Thnking about changing primary schools - please come and advise.

[StripeyKnickersSpottySocks]

DD is currently in Yr 3 at the village primary school and is struggling. She's been assessed by an Ed Psych who said she's very bright but mildly dyslexic. I'm not sure if her struggling is down to the dyslexia or not. The school don't give her any extra support and says she's not far enough behind to warrent any support. She goes for maths tuition (private) once a week afetr school and the tutor says she's a year behind. She doesn't seem to enjoy learning at school but loves the tuition (Kip McGrath).

A lot of other parents in the village aren't happy with the school and I do wonder if she would do better in a different school. I specifically like the idea of a smaller school where the teachers know the kids better. Current school is about 400 pupils.

In another village about 5 miles away is a small primary school, 80 pupils. I've heard good things about it and it gets a good Ofsted report. I wonder about moving her to this school. Just really unsure what to do. It may not benefit her, but I won't know if I don't try? I don't want to see her leae school at 16 with no qualifications and always wonder what if I'd moved her to a "better" primary school.

One thing that puts me off as well is the fact that kids from this other primary school will live in a catchment area for a different secondary school than where DD will go to living where we do. Or would they take it into account if she does move primary school. If she made new friends now it would be sad if she then had to leave them all at 11.

hi stripey

Hi. I've had a busy night tonight looking at Ofsted reports and available childminders.

its such a bloody nightmare - since year 1 we have been saying oh we'll see how it goes next year.

I am sick of seeing how it goes next year - i bloody want things to start going right now!

Given that she is in Year 3 I think that it is worthwhile looking carefully at the secondary options especially if there are specific feeder schools etc, and making sure that you understand the system. So long as you are happy with the options available then I think that you have to accept that friendships change as they move into Year 7.

I've just moved ds2 (Year 1) from a 3 form entry school to a 1 form entry school. He has also moved from a fairly rowdy class to a much quieter one. I wouldn't necessarily say the new school was better than the old one (and I have left ds1 at the first school), but it has made a significant difference to his level of confidence and he has just had a huge spurt in terms of his reading and handwriting. Admittedly this often happens at some point in these first couple of years, but I don't think that it is entirely a co-incidence.

To be honest you may even be able to try the move for a month or so and still be able to retake back the place at your first school if it doesn't work out. It does sound as if you have misgivings and I think that you owe it to yourself and your dd to see if there is another route which would be better for her.

Stripeyknickersspottysocks - i posted on mn ages ago with the same query and had lots of help. I was so grateful.

It boiled down to "go and have a look at other schools" (in your case this other village school) because it will really help you think about things, if only as a compare and contrast.

In your case, LadyMuck has made some good points. I'd just add that it might be a good idea to find out what other schools are offering particularly in the area of dyslexia. They vary a great deal. My dcs aren't dyslexic but their previous school offered a great deal in the way of support, varying from early identification of severe dyslexia to a great deal of support for mild dyslexia. I now know that they went way beyond what is on offer at most schools. So it really is worth looking to see what individual schools do. Mind you, I'm guessing you've thought of that.

Good luck.

Cherry - going to see the school is good advice. We'd also need to go and see a childminder as well as changing schools would mean changing childminder. Did you take your DCs with you to look at the school?

Nope. But that was because we know that there is almost zero chance of a place for a couple of years [sigh], so it was definitely jumping the gun. Also, I visited a lot of schools.

We're in a slightly different situation, where we know that any change won't be immediate, so a visit and then a change is not a foregone conclusion - so it seemed pointless to raise the whole issue of changing school at this stage.

For you, maybe, it's different. Mind you, there's always the possibility you'll visit the other school and come away filled with a love and appreciation of the current school ... .

It's a tricky one, isn't it? Because you do want to have their input, rather than just imposing something. But i suppose you could visit with dd after an initial visit and some mulling time.

Fwiw, I visited several schools, and then dh, and, one day, I guess we'll visit with infant. The schools were very nice about our constant visiting ... .

Well I've been to look at 2 small schools near me. The smallest seems very good but there's no childminders available.

The next one is a bit further away (7 miles) and there is a childminder who thinks she will have a space but not sure till next week. The school seems nice, but I didn't meet the head - anyway the head's leaving on Friday and they haven't appointed anyone yet which worries me. But its got a good ofsted, good sats and good value added score or whatever it is.

DD's current school had its Ofsted published today and it got a 4. Inadequate education was mentioned. Guess I already knew that.

I think I've sorted the childcare problems out for the little school that I really liked. I'm very excited, have just rung the school back to see if DD can go for a morning. Head's in a meeting but she'll be ringing back. I feel like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders.

I'm feeling scared now about the whole change. What if she hates it or doesn't make friends? I'm going to miss being able to walk to school, I'm going to have to drive her and then go out again to walk the dog as currently I walk the dog on the school run. Someone tell me it'll be ok and worth it.

It'll be fine! Remember why you did it - dd isn't getting enough support and it seems that others aren't either. Dd will settle in just fine. And you can make sure she keeps in touch with her old friends.

In a way, you're just bringing some of the issues around secondary school forward a little - and that may actually be a good thing for both of you. So, for example, you are going to widen the network of parents you know, so you will have a wider network to call on in the secondary school years. (Just a small example.)

Unfortunatly I don't think DD will be able to go to the same secondary school that other kids from the new primary school will be doing. The secondary school (and the primary) is in a differnt county. I've been looking at the secondary's admissions policy and it seems we meet the Number 6 criteria in a list of only 7. So people who meet criterias 1-5 (nearly everyone else I should think) will get priority and its oversubscribed. We'll have to cross that bridge wen we come to it.

Oh, and I'm worried about losing touch with my school gate friends as well