would you move house to get into better school

[micegg]

Not really a major problem for me right now as DD only 2. . However, we moved to what we thought was a nice area before she was born. But it would seem the schools in our immediate area are either standard (ofsted) or good. The ones thst are labelled anything above this are not near us and are very oversubscribed. DH and I are considering moving. If we do this we will have to downsize (only 3 beds as it is) and take on a larger mortgage. Not ideal as we are expecting DC2 soon and will ahve less money. Have anyof you bene faced with this and how much does it really matter to your child in respect of Ofsted reoprts and exam result etc. I am thinking we shoudl stay put and then find the best school we can get it into that we like. DC2 will (planning to be) our last child so I am thinking we could moce for better secondary schools of need be.

We moved into a smaller house than we would have liked to get close to a decent school. Once we started talking to the neighbours etc we realised that it was an incredible school.

Ds1 started preschool sept 06 and reception this year. It is an amazing school, they treat each child as an individual. They have SEN teachers who deal with both educational difficulties and "barriers to learning" such as behavioural difficulties. They conduct workshops to enable the parents to continue the support at home. So it was a bit of luck on our behalf but we have no regrets. It wasn't only the ofsted reports but the general feel of the school, the headteacher and opinions of the parents.

We are going to move very soon to allow us to get the bigger house we wanted without the pressure of only looking at certain roads. We will only be 2 minutes from where we currently live!

I wouldn't move house to get into a better school because firstly it would cost me so much money and I would rather put that money towards educating my children privately and secondly there is no guarantee that a school will stay better.

As for supporting the local school - good for those of you that are doing it and I hope you don't feel guilty when your childs education isn't up to what it should have been and theres no going back. My local school is in special measures and it is clear to see why. The Ofsted was absolutely shocking and yes I do put faith it in, that and my gut feel and of course what I am experiencing. I would dearly love to support it however currently there is nothing that is leading me to believe that it will get significantly better.

schools change too - by the time your kids go to the local one it could be the best

def ask the parents in the local area and get their view on the head etc

Oh please aintnomountain, are you having a laugh? You make it sound like all state schools are like borstals. I can guarantee that no private school would educate my son any better than our local school has. They have been fantastic.
Yes, some schools are substandard (and I don't think private schools are immune from this) but, a some parents can't be bothered to support and motivate their children either and totally abdicate that responsibility in full to the school. And then wonder why their children get nothing out of it.

Panto don't get me wrong I know there are some brilliant state schools around and I also know that some private schools don't measure up. I am just very bitter that my local school, in my lovely village is just so bad that I am not going to be able to keep my children there.

Secondly you are right of course, in both sectors there are parents who abdicate responsiblity. Personally I would never do this, I enjoy seeing my children learn and sharing their progress too much. I do think we do need to recognise that whilst there are parents who just don't give a damn there are also parents out there who don't have the knowledge/resources/skills/education themselves to help their children.

Panto don't get me wrong I know there are some brilliant state schools around and I also know that some private schools don't measure up. I am just very bitter that my local school, in my lovely village is just so bad that I am not going to be able to keep my children there.

Secondly you are right of course, in both sectors there are parents who abdicate responsiblity. Personally I would never do this, I enjoy seeing my children learn and sharing their progress too much. I do think we do need to recognise that whilst there are parents who just don't give a damn there are also parents out there who don't have the knowledge/resources/skills/education themselves to help their children.

I wouldn't move to a smaller less nice house because the local school had a "good" Ofsted!

What I mean is, that's far from the be-all and end-all. Our lovely infant school got "satisfactory" 2 years ago, as did the other 2 in the immediate (middle-class, affluent) area. There were good reasons and we are very very happy with the school (we also like our house and the area it's in

Not sure btw what you mean by "standard", do you mean an Ofsted satisfactory rating?

depends.

i might rent there to get the real scoop first.

No buy a second hse and then sell it in 18 years time and give proceeds to the kids

Schools are a live and they can change at any time. Children adapt to different places in a different way so I wouldn't like to leave everything for something that may change or that may prove not to be the right place for my child.

Before we took the decision to send Ds to his current school, we visited the one nearest to us, one that everyone raves about, with "very good" notes all around its ofsted but that never "clicked" for us (perhaps because it was the first school we saw and at the time, with a tiny child we were not even sure what we should be asking).

We were VERY interested in another school that had almost perfect marks, amazing reviews, etc, but definitively out of the catchment and oversubscribed so, chances to get into it without moving houses were practically nil.

And, we visited a private school, with the word Outstanding splatered all around its Ofsted report, whose method we truly believed in but that we were not sure it was the right place for DS after preschool.

18 months afterwards, we realised that first school was the worst place for DS as they have no policy or even a reliable interest to keep a child, as allergic as DS, relatively safe.

2nd school has had a new Ofsted review recently and it is now in special measures, aparently they lost the brilliant headteacher they had just after the previous Ofsted, have spent 3 years without naming another one, so the school has been in decline for quite a while.

3rd school has been fantastic, I am so grateful for all the support DS, and us as parents, have had from them when things have gone wrong. Now, they have just changed headteachers so I expect some changes are in the way. But so far, things seem fine.

So, glad I didn't move house to get to the second one, and I'm definitively not moving any nearer to the third one (miles and miles away), because I enjoy our life as we have it and wouldn't like miss in all the things we currently have around us for something that could change anytime in the near future

Now, if we were restricted on options, and the only one was far from being acceptable (something like dissmal, and children killing each other at break time) I would move house. Otherwise I would just put the extra effort to make up for the deficiencies at school.

Yes, but when you factor in the moving costs and stamp duty, would it be cheaper to go private? Snce you have two, probably the house move would end up cheaper,and you can save the fees for secondary. In this (expensive )area of SW London, the perimaries are all good, although people still fight to get into the ones higher in the league table, but would be a waste of money to favour one over another IMO - the cr*p-poor choices are in the secondaries.
If you are brave enough to post the schools you are interested in, you amy well find mumsnetters with other info outside the OFSTED stats that might help.