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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Mumsnetters....help!! How do I go about picking a primary school for my PFB!!!

19 replies

PussinJimmyChoos · 04/03/2009 08:43

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captainpig · 04/03/2009 09:50

Flick through Ofsted reports (don't base your decision on these alone), talk to local parents, think about how you will travel to school, think about where other children in your immediate area go, but most importantly visit all the schools in your area and go with your gut feeling with what would suit your child best.

Seeline · 04/03/2009 09:55

Also see if you can arrange a 'walk past' at home time for each school. It's quite an eye opener - how do the kids seem when they come out, do they behave reasonably well, do they seem excited about what they have done during the day etc. Also If you are going to have to drive, is there any where to park? How are the parents behaving - friendly with each other or abandoning cars all over the place?
When I was touring the schools for my first DC I asked my MIL for advice, as she had taught for 30 years or so. Her main comment - check to see what the loos are like!! In the main, I thing you do get a 'feeling' as to what will suit your DC best.

MadBadandDangerousToKnow · 04/03/2009 09:59

Excellent advice here already.

Do you go to mother and toddler groups? I found that, from the time the children were 3, schools became the only topic of conversation for some of the mothers there. At least it taught me what the local reputation of each school was.

SlartyBartFast · 04/03/2009 10:03

my teacher friend recommended seeing the reception area of the school, that it had lots of pics and work by the children

MollieO · 04/03/2009 10:04

I started looking when ds was 3 so I'd be able to do repeat visits the following year. I ended up visiting one school twice and 4 schools once as one school stood out from all the others. It helped that the school I chose was the last one I saw and by then I knew what I was looking for. I agree with gut feeling. I chose a school that none of my friends chose but it was the right one for my ds.

Original poster

PussinJimmyChoos · 04/03/2009 10:59

Right ok...have been given a booklet by a friend who is going through the school process at the moment and it shows catchment areas but not for where we live, its more the really popular oversubscribed areas...wondering how best to find schools in my area???

OP posts:

Smee · 04/03/2009 11:32

Call the council, they'll put you through to the area's Learning Trust or whoever organises their schools. Once through, they'll easily be able to tell you which schools you've got a chance of getting into.

Smee · 04/03/2009 11:33

Though thinking about it, how old is PFB. If he/ she's due to start in next academic year, hate to say it but you've left it a bit late. If you've got another year to go, you've got loads of time, so don't stress.

compo · 04/03/2009 11:35

we just went with our nearest!
we did look at the ofsted report online
didn't get chance to look around
tbh didn't have any choice but to go for the nearest one and wanted dcs to ahev the chance to walk to school

Original poster

PussinJimmyChoos · 04/03/2009 11:39

He will be three in May. Starting now to give us a good chance to visit the schools, check ofsted reports etc. The easiest thing would be to send him to the school down the road as could walk it etc but I don't want to pick a school just because its easy for us, want to make sure they have good reports etc

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ForeverOptimistic · 04/03/2009 11:41

Go to the inspection reports page on OFSTED website, put in your postcode and it will come up with your nearest schools.

Then go to the Admissions section of your county council website and check the rules, they may also have a statistics section which is useful for finding out the average number of applications and allocations in recent years.

A word of advice when it comes to applying for schools always ensure that your nearest school is listed in your top 3 preferences unless it is completely horrendous and you have no intention of sending your child there.

Original poster

PussinJimmyChoos · 04/03/2009 11:42

Thanks for your advice - why do we have to ensure the nearest school is listed in top three?

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Smee · 04/03/2009 11:46

We chose one with a lousy ofsted - the report was 4 years old, and they'd had a new head since. When we went round though, we both thought the school was lovely. All the other parents we knew were amazed when we said we were putting it as our first choice. A new ofsted came out not long ago, which said it was a good school with outstanding features, so we were proven right. I'm not a great fan of Ofsted reports, but don't just use them is what I'm saying. Visiting the school is most definitely best.

compo · 04/03/2009 11:47

I would go and look round the nearest school and check that report
if both of those are fine then I would go there
I think it's really important to be near friends too when picking a school

MollieO · 04/03/2009 11:48

If you don't you could end up not getting any of your three choices and being sent to the local failing school.

Most LEAs have schoools info on their websites. Our local ones have postcode searches so you can check which is your catchment school choice.

racmac · 04/03/2009 11:57

I wouldnt pay too much attention to ofsted reports - my ds went to one that had an ok report and it was crap. Took him out and taught him at home for a year.

He has just gone back to school and we looked round all 3 schools nearby with spaces - the one with the "best" report was the worst school there was - no fun, no laughter, children sat at desks with heads in books - they are 8 by the way. The next school was ok but too big.

We walked into the 3rd school - the head was in a rush but still showed us around - he knew all the childrens names, he talked to my ds properly, he answered all my millions of questions, ds loved it and he started couple of days later - he had not got a brilliant report but he is absolutely loving the school.

cory · 04/03/2009 12:11

If he's only just starting reception, there is a good case to be made out for choosing the school that is easy to get to. It means most of his friends will be living locally, so he'll have a good chance of a social life outside of school. Unless the nearest school is really struggling (as in poor discipline, nasty headteacher), I would put it high on my list.

Original poster

PussinJimmyChoos · 04/03/2009 12:22

Just checked the Ofsted and report was really good...mm..time for a visit methinks!

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MollieO · 04/03/2009 12:25

I'd agree with sussing out the head. I didn't warm to the head of the fashionable private school at all and wondered what was wrong with me (as all my friends think he is great). I ended up somewhat torn by the head of a local state school and the other not so fashionable indedpendent. The head I liked least was the catchment school where she didn't know the names of the children showing me round. The head I also didn't like was head of another state school which is in the top 20 in the country.

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