To move or extend for schools

[lboogy]

I'm really torn between moving or extending.
I wanted to move for better schools - ds is 3 and there is a school not far from us he could go to but it's rated good but not outstanding. I'm debating whether to stay or extend . Is 3 too young to move for schools? Is secondary school a better option ?

Am I the only person on MN happy to send their kids to their nearest school, regardless of whether it is "only good". I'm always amazed by the number of people on here who think nothing of uprooting their lives at considerable expense in search of a supposedly "outstanding" school. Just because a school has a certain rating now, doesn't mean it will still have it in a few years. Maybe I'm just lazy because our kids school is only a 5 min walk away?

Tbh I get where the anxiety comes from. However, can you guarantee you'll be in the catchment area for the outstanding school?

Also, read the Ofsted report closely. Sometimes the way they make the 'outstanding' or 'good' grade is a bit inconsistent. Depends on the criteria that particular assessor used and which year the report was done etc.

It's also about your DC being happy. If DC are well supported with their learning at home they ought to be fine.

Genuinely, don't move for 'outstanding'. Good is good, with much less danger of becoming complacent.

I would hold off moving house unless you can guarantee that you will be in the catchment area or within the admission distance of your preferred school.
We decided to purchase a bigger house, which was in the admission distance for the 3 primary schools closest to us. By the time the sale completed (4 months after we made the offer) we were outside the admission distance for one school. By the time we had to submit our primary school preferences 2 years later, our house was on the edge of the admission distance for the other 2 schools. We don't regret the move, as our previous house was in a 'black-hole' in respect of school catchment areas, but it should be acknowledged that catchment areas/admission distances can change over a short period of time.

Outstanding schools might not have been inspected for 10 years. How up to date is the report? Would I move for Outstanding - no. Would I move to get away from a RI school - yes. As long as your good school has been good consistently there’s no need to avoid it.

I would consider moving for secondary schools, but would only only move for primary if the existing option were awful. A Good primary school with a supportive home will be more than fine. I don't think it would be worth the upheaval unless you have other reasons for moving.

Totally agree. Good is perfectly good. Outstanding can mean very little.

Spend some time looking at your current school's website, ask around, see what they offer in terms of virtual tours and get to know it as best you can. Do the same with any other schools you are considering. Ofsted will tell you something but not the full story by any means.

Also have a look at secondary options. You can't plan that far ahead with a three year old, but it would be sensible not to buy something that will definitely be problematic for secondary catchments

Don't be too reliant on Ofsted.

We moved to a new area on the border of two counties thinking we'd send DC to the local school.

What we found was that, as DC1 has ASD, the local school was in a county with very poor SEN provision. We had no way of knowing this until we got there and the local school advised us to look for provision on the other side of the border, which has excellent provision. This is an Ofsted 'good' school.

We now drive 15 minutes into the other county to a school which Ofsted says 'requires improvement' but has spent a small fortune since inspection to provide an incredibly supportive environment and all the extras DC1 needs.

Visit your local primary school to get a feel for it before making any decisions either way.

I agree, I wouldn’t be too reliant on the Ofsted inspection.

My children have both attended the local outstanding infant and junior schools. They were last inspected over 10 years ago. Within that time, both schools have had new head teachers and things have changed. They are still good schools but I would be very surprised if they would still receive an outstanding grade.

A good school will still provide a very good education.

To be clear, schools do not get extra money if they are RI or failing. They get extra money for SEND kids. They don’t for all the others. Often RI schools take ages to improve for all children to get the benefit frequently due to teaching turmoil/turnover and new methods being introduced. It’s for this reason I wouldn’t rush to go to one. Some go in and out of RI like yo-yos. The details will be on the ofsted web site.

I would look at secondary catchment. The very best schools stay the very best.

Ofsted reports can mostly be taken with a pinch of sort, unless RI

I would never move because a school has attained a particular metric. Parental input matters far more to the child's education than the school. I would extend.

I wouldn't be too worried about good v outstanding. If it was needs improvement I'd be concerned.

1. We have a school near us that has had consistently outstanding for the last 20 years. This year it went to needs improvement
2. Its just a tick boxing exercise really. My sister has taught at both the local good and outstanding school and picked to send her kid to the good school. She said ofsted don't measure things like warmth and care of the staff or that they are the junior to a senior school with a lot more opportunities for non traditional subjects and extra curricular activities.

If you love where you are then stay

Do not move for 'outstanding'. The worst school I've ever worked in had just been rated outstanding. Outstanding means good at box-ticking. You may well prefer the 'only good' school to the outstanding one. Besides, schools change quickly. It only takes a few staffing changes or a tricky year group or two to make a massive difference.

For context, the school I taught in up until last year was rated Outstanding by Ofsted, however that meant they hadn't had a formal, full inspection since 2014, and still haven't now. I left because the behaviour of the students were appalling, big gang problem (drugs and knives), and was not a good school to work for. I have recently moved to a "good" school and the behaviour and teaching is much better. The teachers actually care about students and are willing to go above and beyond

Often to be outstanding it is just a box ticking exercise, the difference in teaching and outcomes for good and outstanding schools are often very little, it's just that the outstanding school fit all the boxes.

Look at progress 8 scores for a more accurate reflection of the school

In primary it’s not so crucial as in secondary. Ratings can change- since we moved to our area the then aspirational school is now seen as a rather troubled school with frequent changes of heads, the one no self respecting middle class parent wanted their kid to go to became outstanding and is now good. DSs went to a middle of the road primary, one now is at a reasonable comprehensive and the other got into a super selective grammar. Primary is largely about socialisation and parental support and home environment are just as important.

Personally wanted to be close to a popular secondary.

Another one saying don’t move for outstanding. Have you even looked around any of the schools yet? We chose a ‘good’ school over ‘outstanding’ as it was walkable from our house, had a bigger and better playground and more of the friends they would make would live nearer for when they’re old enough to play out. We also liked the school when we went to look round.
High school I may move to be in a catchment area of a school but only because one is really not good and 2 are very good. Luckily we’re in the catchment for the very good ones

Thanks everyone. I'll thinking about moving also because of the stamp duty holiday which would save us around £15k in fees. But maybe I'll think about moving for secondary schools instead

Thanks everyone. I'll thinking about moving also because of the stamp duty holiday which would save us around £15k in fees. But maybe I'll think about moving for secondary schools instead

Many very good primary schools have Heads that really champion “quality first teaching”. Although parental input helps, a lot, it’s not a substitute for good teaching in school. Don’t be fooled into thinking teaching is of the same quality everywhere. It just isn’t. When choosing a primary it’s important to have great teaching. A consistently good or outstanding school will have this and, importantly, a head that’s continually checking it. They want to improve and staff pull together to achieve this.

We tried to move into catchment for the 'best' school in the area, but we couldn't, moved just outside catchment instead. I looked around the 'best' school when it was time to apply, and hated it. I looked around my local school and loved it. Do not make a decision on schools unless you have looked round the school and think it is the best for your child.

I think at this age I would be aiming for an area where the school needs improvement. Could net you a bargain and provide you with a good rated by the time your DS starts as they tend to attract more funding.

No. You are wrong. RI schools do not get more funding. I know RI schools they yo-yo in and out of RI or worse. A blip RI can be rectified fairly quickly but it’s often not without angst and extraordinary hard work and often means staff changes as some won’t be good enough to improve their lessons to the required standards. Choose a RI school if you have utter faith in the leadership but if it’s the same leadership that made it RI, then be wary.