State or Private-Doesn't Matter,What...

[whooosh]

....are the most important features of a school for you/DCs?

If you are really happy or unhappy with your school-can I be nosey and ask why?

Have to write a presentation and would like a good old Mumsnet broad view...Thank you.

I love the way the older, year 5 and 6 kids look after the little kids at my ds' school. It really makes a difference.
Not of course the only thing I like but it stands out for that.

I love the SENCo at my DSs school. She knows her stuff, is firm and sympathetic and works her socks off. She is also good at passing on messages to the other staff in a way that gets them to co -operate rather than resist.
It is also a can do type place.

What I like about our school is that the home school link is nurtured.They go out of their way to ensure good communication and involve parents, Particularly important when you have children with SENs and communication and consistency is the key to success.

Thank you so much for your answers...more please!!

I like the way it combines the academic bits with so much extra stuff (wide range of music, drama, sport etc) and so is a place to enjoy rather than being a chore to be there. Ds loves it so much he went in virtually every day during his study leave & is still going in almost every day now GCSEs are over even though there's no obligation to.

I love the cultural diversity ..makes for a more tolerant society

Ds's school is really nurturing, the teachers like children which helps

Bump (if anyone else,other than me is on here on such a lovely day)

The head knows every child by name and they rush to show him their latest work when he drifts into classes (say when doing tours with potential parents). They all really like him but also respect him.

I particularly like that whilst the school is competitive at sports they also reward effort.

That parents are encouraged to take their kids to the classroom and speak (quickly) to the teacher in the mornings if necessary.

More please....(pleading emoticon)

The school my dd goes to and my other dd will go to in September - which is a state school is great because as someone else said on here, it is like a big family and the older children will look out for the younger ones. My dd is in reception and has a reading partner from a few years above. All the children know the head. It is academic with lots of other stuff thrown in, especially music. I do like the fact that it is academic. And i also like the fact that i feel i could talk to dd's teacher when i pick her up from school if i wanted to.

I love DS2's infant school because the head is fantastic, she is a really excellent infant school head who knows every child by name and really cares about them.

She is also incredibly efficient and really works on tracking the pupils' progress - which means the school can really target extra help where it is needed. Many of the tecahers are also very good. DS2 has had a really inspirational and lovely teacher this year.

I love Ds1's and DD's junior school because some of the teachers are so so excellent, with a really good attitude to learning and really inspirational ideas. In partic DD's yr 3 teacher (last year) and DS1's yr6 teacher (this year) were wonderful.

See it's staff that can make a great school. Among other things

The teachers, without a doubt.

DS's Y3 teacher is absolutely superb. She's been teaching for 30 years, and has seen pretty much everything that small boys can throw at her, including my DS's mega-high-functioning Aspergers. She is slightly scary (on the surface), but is at the same time kind, fair, and funny. DS has been truly lucky to have had her this year. Even more fortunately for him, he had a similar teacher last year. He's also being 'mentored' by an older male teacher, who is fantastic.

I can't speak highly enough of them. They are inspirational.

More prosaically, I like the fact that I have to do stuff all with the children outside school, because school covers the lot: piano, additional instruments, voice, swimming, football, cricket, horse riding, ballet (if you want it), etc, etc, etc. are all available during school hours.

At both my DC's schools, the children all know one another and all the staff know all the children. My Y1 DD goes to a 3-18 school, and the teachers and office staff in the 11+ bit know who she is, as do the big girls. I do like that very much.

I am also impressed with how DS's school (and his school before this one) has handled his extreme cleverness.

One of the things I loved about my DS's primary school was the fact that all staff were very approachable and seemed to listen to parents. However - sadly this seems to be changing and it seems a bit more 'them & us'. Also - rather than being able to walk into school in mornings before bell to e.g. search for stuff in lost property, pay at office etc, now the school is locked up in the mornings keeping parents and children out.
Apart from that - it is still a good school with a brilliant PTA who have done things such as pay for the building and maintenance of a swimming pool.
To continue being a good school - parents need to be thought about a bit more.

The provision of sport (on a daily basis) way above the requirements of national curriculum.

Teachers and support staff very rarely leave so the work well as a team.

Friendly and supportive family workers.

I love the fact that the DCs are dealt with as individuals at both their schools (one at private primary, other at private selective secondary). I love the fact that the pace of work suits their needs. I love the way the schools are both extremely well organised and have always obviously thought through all arrangements carefully so that the DCs are well catered for.

At the state primary that DD attended all the way from yr R to yr 6, I loved the caring head teacher who was very interested in every child. I did not like the head who came later when DS was there (he attended from yr R to half-way through yr 2, when we moved him) because she did not seem passionate about the school or the children. I hated the fact that the work was not differentiated to suit DS at all and that I was made to feel unreasonable for asking about this, and fobbed off.

Thank you all.
Need to finish presentation tomorrow so pleeeeese-can I have some more views? [desperate emoticon]

Bumping desperately....

Last desperate bump ......

Pastoral is important to us, and a strong stance on bullying. And good with SN.

The most important things for me are:

1. Supportive culture
2. Strong academics - which boils down to selective and small class sizes so the DCs can zoom along - or crawl if they want to - but essentially are being supported to learn at a pace that is suitable for them
3. Lots of music and a good musical tradition - so a primary with choirs, competitive singing, orchestras. string groups, jazz piano etc
4. Good sports - mens sana and all that - and a real variety in the sports they can learn
5. A range of hobbies and activities catered for
6. The ability to learn a foreign language at primary school

My DC's schools delivered on all of the above but DD's school had a bit of a downside in that it got too small and claustrophobic and the girls weren't always kind to one another. Also they were obsessive about designer stuff and materialistic to a ludicrous extent.

Quattrocento- just out of interest,nothing to do with my presentation....do you think that this may well occur in all single sex girls schools?
I put DD (4 at time) into a girls school in Australia whilst travelling. She missed the boys terribly and I definitely "felt a difference".
I may have just been very sensitive but h.ave now decided that co-Ed is definitely the way to go...well for DD at least.
Thank you for taking the time to reply....

I definitely do think it occurs in most girls' schools. Fine if you've got a boisterous or thick skinned sort of girl. Not so fine if you have a sensitive and fairly highly strung sort of girl. Difficult, isn't it?

I love DD's school for many of the reasons above. I love the fact that DDs school is an all girls school.
Yes, girls can be petty and bitchy, however, the school deal with this very well and sensitive, highly strung girls are supported by the teaching staff to learn how to deal with this, which less face it they are going to have to deal with in the work place.
What I really love about the school is an extension of this it encourages the girls to be individuals and not to have to feel the need to conform so on non-uniform day there is a massive range of dress styles.