Primary school performance data

[RivieraLido]

We have received a place at a primary school for our child but now having second thoughts. I loved the school when I went to see it, it's small and has a really warm, nurturing feel to it. It's in a lovely, peaceful village. I could picture my child happy there. My friend has her children there and cannot sing the school's praises enough. It's a 15 mins drive away from home for us (which is not a deal-breaker for us). Main concern is that the performance (attainment) of the school in 2024 was below average, which shocked me really, as the year before it was just above average and also had very good progress scores.

Have spoken to the council and there are places still available at another school which is walking distance from home, where performance data is much better but it does not have the facilities the other school does, also I didn't think it looked or felt as warm and exciting a place to be as the first school. My gut just didn't like it really.

Not sure whether to go with head or heart on this one.

Talk to the school, there might be a really good reason for the dip and if it isn’t typical won’t be relevant to your DCs experience

Attainment data of a small school is going to fluctuate. Dismissing the school because of one year's below average performance seems incredibly short-sighted. There may have been a high proportion of children with additional needs or who simply struggled to understand content as easily. These children may have made good progress but it won't come up on the attainment data. Choose the school that felt right.

What is the progress data like? What % are fsm or sen? Is it a haven for Sen dc? How will that affect your dc? Facilities in primaries don’t mean much. Plus by y5/6 who needs nurturing? It’s secondary school just around the corner!

What about music, sport and clubs? What about local friends? Local larger school for me because dc don’t stay in YR for 7 years. Look at the wider picture .

The data on primary schools is mostly useless. It's generally done by percentages and doesn't take into account the differing learning needs etc in a class. I would base your decision on what you thought when you visited and spoke to the school.

The data is going to dip in my school this year. Here are the reasons:
Of the 60 children in Y6, only 29 of them started our school in Reception. As our school is in an area where lots of refugee families are temporarily housed, we have a high turnover of children; this year it’s been exceptionally high.
In Year 6 this year, we have 6 children with EHCPs who have not been disapplied from SATS, so their likely very low scores will be included. Two of those children joined in Y5 on managed moves. Their presence has been extremely disruptive for everyone. One Y6 teacher went off on long term sick then maternity leave in January leaving us struggling to recruit an experienced Y6 teacher at very short notice.
There are myriad reasons why data moves, mostly beyond the school’s control.

Experienced Year 6 teacher here - progress data means nothing : each year group fluctuates in terms of behaviour, SEND needs, home life, general ability and a myriad of other things completely out of school's control. This is magnified in a small school.

When choosing my daughter's school, I didn't look at SAT or Ofsted information - it genuinely tells you nothing. Will your child be happy there? What are the trips like? Do children look happy going in or coming out of school? Do teachers stay or is there a high turnover - those are the true measure of the school.

In a small school the attainment data can dip due to just a couple of students not doing well, as they have a larger percentage effect. That wouldn't worry me too much. It is better to walk rather than a 15-minute drive though. Maybe go and have a look at both schools again?

A small nurturing school where you instinctively felt your child would be happy. .... that beats everything ... certainly some meaningless statistics.
I was governor of a similar school and small size means that a couple of children with SEN needs represent a high percentage of a cohort and this skews the stats.
Trust your gut ... you know your child. Government led bean counting does not trump thst.

My dc go to a school with very high performance outcomes but it's the pushy parents that do it not the teachers. I'd be interested in class sizes and how much play is encouraged rather than performance data.

Everything else sounds good OP so I wouldn't make a knee jerk decision. The other school could have a blip next year. We did discount our catchment school for poor results, along with other concerns, but it was a longer term trend and the head claimed was in line with local results- it really wasn't.

However I'm not sure reasons beyond control like @soontobe60 references can be discounted, that does not sound a learning environment I'd be happy with for my child.

I wouldn't read anything into a one year drop. If they were consistently low, maybe, but a one year drop just suggests a high level of SEN in that year group. Children count for such a large percentage in small schools, much more so than in a 3 form entry. Just a few lower results can really skew things.

The atmosphere/vibe of the school is far more important than a one off dip in results. Children are not robots. Even the best schools will have years where their data dips slightly, depending on the cohort that year. A one off dip in data does not automatically equate to poor teaching.

It's going to be different for each school. We picked what felt like a happy, nurturing, small village school with below average data and way above average fsm.

The data has declined massively since we started. Some people still think our school is wonderful for their children though. It depends on your child.

It's easy to dismiss the data and say that a small number can skew the data and as a former governor, this was often offered up as justification. But likewise, being a smaller cohort, those few can also have a much larger impact on the classroom also.

My child does well academically and does the best they can socially given a third of their class exhibit really disruptive behaviour (think violence to others, swearing at teachers) and their learning is frequently disrupted. They do not enjoy school as a result.

In smaller schools any disruption seems to have a huge impact. It's never that black and white however if there is correlation between poor data and disruptive behaviour. Ofsted is also useless in this regard. Apparently my child's school has no issues with behaviour despite the daily occurrence in my child's class.

You just can't tell on paper how you'll get on.

I can only share my personal experience and really regret overlooking the data in favour of a feeling I gleaned from one open day and a few visits.

FSM is low in the school so cannot even attribute the data to that. Not sure about SEN. The school is in a wealthy village. I'll speak to the school and see what their explanation is.

I went to see the school nearer to home twice (as I really wanted to like it as they get such good results) but both times came away not feeling positive about the environment/feel of the school

In a small school, each child's score will represent a higher percentage of the total. In a 3-form entry school, one child not reaching the expected level will drop the overall score by just over 1%. In a 20 pupil cohort, it would be 5%. Scores for children 8 years older, who had a completely different early years experience due to Covid, and most likely not taught by the same teachers, are not really relevant to how your child will do in their SATs and the results only really affect the school.

If you like the school and you can see your child being happy there then it is the right one. The most important factor in how children do at school is what is happening at home, and that is down to you.

Kindly… you’re overthinking this… and being quite rude when talking about children who receive FSM. My DD received FSM because I was made redundant. I claimed job seekers allowance while I searched for a job which automatically kicked in FSM for my child. Being on FSM doesn’t mean the child is behind! It just means their parent needs financial support. I’m also not sure what SEN and being in a wealthy village have to do with each other?

Anyway, you’ve been told by experienced teaching processionals on this thread that the data is really nothing you need to be concerned about. A PP has also stated that the Ofsted report from her child’s school hasn’t picked up what is happening. So you do need to take the data and reports with a pinch of salt.

The school you’ve chosen sounds lovely. From what you’ve said the parents and children you know there are happy, you like the school and were perfectly happy with it until you saw a snapshot of data. Personally, I’d go with the school and wouldn’t be speaking to them about the data.

Not at all meaning to be rude. I only mentioned FSM and SEN because somebody asked. Apologies if it I came across as rude. Obviously I know there is no link between SEN and wealth!!

@Gonehome56 have you considered moving your child?

Go with the first choice.
A dip in performance says nothing about the school.

Hi yes, but we are aware you never really know. Everything can change and vary very quickly and it's so hard to know how things will be despite best research or even local reputation.

I think all you can do is go with what feels right for you in the moment and then adapt accordingly if you need to.

100% understand your own worries though. We all want our children to be happy after all!

@RivieraLido You have no way of knowing if dc will be happy in y6 if you just choose on nurturing YR. Many schools have happy dc but not all are not great schools. There’s a world of difference between quality teaching and dc being happy (which is no measure of anything academic! ) Most dc are happy in most schools.

Look at the Sen data. Is this school being seen as a nice little haven for Sen dc? How does that affect each cohort? You have looked at a bigger school and rejected it. Sen parents are probably doing the same - seeking the nurturing happy school for dc. That doesn’t mean it’s a good school though or has high quality teaching.

Ofsted does mean something. Continual failures is evidence of a poor school that’s not improving. I’m sure this one doesn’t fit that scenario but it’s clear that good schools are always good. They might have a high pupil turnover and immigrants but, from what you say, it’s unlikely. Far more likely to be a haven school attracting dc to make up the numbers - you are 15 mins away. It’s not full from locals or very popular. Why?

There sadly is a link between FSM and SEN.

You are twice as more likely to have an EHCP if you are on FSM.

I would avoid a school with high levels of either.

Why?

Is this because richer parents can invest to smooth the path for their SEN dc? For example we have a tutor for our ADHD DD and school refuse her a echp.

School will not be refusing an EHCP as it is the local authority that decides whether or not to undertake a needs assessment. The school may be advising that in their experience they might expect a request to not be successful but as a parent, you can apply directly if you feel your child may reach the criteria. It is common for requests to be turned down but you can appeal.

@Sdpbody that's an interesting statistic about the link between FSM and SEN. I've just checked and 7.5% of pupils have SEN support and 1.5% have an EHCP in the school we have been allocated, so lower than national averages. The data from this school does support idea of the link between the FSM and SEN