How much does the "quality" of a child's primary school affect their secondary education?

[10miles]

My DC go to the local primary, it gets a satisfactory OFSTED and below average SATs results, mainly because of the catchment IMO (high SEN and FSM etc). The DC have been very happy there and I have generally been pleased that I didn't do as many of my friends did and either move, lie or transport children vast distances to avoid the school.

However, DS1 will be going to secondary in Sept and I have belatedly started to worry that he will be at a disadvantage. He is averagely bright, enjoys school, but not keen to put in loads of effort. He will probably end up graded 4a in most subjects. The school is critisised in it's latest OFSTED report for not pushing children enough and I do think DS1 might have done better if he's had to work bit harder (gets far less homework than some of my friends' DC for example).At his secondary school he will be among children who have been to these pushier schools. Have I done him lasting damage, or will it resolve itself after a while at secondary?

I was the only one from my average primary to go to Grammar School. If he has done OK up til now he will adapt.

He'll be fine. But the transfer year is hard anyway and you'll just need to prop him up a bit more.
He might even enjoy being stretched a bit more.

That's what worrying me though spendthrift, will they stretch him or will they assume he belongs with the less able children who've achieved the same results through more intensive coaching?

Sorry, but I think many of a child's attitudes/ motivations to school (and life) are pretty entrenched by the time they get to senior school. That's not to say that he might not suddenly 'find his feet' and blossom, but there might be a slightly painful transition period.
Parental attitudes and expectations count for a lot IMHO. I always kept an eye on the DSs homework and on a few rare occasions made them do it again if it wasn't up to the standard I expected (despite protestations that it was 'good enough' or better than their friends' work )

Even if he starts in 'lower' sets he will be moved up if he shows ability and motivation. Most kids find their 'correct' level. Sometimes the ones who have been 'pushed' drop down a bit, and others who haven't had a chance to shine rise up.

Can you 'stretch' him a bit in preparation for secondary? Visit places, learn things together, encourage him to read widely. Does he do Scouts? If so, the badges are a great way to structure activities around some fairly good learning 'topics' ?

I know Surrey, that was my thinking when I "let" him go to this primary, that most of his attitudes etc would be based on what he sees/is taught at home and that "good" kids with the right support at home will do well whatever school they go to, but I'm wavering now.

He does a fair amount of outside stuff, including scouts and we do lots of trips/sightseeing etc, he reads loads, but things of his own choosing and I haven't pushed school work particularly because I didn't want to be one of those horrid competitive mums (which would definitely be my natural inclination) but I'm starting to worry that I've gone too far the other way.

Have you talked to him about it? Have you explained that people with his level of intelligence do better in life generally, the more effort they put in?

i think it goes both ways. Some kids go to a pushy school and do well academically but suffer stress or get aggressive or defensive or feel low if they get poor marks even once. You wouldn't want to inflict that either.

If he's happy in himself and enjoys school, that's the best start he can have. you could start putting some gentle pressure on him to aim higher if you think he's capable of more.

In general I agree with Surrey that a child's temperament towards work is pretty well established by the end of primary. But not entirely. Many are late bloomers. In out family there's one dreamy boy who never left the sofa until he was 14, when he suddenly got driven, started working hard academically and working out. Ended up with good exams (not solid A*s but respectable) and trialling for a pro football team. I'm hoping DS2 will take after him.

4a isn't 'less able'!

Hello there 10 miles my dd went to a city primary school that was not highly regarded at the time she started (26% FSM and above average SEN/ children in care). I remember being concerned about whether she would keep up when she started secondary school in September 2011. Most secondary schools will realise that some primary schools provide extra coaching for children to achieve level 5 SATs (our school did not they were more concerned about making sure dcs reached level 4) and that is why they do other tests such as CATs or NFER when they decide on sets for subjects like Maths and English to assess dcs potential. dd is at a highly achieving comprehensive and is doing better than some of the children who went to the more sought-after primary schools in most subjects so it is possible.

Kind of reiterating what crazymum has said above me, but yes just because a DC has been coached to pass a test at Level 5 doesn't necessarily mean their skills are at Level 5. It's a problem endemic within our testing and coaching to the test culture (and why I hate SATS!), and why higher up the qualification chain (GCSE/A Level) you get employers and universities moaning that young people have qualifications that don't necessarily 'bear out' in terms of skills.

Thank you all, that's mostly reassuring

Indigo, I didn't mean to suggest that 4a was poor, but that it would give the appearance that a child was less able than another who had level 5s. At some of the primaries in our neighbouring (much more affluent town) it seems that the expectation is that kids get 5s and they're starting to coach some to achieve 6? I got this from an LSA who works in one.

But, DS1 is a good kid with a sunny personality, lots of friends and an interest in the world around him, if not a strong work ethic, so I know really that he will be OK. It's my job to worry!

It matters a lot, but not in ways OP is thinking of.
My kids attend a school like OP describes. Good pastoral care is my number one priority.

OP my dc go to a state primary very similar to yours and what I found was although they are taught the basics of maths and English they never got enough practice so nothing was solid and they weren't confident in these areas. Ds got 4a across the board at the end of year 4 so we decided to put him up for 11+ exams. However when we started to do the bond books with him to prepare for said exams we found glaring holes in his knowledge. His grasp of grammar,punctuation wasn't great, spellings shaky as never checked in dictionaries, no real understanding of how to compose or what to iclude in an essay. Maths is his better subject but made really silly mistakes all the time as tended to rush through the work and not double check. Also mental arithmetic was often shaky. So During year 5 we took a step back and worked on these areas with him at weekends. he understood it easily enough when it was explained to him and with practise he came on in leaps and bounds. During that year I felt I was covering with him what should have been taught in school time. At the start of year 5 when I felt he had a solid grasp of these areas we then started to prepare him for the exam. My advice is to identify which areas he is weak in and work with him to improve these before he starts secondary school. I've often see parents post on here wanting help to improve their dc punctuation, grammar etc when they are in year 8. IME of secondary schools they will not teach these areas as they feel they should have been covered in primary school.

Meant at the start of year 6

My DS went to an utterly crap school in Australia, missed out year 6 altogether when we moved back due to him being an August birthday and Aus schools starting later. He's in y7 now and doing absolutely fine.

My brothers & me went to a fairly rubbish primary and all did ok at secondary and beyond. My mum's theory was that our brains were like a blank canvas because we'd not learned anything at primary, so we were fresh to learning. :o I'm sure your DS will be fine.

He'll be just fine. My older kids went to a similar sounding primary and seem to be holding their own at secondary so far.

He has had a happy experience of primary and his grades are OK - there is nothing to worry about for starting secondary school here

My dd's primary was a bit crap - she has absolutely blossomed in Y7 and is doing far better than in primary and enjoying it a lot more too.