Rough school

[Patrickstar550]

Hi everyone, really don’t want this to sound judgemental at all but has anyone been unhappy with the school they have chosen, this early on?
my son has just started primary school but we relocated earlier on in the year and we weren’t aware of the areas. The school we have chose is very rough and we see a lot of questionable parenting, shouting, swearing and just general unpleasantness on drop off and pick up. My son goes to after school club 2 days a week and he’s one of the only ones there (im presuming a lot of the parents don’t work)
is this justification for moving him to a different school?
I just worry that he will be so impressionable and pick up bad habits, there’s kids scaling the fence, kicking off and parents shouting at their kids for no reason and it just makes me uncomfortable. The teachers are lovely and so is the building so I’m torn

Yes, it would be for me. Seven years of this would be unendurable.

Start doing your due diligence on the other schools - ofstead reports (for what they're worth), asking on social media for opinions and I'd probably stage a few walkbys at pickup/drop off time of the alternatives to see what it's like.

Personally I wouldn’t look at the ofsted I would prioritise the area. However amazing the staff are there’s only so much they can do.

I’d probably ask to look around a few other schools and then if you find something you like you can ask to be added to the waiting list. Are you stuck with this school until year 6 or is it reception to Y2 only?

I know many people don’t have a choice, but if you can choose to go elsewhere then I would do it. I strongly believe a positive start in the early school years makes a huge difference to children’s overall happiness and development.

I agree with others that it is worth looking around at other local schools. Find out which schools have spaces then you know what your options are. You may find the more sought after schools are full and you need to put yourself on waiting lists

I went to a rough secondary school. I came from a small village primary so it was quite a cultural shock!
For me it was ok as I already had a strong sense of self and knew what was right from wrong and knew the benefits of engaging in school. It was hard being one of the few in the class that was engaging with learning.
I would probably see what the school is like over the rest of the half term. See what you like about the school, what you dislike and then start looking at other schools to see if any other schools are a better fit.
Have a read of the Ofsted results but go through the reports too. In our town we have 2 schools. One has been good for ages and seems to be on the way down another was poor for ages but recently managed to get good status and starting to get a better reputation than the other school

I would move my child without hesitation. Trust your instincts. Good luck

We have many of these mum's around my childs school too! It's disgusting you'll be surprised how common it actually is, there's always texts from the school office regarding parents complaining about other parents swearing in the playground, smoking outside the gates, or using vulgar language in the school grounds! Myself and other parents, have all smelt booze and weed on parents too!

Your child ends up being a product of their peers.
If I didn't like what I was seeing, I'd move them.

If private's an option, maybe this would be way forward. I probably wouldn't mind sending them rough primary school, as kids are fairly innocent in their early years, but secondary is a big no no.

My two went to a 'rough' school. All sorts there. BUT.. the question really is what the school's really like. Is your son happy? Has he found friends? No one wants their kids to feel unsafe and I certainly would have looked elsewhere if mine felt that, but their experience (in what sounds like a similar school) was genuinely a good one. The teachers were passionate and cared immensely. Both of mine made friends with some lovely kids - including some with questionable parents. My daughter had one friend whose dad was in prison for gang related violence. Her mum was very young and very kind to my DD. Life was clearly complicated for her, but she was lovely. A boy in DS's class had his mum banned from the playground for swearing and hitting him, but even with that there was a plus, as DS said everyone understood a bit more after that when the boy was being stroppy. The school worked wonders with the boy and DS ended up being friends with him. Not a bad life lesson if you think about it. Those are the two most extreme examples though - day to day, it wasn't chaotic. The school felt calm and kind. Academically, I'd have worried if my two weren't being challenged, but they were. They both left with high level SATs and weren't alone in that. Lots of kids arrived at school not speaking any English, but they were soon fluent. Many of those kids were very bright too. I know of one who's now at Cambridge and another studying to be a doctor. I suppose what I'm trying to say is don't be put off by the huge mix necessarily. So much depends on the school ethos. Both mine are confident pretty much anywhere now (young adults now) and can mingle with anyone no matter what their background. That's a very useful life skill!

We moved for similar reasons to a further away school, we wouldnt usually have got in first round but due to lower birth rates a space opened up for my daughter mid way through reception. We found it was hard to organise playdates etc due to the parents not really talking to each other, something else to consider. Like the poster above said it really is school dependent but in her earlier school there were a lot of behavioural issues too which resulted in the whole class missing their break time etc.

I moved DCs due to similar - good school academically but I moved them after two parents had a physical fight ending in one of them knocked out on the ground - I had to run out of the way with my newborn's buggy - plus local teenagers throwing glass bottles at kids on their way home from school and carrying knives.