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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

How Would You Travel for an Outstanding Primary School?

41 replies

ilovemydogandmrobama · 04/10/2009 19:03

Due to totally not understanding the British system, I thought DD would start school the year after she turns 5, but since she's a July baby, it will be next September.

Am doing the school rounds at the moment, and there is a school that has been rated outstanding by OFSTED, but is about 2 miles away. I like being able to walk to school, and it just wouldn't work.

How far would you travel for an outstanding state primary?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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1dilemma · 04/10/2009 23:59

I'd love to go to a school within what the local anthority considers to be walking distance of my home trickerg

unfortunately they refused me a place in every school I applied to (reception!)

trickerg · 05/10/2009 00:07

Mad, isn't it?

Original poster

ilovemydogandmrobama · 05/10/2009 08:06

All the schools I'm looking at are in walking distance, and roughly the same ethnically.

I take the point about not judging a school alone on an OFSTED report, which is why I'm visiting them.

OP posts:

MrsGokVantsyourblood · 05/10/2009 08:23

My local outstanding school and nursery are 5 minutes walk away. Woohoo!! you say. But I can't get my children in. The next school is a mile away but I was not happy with sending my children there, it is a 'good' school but my DC1 is very academic and it just wouldn't have suited him. So we go to our local RC school which is 2 miles away and we walk everyday. My DC2 goes to the nursery attached to the school 2 1/2 days a week. He has language and learning delays and has come on in leaps and bounds with the nursery.

sarah293 · 05/10/2009 08:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

troutpout · 05/10/2009 09:30

If there were no special needs (or if the nearest school could cope fine with my dc if they did) then i wouldn't travel at all...i would (and do) use my local primary

Fennel · 05/10/2009 09:47

I wouldn't, my children have moved from an "outstanding" to a "good" (when we moved a long way) and then 1.5 miles to a "satisfactory" primary. And really we haven't noticed very much difference in the education they get, or the standards achieved, or the children's happiness at school. Ofsted is a bit of a crude marker, for instance our little village primary is marked down on cultural awareness but where we live there aren't big ethnic minorities so all the local schools are marked down on that.

we love being able to walk to the local school and the children have local friends, for us that's worth more than the "rating" of the school.

Rebeccaj · 05/10/2009 10:14

Have you visited many schools? I ask because the whole foundation stage now is about "learning through play"; so you may not find another school with much more structure, at least in reception. At that age, they "play" most of the time.

Madsometimes · 05/10/2009 10:20

Reception classes can seem like a big confused jumble of children, so I would not be put off by that. At our school, small groups of children are taken away to do work with a TA, and once they have finished they go back to freeplay, and another group comes away to do work. In this way, 4 year old children are not having to sit down and do formal work for most of the school day.

Having two summer born children, I would say that a less formal reception is a good thing, not a bad thing.

JodieO · 05/10/2009 10:23

Agree with Rebeccaj. I also think it's much better that way, they have plenty of time in their lives for structure etc. I fully believe reception should be all about play.

ThingOne · 05/10/2009 10:27

Where do you live OP? In most towns an outstanding school will be oversubscribed and people living two miles away will have no chance of getting in.

My son's school is not outstanding but is a lovely school and very popular (ofsted "very good", I think). My son started in September 2008. Children got in from as far as 1.5 miles. This September the distance was 0.7 miles. I know the same is true for one of the "outstanding" schools in the town.

Walking to school has so much to recommend it. Your life is much simpler, mornings less stressful and playing around on the way home after school easy and fun.

Clary · 05/10/2009 11:08

Thinking about this some more OP.

Your only objection to yr otherwise excellent local school seems to be that reception is free play. As I and others have said, this is the case (or should be) in all reception classes. I cannot help wondering why you think your summer-born, young-age DD would be better in a structured environment, What do you mean I wonder? I am sure you are not thinking of them all sitting at little desks with pens in hand! but honestly, there is structure to the day in every FS2 class I?ve been in.

There will be carpet time, phonics time, story time ? but in between mostly choosing time which always comes out as everyone?s favourite. Please go and look again and ask more before you dismiss what sounds like a good choice for you. to indicate post is meant helpfully.

jackieOpaperLANTERN · 05/10/2009 13:19

There is more to a school than it's OFSTED rating.

We live down the road from an 'outstanding' primary, but i choose to drive my son to a school 5 miles away which is 'good' rather than outstanding.

The 'outstanding' primary (for me) is far far too pushy, focus on results at the expense of the happiness of the children and expect far too much from the children (3 pieces of homework from day 1 in reception). It is also, in my opinion, too big and impersonal (640 kids)

the school he goes to is smaller, 25 kids in each year, much friendlier and down to earth and their first priority is that the kids are happy and enjoy school. (incidently they get very similar results to the 'pushy' primary down the road.) The headteacher knows the name of every child, all the kids know each other and ds has several friends outside his year group. There is no homework (apart form reading) in reception or yr1.

All i am saying is that 'outstanding' primarys are not tnecessarily always the best schools. OFSTED reports are only one leasure of how 'good' a school is.

Original poster

ilovemydogandmrobama · 05/10/2009 13:44

Thanks Clary. Am not expressing this very well. All the schools I have been going to visit have been local, or at least in the catchment area with the furthest one away being 1.5 miles. The one that is visible from bedroom window actually has a dreadful reputation as not just evidenced by exam results, but fighting/bullying with the school not really doing much.

However, there's a new head teacher and she seems to be making real progress and up until last week, the idea was that DD would go there. And then I went on the visit.

I've seen a few other primary schools, and DD goes to nursery, and quite like free play. Gives the children freedom to explore, work/share and develop social skills.

But this was something else. I asked one of the teachers about who was doing what, and she said, 'no idea...' I asked her if they got involved and her response was, 'only if someone has been injured...'

Am seeing the head again next week hoping that perhaps it was a case of kids just having started school chaos. Maybe I misunderstood? Maybe it was supposed to be humorous?

However, the other local schools all had free play, but there was at least a bit of structure. The children met at the beginning and end of the school day in a group for about 10 minutes. And the teacher's knowing what they did at least for some of the day.

OP posts:

linglette · 05/10/2009 18:52

"But this was something else. I asked one of the teachers about who was doing what, and she said, 'no idea...' I asked her if they got involved and her response was, 'only if someone has been injured...'"

Tell the head this. She will either defend it or start making some changes quickly! Either way, you win.

teamcullen · 06/10/2009 22:11

I walk DSs 2.5 miles each way to their outstanding primary. They are actually entitled to a free travel pass but we prefare to walk (2 buses pita)

However, until last year we only lived 5 mins walk away. So it was more of a case that we decided to keep them in the school than putting them in one closer to the new home.

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