How early to visit open days?

[Shelly1211]

Im starting to think of the 11+, with my child currently in y4. I'd like to visit a few schools before making a decision on whether to prep them. Is it too early to go visit? I thought if I went next year, I'd already be prepping. I'd be coming alone.

Def not too early! We went alone in Y4 and decided whether private school was a viable option at all. then took DC with us in Y5 (just to the ones we liked- didn’t want to confuse them)

We started going to Open Days in Yr 4 and had made our choice by end Yr 4 but still went to the school of choice open days in Yr 5 to make sure we were 100%. We also opted for a 1-2-1 tour and meet with Headmaster in Yr 6 which enabled more targeted Qs.

I’ve got one in y4 and started with open days in the autumn. I’ve found it helpful in narrowing choices and ruling some schools out. I had a real hatred of one that I was expecting to like. I didn’t take my child though. I will only do that in y5. It helps to have a bit longer to spread out dates especially if you’re taking annual leave for open days. Our state secondary does one open evening per year so if you miss it you’re screwed. I’ve also got better at asking good questions and have gathered a lot from the student led tours which I’ll probe a bit more next year.

We started looking at schools in Y3 (for Y7 entry) and then put in our registrations in Y4. Many schools will prioritise based on when you registered if they are oversubscribed so it’s always good to get in early.

We started looking in year 4 with intention to send in year 7. However, after our visit we decided to send her in year 5 as we liked it so much....so it turned out to be a costly but hopefully worthwhile early visit!