what makes a primary school "outstanding"?

[mimsum]

the school ds2 and dd go to is allegedly outstanding according to OFSTED, but it seems pretty bog-standard to me.

It's a pleasant enough place, with mostly nice staff, very little in the way of add-ons (after-school clubs, lunchtime activities), very little provision for bright children, good at dealing with kids with learning difficulties, mostly good behaviour, but I don't know, shouldn't an outstanding school be truly outstanding??

I have very little to compare it to, but would welcome opinions

Well yes that's why people shouldn't put so much store by ofstead, however I used think ours was "alright" until I saw some others and then realised ours was bloody outstanding compared to the rest.

School down the road is apparently outstanding but speaking to the parents it's run like a military regime. HM view is school is very oversubscribed so if you don't like something you can lump it.
My DD's school is is mainly "good" in their ofsted. Both my DC's needs have been met ie both very bright and not bored and ds with a SPLD had extra help.
DD is in yr 6 adores school and is very happy there. There are plenty of clubs. Some have to be paid for but on the cheap side ie £1 a session for dance.
It's not perfect and has some problems as a school but my dc's have been very happy, which is what matters.

My dc's primary is outstanding

I think that what Ofsted look for is required paperwork. It is a lovely school in many ways - but having had 2 children through the school I can see there are weaknesses. It's in a very m/c area and has some v. bright children (many of whom are also heavily tutored in senior years) and parents with high expectations - in practice used as a cheap alternative to private school. It has the best results in the area.

Result is - if you have an extremely bright child you will have a wonderful experience. If you have an average child or one who needs support of any kind ... um. Not good at all. Its track record on dealing with bullying also v. mixed.

Well, I know local schools that have been deemed "outstanding" by Ofsted that I would never advise anyone to put their DC into. And I go into loads of school because of my job.

And of coure other schools that I would be more than happy for my DC to go to which are only "good" according to Ofsted.

I went to a primary similar to *what Primula describes. I was a bright kid and had a great time. My brother wasn't quite as bright and had difficulty settling and his experience was so dreadful his whole education was blighted.

It's made me worry about getting it right for my own ds.

My dc's school is similar to primula describes. It too is rated as outstanding but imho it is complacent and a little dull. Given the very easy intake (middle class, supported, generally brighter than average) it could do soooo much more...
If you read the ofsted reports it is very clear that they are all too easily taken in by schools in affluent areas with easy intakes. It is quite difficult by contrast for a school in a socially mixed area with below average results to score higher than 'good' , even though ime these can often provide much more imaginative, stretching environments for ALL their children including the bright ones.

It is all so subjective. I've taught in one school graded outstanding and hell would freeze over before I sent my kids there. In another,also graded outstanding, the quality of education as excellent no doubt about it but it was a little too hot housy for me. Very affluent catchment, parents with high expectations etc.

I've also taught in a couple of schools rated good and really the standard wasn't any lower. It's important to look at the value added scores as well as SATs results and OFSTED reports.

More often than not the difference between an 'outstanding' school and a 'good' school is that the 'outstanding school have all their paperwork and policies up to date oh and that they are as ICT obsessed as OFSTED seem to be.

I live 400m away from an outstanding village school (rated as in the top 10 state primary schools in the UK). It is results obsessed and driven, concentrates on the most able students, and 'encourages' parents of the less able to students to have their children tutored outside of school hours to achieve acceptable academic (read SATS) levels. It is in a very wealthy area and the children who enter the school are, generally speaking, well above average on intake in reception. It's heavily oversubscribed and, due to the high cost of family housing here (we bought our wreck of a house long before the property boom), is like a state funded private school.

I don't send my children there.

My children go to a lovely school about 4 miles away, rated merely as good - the catchment area is wide, with a mixed intake of kids ranging from the council estate, through to Boden wearing offspring. It has a higher than average proportion of children with SNs but also deals well with the brighter kids. Just as well, as I have one on the G&T register and one on the SN register. Both children are happy and are fulfilling their potential. There are lots of after school clubs, mostly free and run by parents and/or teachers. The SATS results fluctuate like crazy due to the number of SN children, but I think all come away with a positive experience of school. Something which (based on reports from friends and their children who do attend) I'm not sure is the case about the 'outstanding' school up the road!

There are particular boxes that have to be ticked before a school can be rated as outstanding overall - %of level 2s at KS1 and 4s at KS4 for example. Our school could probably never be outstanding overall because of the very socially diverse catchment area and the number of children with special needs. It would be impossible for us to hit the targets. However we could be - and are - rated as outstanding in several areas. It's VERY important to read the whole report - ignore the ratings and look at the words. And look at the stats - value added is important, for example. There is a school near us that is always rated outstanding - but it is a country school that children have to be driven or busses to - so it is overwhelmingly populated by the children of parents who are very concerned and involved with their children's education (you would have to be to get in the car and drive down windy country roads past 3 other schools to get there. It would be shameful if it WASN'T outstanding.

ds's primary is rated as 'outstanding' and I do think it's a very, very, good school. Enthusiastic, creative and kindly teachers, lots of different activities/events, fab headmistress who knows exactly how to communicate with the children (she is SO warm but at the same time I would be terrified if I was called into her office for being naughty). Kids all seem very keen and happy.

Ds loves school and I'm really glad he's had such a great beginning (he's in Yr1, started in nursery).

My sister, however, has just switched her 4yo from an allegedly 'outstanding' school that it turned out got its results by loading on the pressure - her boy got THREE pieces of homework every night of his first week in reception! Including ruddy flashcards. Ridiculous.

She went in to ask the teacher what on earth was going on and saw a reception-aged child standing, a bit lost, in the corridor. FOUR adults walked past this kid without trying to find out what was wrong - the only person who stopped and helped was an older child.

Our current primary was rated Satisfactory (ie not that good) 3 years ago, just before we joined. Before that the dds were in two other schools which were Outstanding and Good.

But really, we haven't seen much difference. The current one seems excellent to us in many ways, but it isn't a school which focuses on box-ticking, and particularly wasn't a few years ago. So it didn't focus on Ofsteds or SATS or doing the Right Things. But parents and children love it. And my children and most of the other children I know there are thriving.

I really don't see it as different in academic standards, enthusiasm, behaviour, etc, to the Outstanding and Good schools my dds attended before.

Our local "outstanding" school is obsessed with league tables. Like Christywisty's school it too is run very much like a military regime. It has a very middle class intake and lots of educated parents resulting in brighter than average children, if a child is not on a reading book by the time they leave the nursery class they are considered to be "behind".

DS's school is "outstanding" and I am very happy with it. No hothousing, no going on about SATs (although as it is a Lower School there are only KS1 SATs to worry about).

I think it's very subjective anyway.

Honestly?
For OFSTED, then 'outstanding' covers those schools with decent paperwork, good 'value added' (as in relating outcomes to the levels the pupils came into school at) and staff who can be fabulous for a day or two while the inspectors are in.
No more, no less.

My DD2s school had a poor Ofsted last time - but when you read the report it was mostly based around the fact that the children in KS2 didn't perform as well as they ought. Then you look again at the stats and see that 52% of children have a recorded SEN.

To me the school is caring, nurturing, child-centred and just right for DD2 so I chose to send her there, despite the poor Ofsted report. I made my choices based on what I saw an heard when I visited the school, not what some inspectors saw on a piece of paper. And I am 100% happy with my choice as she is thriving there - despite her complex SNs they see her as a person, not just a potential SATS score.

TBH a school that is outstanding has a good head that can talk the talk and someone who is good at paperwork.

Also if the staff work well as a team and support eachother that makes it all the better to run effectively.

Its also demographics tbh to a certain extent. When choosing schools for DS I looked carefully at "value added" rather than ofsted result - in others words - what is going in and what is coming out - much better measure of how good a school is IMHO

My DD's school is graded 'outstanding' and tbh I am really impressed with it. Its a school in an average part of a working class town - not the poshest area and not the worst either - just average kids in an average area. They don't do loads of clubs either.

But I think it is a great school, as do most of the mums I speak to. The teachers are kind, caring and responsive. They work hard to stretch the pupils, without being pushy. My DD is in reception, and she's writing sentences now (with help I should imagine), reading really well, learning French.... but most importantly, she is having a fantastic time at school, loves every minute and wants to go in even at the weekend and school holidays. That's what makes it outstanding in my eyes!

i dont believe in reports the headteacher at my dd school worked for ofsted so she knows how to tweak it. The school is new the first and last report they had was for 06-07 and they are living by that. they have been around for 5 years i think. If u see good results coming from ur child that is the important thing. Also my dd school think more about social skils than anything else because im having to push my dd myself i do question there ofsted report.

IF you ask Ofsted what Virginia said, but in reality more like Califrau's opinion.
My dc goes to an 'outstanding' school very mixed inner city area, large % special needs, free school meals etc. TBH we're really quite disappointed, we re-read the Ofsted recently and it is like we are reading about a different school. I think the head has just learnt how to tick Ofsted's boxes!
FWIW it has almost no clubs, no before school and up till this term quite variable after school stuff, the most dreadful communications with parents you could imagine etc.

(we didn't chose it because of it's outstanding)

Our local primary school has an outstanding rating. I went round it and my gut reaction was "Dear god in heaven NOOOOO".

Perhaps I am picky. It was the dearth of books that did it for me ...

oh yes that is strange.
My sil has no books in the house, bizarre IMHO (no bedtime stories nothing!)

ds's school got 'outstanding' despite an overwhelmingly middle class (hence parents who know their way around the education system) intake. So value added scores can't be the be-all and end-all because I'm sure they can't be that good. Will have to look them up, but if the intake is full of the offspring of pushy well-educated parents, I don't see how they could possibly get a high value-added score.

Headteacher is fab at running the school and interacting with the children, much less good at dealing with parents. But it's a small price to pay - I'd far rather an HT who is great with kids than one who is great with parents. And all the teachers I've come across are v. good with us mums and dads so HT's lack of adult-friendly communication skills aren't a huge factor (and I think in her shoes I'd find some middle-class parents a tad irritating).

You can't be 'outstanding" overall if you don't get the SATS results. Simple as that. You can be outstanding in some areas, but not overall.