How To Choose A Good School

[Niye]

Hi everyone 👋 First time mumsnetter here. DS will start school in 2024 and we think now is a good time to start thinking about all things school.

Trouble is I am Indian. Have lived here a decade but that's just uni and then work. I have no frame of reference for how schools operate and more importantly, what makes a good school.

I understand that there are independent private schools , grammar schools where you can gain entry after sitting the 11+ exam and state schools.

I also understand there's Ofsted reports however given that the ratings aren't done annually, a past outstanding or good may not necessarily be a current reflection.

Therefore, if you could give me some pointers please on what to look for during open days / pre-arranged school visits, what questions to ask, what factors to consider (feeder schools?) then that will be great!

I understand that we need to apply to our choices within a certain time window. Any pointers on the application/process side of things we need to know would be much appreciated too please ☺️

If there are any members here from Sheffield then recommendations for schools in Sheffield (S7) will be great too.

Thank you so much for your time and help with this. I really don't know where to start! 💛💛💛

Teachers don’t all come out at the end of the day in KS2. I’m equally convinced it’s high quality teaching and leadership that makes the big difference in schools. If it wasn’t, no school in a challenging area would ever be a good or outstanding school. Many are. Looking at what parent provide is basically choosing the most middle class school. Or maybe one with high levels of certain immigrant children. Lots of parents value education. I remember at one parents’ evening when a parent said to our Head teacher that he was delighted his DS could read way better than him. DS was in y2. The parent struggled to help but did value education.

Thanks so much all for all the advice and guidance. Great pointers and balance of views and experiences. Thank you 😊 I feel much more confident in approaching this and (hopefully!) making the right decision for DS 😁

If you have any particular concerns then make sure you ask when you do a tour. We both work FT with a childminder doing drop off and collect. One school came straight off our list when I mentioned this and asked if there would be any impact. The headmaster said that ‘all our Mums come to our weekly Thursday assembly, can’t you arrange with work to flex your hours, we find it’s beneficial’ and when I said no, then said ‘well, sometimes people send grandma instead’. And seemed nonplussed that the grandparents were all several hours away.

@DelurkingAJ
Its small village religious schools that generally think like that! They have high expectations of parents because so many are available! Grannies live around the corner! It’s their way of life. Our school did termly assemblies for parents and even high powered hospital consultant mum came to those.

To be honest, going to parent events is not compulsory and every week is far too much! Do go to parents’ evenings and concerts but weekly support is rare.

@TizerorFizz - spot on! And termly we can absolutely take leave etc to show up for…but asking around it genuinely was 95% turn out weekly. (It also put my back up that it was assumed it would be Mum).

@DelurkingAJ
Well yes. But when my DDs were at school I didn’t know a stay at home dad. I’m sure there are more now. Schools need to assume it might be a parent, grandparent or carer! Or two dads.