Not sure what is most important when choosing a primary schools?!

[devilmaycare87]

So, looking at primary schools for my LO, he’s bright, enthusiastic, but not ‘scholarly’ or interested particularly in books/facts at the moment - I know he’s still little!
Our current childcare provider does a wraparound with one of the schools locally, so would be the most convenient choice. I always assumed we would like it and it would be a no-brainer… however, I’ve had my head turned by the second school I have seen and also have a few more tours booked in. One of the things swaying me away from our obvious choice is that the progress scores in the other schools are a bit higher… all are ‘Good’ according to Ofsted but the data is throwing me… also more persistent absence, which is unlikely to be an issue for us…. Also always wanted a school with a good social mix (North London based) but now worried if there is a huge range of need/ability whether our pretty average kid might slip through cracks (definitely overthinking now!) Wondering if anyone has been through anything similar? Any advice or other things to look for to help determine what school is best for your LO?

Is there much chance of you being allocated the second school? You will be listing your preferences but catchment and the admissions criteria often mean you don’t get much choice.

High on the list for useful things are easy access, wrap around and having low staff turnover.

You aren’t choosing a school, you’re selecting preferences and those preferences will only work if they meet their admission criteria.

Most people will look pragmatically at likelihood of getting a place, distance, after school care, as well as the data and stats.

Visiting schools can either confirm or deny what you gleaned from the data, but you should put your nearest school somewhere on the list.

Thanks, the schools are all very close to us, 0.4 and 0.5 miles, respectively. One is CofE, so the fact that we aren’t practising might be an issue, however, we should meet the entry criteria for all of them. Just not sure whether it’s safer to go for the one we can stay with our childcare provider for or whether it’s worth risking putting one of the others… does anyone know how important school data is? Should I focus on other things to determine which schools I put as first preference ?

I would look at things like music , art and drama provision, extra curricula clubs offered, sporting activities, playground facilities, forest school, school council / pupil Parliament provision, visible representation of the linguistic and cultural experience children are bringing to the school, some of which areprobably not things that will be important to a four year old, but which give a flavour of the school and how they extend childrens experience beyond the classroom and recognise that children have different skills, backgrounds, interests and strengths.

Looking at the school data can be helpful, especially comparing how individual schools compare to other local schools and other comparable schools nationally. Also look for year on year improvement in core subjects , though bear in mind that schools can have dips , especially in small schools where the performance of even a few children can influence overall stats, not so much in larger schools where things even out.

Like you, we were very close to a few schools. All very different. The school I picked for first choice was not the one I expected to choose! Dh and me both attended small village schools and thought we’d pick similar vibes. We did not. Kids school is enormous, but they do a great job of creating different areas for each year group. There is plenty of outdoor space too. We were swayed by an amazing head teacher who gave us the tour, all the children were well behaved, cheerful, polite, they seemed to enjoy school - the head knew all their names. There is a focus on happy kids. The size of the school means they are able to raise funds throughout the year to buy new equipment and expand in underfunded areas (school swimming, music lessons, school trips). It was a world away from the other schools! I’m sure you’ll get a good feeling and a sense of what school is for you once you do a few tours.