primaries and 2 secondaries for DSs) if you don't feel the school is right, it probably isn't and although schools change, they generally change for the better after your DCs have left!

Ooh - didn't mean anything rude in "they generally change for the better after your DCs have left! " but that the crabby old teacher and the useless head teacher always leave after your child has left that school. Sod's law.

there might be one other child starting there next term from our village, will check that out actually...

I'm glad to be advised 'listen to your gut feeling' a friend in our villlage has four chidren at ds's current school and she says she won't change because it is ok, the kids are happy and the bus is so convienient.
If I took ds out and the old-bag-head left hen it would do a lot for the school, she is a really bad egg and negativity just feeds off her.

(do you know on the first day of school last september she didn't even say hello to the kids in the playground, she just held up her hand for the silence and pointed into the classroom. she has 35 kids in the whole school, not really an excuse to not know their names.)

-she has done far worse than that but that is pretty fundimentally crap.

ds just came home buzzing about his day at school. [confused now]

any teachers around this evening? would value your pov...

hi preggars. I would definately change schools. You will manage with the little ones, it may take a little organisation the night before etc... I have a little experience in this, but you will feel better. If you dont change schools then you will probably feel awful most days when ds is at school.

What is the chilren's perception of this woman?
I, and a few other parents, have found DS's teacher very hard to 'warm up' - she doesn't communicate with parents, doesn't chat to children in the playground etc, but her class love her, and she has done well with them, too.

well I was introdudced to this teacher through a friend before I knew she was a school teacher and she seemed very nice and normal, it was much later when some kids from our village told me that she was mean. I then would see her regulary at school looking very miserable and every time I walked past the junior class to drop a child at the pre-school room, if I saw any kids I knew I would smile and give a small wave and the kids are always look so scared to smile or acknowledge me back.
-so unfortunately , no the kids don't like her either!
would it make any sense to wait and see how he got on with her though? or just go with my instinct?
really appreciating your comments

If you wait, though, the place in the other school will go, won't it?
I'd see how you get on visiting the other school, and if you like it, change.
I wouldn't want DS with a 'mean' teacher for 4 years! And if she's that mean, she won't easily get another job, will she?
Also, it sounds as if you are in quite a rural area, if the teacher is settled it's not as if there will be many alternative jobs unless she moves.

I would say go with your gut feeling (depending on what the other school you see tomorrow is like). At one stage we had the gut feeling that our son was at the wrong school, we waited to see what it would like next term, what it would be like next year - we waited too long and he ended up with horrendous nightmares which disappeared when we moved schools (and house!). ds1 is buzzing about today - has he said what was different and is it likely that whatever it is will be a regular feature now? The transportation question is a difficult one - if there is another mother you could share with that would be ideal obviously. Another short term measure would be to home educate for a year until the under 2s are under 3s making mornings easier (hopefully!).

There's nothing wrong with waiting. Quintrillions of school children since the dawn of man have had scary teachers who put out a bad vibe.

Up until quite recently, it was the essence of schooling! I was a kid in the seventies and I knew stacks. Perversely, they now have my utmost respect.

The ease of the 'school run' can't be disqualified. It's a very good reason for keeping the status quo.

Monitoring the situation, at this stage, might be wiser. It may be that she's an authoritarian, but they can sometimes make very good teachers. Children learn things for life at that age, and providing she's not being 'cruel', it may eventually be to your child's advantage.

Go with your gut feeling. We chose our ds's school based on the feel and the atmosphere (it's also top of the league table but we would have chosen it anyway). He's got a fantastic, energetic, bubbly, warm, smiley teacher and I wouldn't want it any other way. If you can get something like this by moving him, I'd say do it.

Have you seen the new school yet?

A few random thoughts

If you switch to the other school you will have a car drive but thats no different to what you would have if the village school shut (round here all village schools that small have been shut regardless of how good they may or may not be)

It seems a shame that so many people feel that way about the school and its teachers.
Could you perhaps chat to the teacher and try to befriend her etc
Could you talk to the governers? For such a small school to survive surely it needs committed teachers and parents

HTH

In an ideal world I would get rid of the sourfaced teacher, swap her for a fab happy enthusiastic one and then support the school wholeheartedly!!

that is another issue yurtgirl, I would feel bad being yet another loss for the school, there has been more loss than gain in numbers since ds started.

a very good friend is chair of govs and has been very unhappy about the teacher, her eldest is in her class, my friend's solution was to employ a personal tutor for after school tuition -her issue was that she is not up to scratch in terms of maths teaching. not sounding good is it?

I visit the school tomorrow am with dh so will let you know the outcome

if I was a chair of govs and felt grim thoughts about a teacher I wouldnt get a tutor in I would want the teacher to improve or leave!

Sorry if thats harsh
I cant help wondering why the teacher is such a sourpuss!
Maybe she needs a bit more love in her life!

I know, I agree, but my friend has been desperate to resign from govs as she is so busy but nobody else will do it... such a sorry state.
the problem comes from the headteacher, she is controlling, unapproachable, unfriendly and miserable. it all just feeds off her. such a shame because it could be a wonderful school with an attitude shift from her.