Which school?

[tellmewhy]

We have been to see the three local high schools,but now i'm so stressed about which one to choose.
The one with the best GCSE grades was first choice until we went to see it.I just felt that the staff were trying to promote all the PC's ect that they had,and not that they enjoyed teaching the children.It just didn't feel right and DD didn't like it much.But it is meant to be the best school.
The school which is meant to be the worst school felt the best.iykwim.DD liked it the staff and students all seemed friendly.
How do we decide?
Help please.

You go for the one which made you feel that they cared - "best" means nothing!

Did you look at the value added scores ?

MrsDoo what do you mean be value added scores?Sorry if i sound dim.

here

It may be that the school you like does not have the best GCSE results but it does make the biggest improvement in a childs learning over the time they are in the school.

Thank you MrsDoo

I think you have identified the reality of many schools - those that are perceived by parents etc to be the best school, based on results, may not actually be the best school in many aspects.

I would go back again to the school you are considering without your child during a school day and see whether you still think it is the right school. If the school is any good they will let you do that, ask all the questions that you forgot to ask last time or even the same questions to see whether you get the same answer. Then make the choice

I would follow admission's advice and take another look in the day time, and also look at CVA. It may also be possible to see a more detailed breakdown of results which might be quite reassuring regarding the 'worst' performing school. I would also suggest looking at Ofsted reports, except that I feel that Ofsted might also be unduly influenced by published exam results.

I would also talk to other kids/parents of kids who actually go to both schools. Its very easy to come across as good for an open evening - how is it on a day to day reality?

Thanks for all your advice.
I think i will go back to both schools,and see how i feel.

I would hang round the local bus stop at the end of the school day and make a random bus journey before making the final decision.

We've just been to see the secondary with the best results in town and the Ofsted Outstanding and we were distinctly underwhelmed.

In the other school we saw, we were welcomed into every classroom by staff who spoke enthusiastically about their subject and students who encouraged us to try experiments and have a go on the equipment, and the way students and staff spoke to each other and about each other was absolutely lovely. (and we know from older child's experience that this is how things actually are there, they're not putting on an act).

In Outstanding school, the classrooms were full of the college's own students hogging the equipment and ignoring the visitors, the staff just stood there and waited to be approached, the walls were full of posters about how to get an A*, the (admittedly lovely) lad who showed us round kept reeling off information about how much money had been spent on various part of the building, and the SENCO seemed distinctly unenthusiastic about ds who has physical disabilities. In the end, he revealed that the information the school had given us about being wheelchair accessible was not correct- so Outstanding school came off the list. Yes, they have state of the art equipment, but rowing machines for everybody and 6 drama studios isn't everything.