Viewing a school tonight

[Gileswithachainsaw]

What do i look out for so I don't fall for any nonsense.

ask

• how many get to do triple science vs double science and how is this decided
• do they offer IT/computer science? Is this for those not doing triple science?
• how many teams are there for whichever sport you're interested in. ask about inter-house competitions
• do they have an orchestra, school play etc. how often? how many involved?
• do they do DFE? can all who want to do it get a chance or if not how are they chosen?
• what % stay on for sixth form?

listen out for

• HT talking only about averages, x% get 5 GCSE passes. Listen out for more detail, eg high performers, A*-B grades etc
• too much talk from the HT about just one or two star pupils who probably are where they are with no input from the school (eg in music, drama, maths olympiad etc..)

a good qu for a pupil

• what schools do your friends go to and how does this compare?
• what is good?
• what would you change if you had a chance?

The hardest thing to find out about (and one of the most important) is what the general behaviour of the kids is like, especially if you're viewing the school at an open evening rather than having a tour on a normal school day. No Head or teacher will ever admit that behaviour is bad. They will tell you about their sanctions policy and how rigorously it is followed, but what they won't tell you is whether it actually works. . A student tour guide probably wouldn't tell you either, because a) they'll have been hand-picked for the job and b) they are used to the level of behaviour and accept it as normal.

I did my teaching practice at a school in London. We student teachers had a lovely introductory talk from the Head in his swanky office. He told us wonderful things about the school and its lofty aims and policies. We were impressed - the school sounded amazing! It wasn't though- it was an absolute hell-hole.

Hope your schools are lovely though, OP!

Dd's school has a regulation skirt, but it's not specific to the school, just a mass produced plain one from a uniform brand, so it's reasonably priced. I prefer it as they don't have to worry about what's the latest fashion which people might not be able to afford and also uniform shop skirts tend to have a bigger choice of lengths and waist sizes than high street ones usually do so you can get a better fit. Plus i think it wears well and looks smarter.

Look how the teachers interact with your DC. I remember one English teacher approaching DD to ask about what she liked to write and they ended up doing a writing exercise together.

At DC's school they ask for volunteers DS goes because they get free food. I think the number of volunteers they get coupled with the fact the open day is on a Saturday says something!

Look at the students and teachers- do they seem happy and enthusiastic? Watch how they interact with one another, are the students polite, the teachers encouraging? I was once shown around a school by a prefect who had some interesting things to say about her teachers and was quite rude when speaking with them - it made me think twice. If this girl was a prefect, supposedly ambassador for the school and she behaved like this what would the rest of the kids be like.
Ask about what subjects are set and how and when the sets are determined? Some use Sats/ Cats? Is there potential to move between sets mid year?
Language options - how many do they offer in Y7?
Sports and extra curricular clubs?

If you can also visit during the school day this offers a more realistic view of the school.

Wow, this is all really helpful. I will definately report back.that way I'm sure if I've missed something it will.be pointed out.

:)

Thank you all so much

Check out the pastoral care, ask both staff and kids in detail. If your child is happy, the rest falls into place much easier.

definitely grill your guide. We went to our first choice school last week and guides were either yr 8's or 6th form. We had a 6th form boy who had been at the school for 3 weeks (it is a girls school up to yr 11) and so got some really interesting opinions from him. He was lovely and said that the teachers had been more supportive and offered more guidance in 3 weeks than his previous school (the local boys school) had been in 5 years and he said he wished he could have come to the school from year 7 which I thought was nice. Gave me a nice feeling about the school, even though they are ruthless in their drive for results.

Changes to skirts are usually a response to the perennial problem of skirts being rolled up and male teachers feeling embarassed about seeming to look at girls legs. So Kilts are popular as they look awful rolled up, or logos so a teacher just has to ask to "see the logo" which shows the skirt is not rolled.

Unless your DC are absolutely superb at sports, you will want to ask how many teams the school have in each age group for each sport.

If it's only the netball A team that gets fixtures, if you're not in the top 9 in the year (of 80? 100? 120?) you're not going to get much match play.

It can be a big problem for kids who shone at their primary school, but are just below the A team cut off at secondary.

The fact that my DC's schools had regular fixtures for C and D teams was a big plus for me, and has proved fantastic for them and kept their enthusiasm.

Oh I'm definately asking about sports!!

I have a very keen hockey and cricket player!!

oh yes re languages, ask what's on offer and how they get decided. many want spanish but get french or german

No other advice than what's been given apart from keep your eyes peeled on the way to and from the event. When I was walking DS to an open evening yesterday we saw 3 older boys in the school uniform beating up a smaller boy and it was only when a man and his dog started to get near them they left him and ran away. Very eye opening!

Ask the students doing the fancy experiments if they have done them before in class. A significant number of schools put on brilliant shows with science and art but fail to tell potential parents it only happens in year 10 and on open evenings.

Ask if your childs preferred sport has a team thats open to year 7s. DD started high school expecting to join several clubs only to find theyre for years 8/9+ and not 7. That made her first year at high school really crap.

The Headteacher will always beef up the school. Take it all with a pinch of salt and decide if you're happy with only 50% of what theyre offering as thats about how much turns out to be true in many instances.

They will not be able to give you accurate exam results as theres nothing yet to compare them to. Ask about historical results and ask if they have changed the teaching with the new curriculum. If the answers no and they seem reasonable then thats fine. If they have changed teaching methods that suggests they were expecting better and are now trying to fix issues that have cropped up.

Ask the head what his biggest concern is at the school/what keeps him awake at night. If he says he hasn't got any concerns then you know he's a liar.

Ask where the pupils go to next when they've finished school. Uni? Apprenticeships? College? Employment? Nothing?

Ask a probing quesion. Ask how many teachers educate or are willing to educate their kids in the school.

If the answer is zero... you have your answer. If it's not good enough for ghe it kids, why should it be good enough for yours?

Their kids*

Ask what happens at wet lunchtimes if students are showing you around.

Look at displays, are they well displayed, mounted, looking fresh, it's the beginning of the year so would not expect everything to be complete, but would not want to see stuff left over from last year.

You people are amazing!!! Leaving shortly armed and ready...

I matter, that's a waste of a question and just makes you sound snarky (believe me, I've been asked it and thought the parent sounded like a prick,which indeed he turned out to be) Ask a more specific question, eg How have recent funding changes affected the school budget?

All of the above but also as you're wandering around consider if you'd like to go there

I always ask the pupils "if you could change one thing about the school, what would it be?"
Their responses can be quite revealing. Good luck.

Thanks for that viques.

Not sure which of my questions you objected to and you think made me sound like a snarky prick but I think it's helpful to know what worries a HT has. Is it funding? Is it concerns over exam changes? Is it concerns that every head has or specific to that school?

I also think it's helpful to know where pupils go to after they leave the school. Is going to uni "expected" of the pupils? Does the school encourage apprenticeships?

We went round one school that did nothing to 'sell' itself it was quite interesting to see it in comparison to another school that seemed to 'oversell' to the point it made me wonder if they were hiding anything.

The former mentioned school covers quite a geographical area and is pretty much the only choice for some people coupled with fairly good results and so it was very much 'this is us'

We saw a school that did Open Days on school teaching days. Went into one class and the students all went into this melodramatic horror film act, yelling 'don't send your children here'. The teacher looked both mortified and as if they could barely stop laughing.

We immediately put the school top of our list.