picking first primary school sweats taking hold...forms in by end of the month..

[HairyIrene]

just wanted to see if any others doing same right now?
have booked appointments/ open days etc for local ones
but just dont feel qualified
its scary

will probably just trust my gut (and dhs gut too!! )

and they seem too young to be going..that what feels the saddest...

Doing the rounds of the open days. We're not guaranteed a place anyway as on the edge of every catchment area. So don't want dd to end up at the C of E one with reputation for bullying. Like you, not really sure what I'm looking for, going with gut instinct.

Definitely go for gut instinct rather than anything else. If you look at league tables, examine them closely e.g. how many points sway does one child hold? What's their VA score like (IMO this tells you more about how the school is doing for all pupils)? Can you walk to it (not to be underestimated)? And above all, is it a happy school?

Good luck

dorawannbe
it ALL feels strange too
was not educated in england
reception? is it primary one??
i dunno the basics even here, never mind the lingo!!
do you get tape measure out for some of these small distances..oh that is dh department...

zog
i am so suspect of these tables our ofsted ones are from 2005,
and yes for me generallly its
lies, damn lies and statistics!
there are two outstandings nearby but checking all four that we are eligible for

i just dont feel qualified, its too much like growing up, responsiblity.......

being in an inner shitty area, one main concern is amount of kids with english as second language and they seem to on paper, got to grips with it..heres hoping

hairyirene - I completely understand what you mean about not being grown up enough - wait til you have your first parents evening
Good Luck!

nimnom
like name!
thanks..good to know i aint alone....

Primary one is roughly the equivelnt of Reception - only the reception kids are slighlty younger than the P1 kids due to different cut off date and the lack of a true"deferrla" system in England. (In Scotland if the child turns five after August, you can choose to defer for a year and simpaly start P1 a year later; in England if you defer, the child simply skips reception and goes straight into Year 1 )

Yes, I am going through all this right now. I'm just going to trust my gut instinct and 'mother's intuition ' and go with what feels right.I did this when I chose a nursery for DD1 and it worked out very well indeed.

The ofsted reports are all over the place - so much can change in the 4 years between them. Local opinion varies greatly about which school is best and I'm not sure about all these VA figures either. In the end if the children seem happy and feel safe then I guess that is what is most important.

Must stop typing now...beginnning to panic myself even more!

lol coby..thought i had it under control too
we are somewhat short on local knowledge too so it makes it feel more daunting
most people are saying that they will take the most local option too so
whats all this 'choice' about?
genuinely confused

pretty bird..thanks for the info..i was educated in scotland but at a time when you did start before 5...old burd me!
i was youngest in class too started at 4 ..

ds seems so young will be 4 3/4 years when he begins..

i now see why year 6 is signficant ..clunk..

My ds1 was 4.5 when he started in reception and settled in very well. My ds2 will be even younger as his birthday is Aug 31st!!

is it not confusing have two entry times?
they just seem so young!

HairyIrene - in Scotland you can still have start school before you are five - it's just that you have the option to leave it a year. Essentaily, the cut-off is March to April, so the youngest you could be when you start in August is 4.5 - but you can leave it until the following year, so you would be 5.5 when you start.

prettybird
ultimately sensible system..
shame its not here

still perspiring here (lightly a course!) [wink}

have washed hands now
typing with clean tips..

anyone else?
come fret with me..

Very sweaty palms here - if DD goes to local C of E they take all children in Sept - she will be 4 years + 1 week!!!

bbm
thats so young!!!
too young
is it your first choice of school?
makes it even more difficult...

the horror is our nursery is so nice, that it makes the school thing even more daunting in a way...

we're going through this too, went visiting schools last week, even managed to get my ex to take the day off and come with us (lovely man, would do anything for ds1 but of the attitude that a school is a school and it's a mummy decision anyway)

we are in rather an odd position, very rural area but no Primary School in our village. 3-school system in place at the moment but currently being phased out so the Middle School (yr5-8) at the end of my road will be redundant by the time ds1 gets to that age with no info so far on how they intend to work things, extending primary school sites or moving them to the empty middle schools.
catchment is a school 4 miles away, with a bus provided, but I really don't want to put my 4yr old on a big coach with no adult except the driver so I'd be driving him to school every day. there are several other schools closer than catchment.

The closest school was dreadful. We walked out and ex turned to me and said no way are we sending him there. very small classes but dark, unfriendly, badly set out, can see why my parents removed me from there after just half a term 20yrs ago!
The other 2 were lovely, not much to choose between them except that one is in the village where ds2 (and ds1 until he starts school) is at Nursery while I work, which would make my mornings so much easier, and as he's been at Nursery nearby he has a lot of friends that will filter through to the village school there.

I think our decision is made, but I'm still too scared to fill the form out in case I'm making the wrong choice!

oh pillock
it sounds so complicated!
it is so complicated!
those dark classrooms sound bit creepy

just lost my school open day virginity as it where .. this very morning
school was nice, head teacher slightly flaky (insisted that we HAD met before.. )
its all bright plastic and open class rooms phonics and a lingo i dont gert....

its a whole new ball game and dont think am ready either to put pen to paper about where we would like to go..i do so get you!

i thought the school thing would also allow me to go back to work
there was breakfast clubs and afterschool care (total = £11 per day) is that normal or not i wonder..
anyhow it would make for long day for ds
so thinking part time something too

big changes all round really is it?

well, popped my school open day cherry a couple of days ago, see my thread on the main education board. not a good start

just done another one..an appointment
left feeling quite ...depressed..cramped class rooms, bit of a weird feeling to it..one teacher looked like he was quite lost...

soopermum1 will check out your thread..ta..