Choosing a school - what's more important, SATS or Ofsted report?

[basementbear]

If one is good, does it automatically follow that the other will be?

Well Ofted inspections are based a lot on statistics and inlude things like attendance, atainment ect. I would look at the value added score of the school. This is the score that takes into account where the child has started from to what the child has achieved ie has the child realy done well considering where they started.

Hope that helps

HE

They're just pieces of information` -you still need to consider what is important to you and your children in a school. A school with good sats could just be sitting in the middle of a professional affluent area. The ofsted report might be informative but some are done on a very brief visit and don't give a fair impression of the school.

I think that visiting the school is probably the most important thing tbh.

Thanks - I've always felt a bit anti-SATS because I don't think that a school with good exam results will necessarily be the best school for every child IYSWIM. Don't quite understand the "value added" - what is a good value added score?? We are hoping to move areas soon so I'm looking at potential schools - I agree Cat, I think I will have to go and visit and get a feel for the schools too.

value added details how much progress the children have made at school.

In other words, if they are in maybe a poorer area and start with a low attainment, but finish with a better one than you ,ight imagine - then their VA score will be good.

The final SATs figures still might be less than a school in an affluent area, but the children have made progress whereas in the richer area they maybe came in high and left high too.

Does that make sense?

I am very unkeen to use SATs as a measure of much at all, and am also cynical about Ofsted unless very recent. Agree nothin beats actually lookign round school/chattign to pupisl adn parents etc.

sorry about typos there.

neither. go view the school , see the pupils in situ, get a gauge for the atmosphere etc.

what goes down well on paper doesn't always translate into practice. dd's school has good sats, outstanding offsted, all good and well, but i've also seen quite a few things they do which alarm me.

As others have said, value added is more important than SATs results.

When I read through OfSTED reports before choosing school for DS I looked at things like ethos, culture and behaviour. Also are there any areas where the school is not so good?

On visiting the school I was also impressed with the HT, and the classrooms and playground areas were lovely.

Agree - neither. Just go on your gut feeling.

I would read the ofsted rather than just taking the overall score. A school might have got a lower score based on something that isn't so imprtant to you (you know, healthy eating, citizenship/community etc).

Personally I think the one thing that matters is the Head and if you have confidence in them. If you do, chances are so do the teachers and everything else good will follow.

I'd say sats tell you how clever the children are (ie good sats results tell you more about the children than the school) and ofsted should tell you how good the teaching is.

Go to the school and talk to parents to find out if the whole package works.

I think ofstead as it takes a rounded view of the school,its pastoral care and it induvidual acheivment of single children

especially in places where there are lot of children who speak english as a second language. the measure if a good school is one which can take children of all abilities from one level of acheivment to another and where they are cared for appropriately in my mind

I know of a school with poor SAT results but an outstanding OFSTED report. The school is in deprived area and most children have below average attainment when they join the school.

Also SAT results are easily skewed by one or two pupils in schools with small class sizes. There are only ever 14-17 children in year 6 at our village school. You only need one or two exceptionally able children in one year group, or a couple with learning difficulties to distort the results for the whole school.

For example this year a boy who joined the school a few months ago from China with no English at all will be sitting the SAT exams along with the rest of his class. He's a bright kid, but that's surely going to seriously reduce the overall results for literacy.

You really can't get a picture of the school from SAT results. And OFSTED ain't brilliant either. You have to go and have a look around the school yourself.

Read the OFSTED report and visit the school. (And, if you are some kind of prescient genius, do this while you are young and working, and haven't had children yet... )

Up until recently, I would have said OFSTED reports are best all round measure. However, I am unhappy with DS's school and they recently got an outstanding so that tests my faith somewhat. As others have said statistics will not paint the full picture although value added are a good indicator. Do you know anyone with children there? Go and visit and get a feel for the place.