Importance of school clubs

[BusyMummy2020]

We visited a few state schools in Guildford.

We really liked Merrow infants!

1. Small class sizes
2. Lovely indoor and outdoor spaces
3. Further away
4. Only 2 school clubs.

We visited Burpham primary

1. Very run down (not clean)
2. Its close to us
3. lots of clubs!
4. Good Key stage 2 results

I am really confused which school to put down as first preference! please help

Lack of clubs at merrow really worries me..

I think results and class sizes would be more important to me, assuming you're in a fortunate position where you can get your child to out of school activities, you'll not lose the same experiences. Our school has plenty of clubs but we still do gymnastics and music outside of school separately, which the school couldn't provide.

Thanks Amy! I appreciate it.

Also to add Merrow has similar results to Burpham for KS2

To be honest your second option would be the one I would pick. The opportunities for local friendships and afterschool clubs while still having good results sounds like a great option.

No problem, I will say, it's a pretty good choice you have it seems, so I wouldn't worry about making the incorrect one!

Is Burpham a straight through primary compared to Merrow being infants only? If so I would want to know how many clubs are available for each year group, you might find it's only Y3 the clubs really kick in.

Dirty school isn't good! Obviously the priority is learning however having low standards is never a good thing. Maybe they had a cleaner leave suddenly? Are their enough strengths (other than clubs) to make up for visibly lower standards? It's proven that behavioural expectations also reduce when an area is poorly maintained.

How much use would you make of the clubs? Could you afford to do other activities if you went with Merrow?

Hi,
Thanks for the comment!

It appears that there are only 2 clubs (tennis and football) at Merrow Junior school. We can do the activities outside comfortably but it will be nice if my DC can do some activities/classes with her school friends so that the weekends can be used for family time.

I also want to add that there was no heating put on at Burpham and saw majority children with jackets/coats. During the tour, none of the teachers said hello or made eye contact with parents and overall feeling we got after the tour was not brilliant.

I am interested to know what other parents that visited Burpham felt.

After school clubs can be handy as there is no time wasted and you still have most of the evening. I take full advantage at my DCs schools and love the days I just pick them up at 4.15pm and then go home...but I wouldn't base your choice on after school clubs. These can get full (especially if there aren't many) or be cancelled if not enough interest. Also my DCs have formed some friendships with children from other local schools when I've taken them to external providers.

Most school clubs are used for childcare and there’s no guarantee the kids your child likes will be in them. I wouldn’t base a schools decision on after school clubs.

When did you visit? I've never known a school to be able to afford to put the heating on before October half term so I wouldn't judge them on that if it was before this week. It was bitter cold at our place the week before half term, but the heating goes on in terms Autumn 2 and Spring 1 only. Maybe the first couple of weeks of Spring 2 if you're lucky, first thing in the morning, until early-March. That's pretty standard for most schools as they simply can't afford to use it any more than that.

Clubs aren't the be all and end all for me though. As above, many simply use after school clubs as cheap childcare. It's rare for kids to develop amazing skills through a school provided club only. Those who excel at football, for example, will do so because they attend football training at a local club who are developing those skill. Those who excel at gymnastics, for example, will do so because they train at a local gym where they're being coached to a high standard. Many places offer after school coaching, not just weekend classes. School clubs are simply for fun. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but you get what you pay for so you genuinely get better quality clubs away from school (plus the opportunity to develop friendships away from school). Schools often subsidise fees for their Pupil Premium children out of the PP funding, so it's great for those who can't afford to give their kids those experiences elsewhere if a school offers a wide variety of clubs, but if you can I really wouldn't base your decision on clubs as you can probably get better provision elsewhere anyway.

With regards to which school to chose, go with your gut. Which one gave you the best feeling when looking around? That's the one to go for.

Also know which one you are likely to get offered. Unless they are undersubscribed you will need to know where you’ll rank in terms of criteria.

Clubs are not everything but they do add enrichment to being at school. I would want a good music (opportunity to learn an instrument and joint music making with other pupils) and sport offering. I’m not sure I’ve seen a dirty school. Maybe their caretaker post is vacant?

I would never choose school basing on clubs. My son ended up trying a lot of clubs and in the end he only likes one.
I don't recall a situation that he developed some frienships through clubs as there is little of time for that.
He got more of these in Breakfast club which is nearly in every school

For infants school I would look at pastoral care, I would read Ofsted report and what the parents think