Has Covid-19 changed the goalposts in what you’ll look for in a secondary?

[Stircrazyschoolmum]

Just curious really..

I have a DD in Y5 and we were just gearing up for the whole 11+ process before the pandemic struck. I’d visited lots of schools and had some good ideas on what would suit.

I guess I’m wondering if commuting on public transport, access to more space / smaller classes sizes / better IT departments / online learning capability, will start to have more impact on decision making processes than where a school is in the league tables/sports provisions/extra curricular activities etc..

Also whether some will choose their local state rather than go indie now?

I’ve not got any particular agenda in asking.. just curious!

access to more space / smaller classes sizes / better IT departments / online learning capability

But these are all things that are more prevalent in the independent sector! Surely more will go down that route, assuming they've kept their jobs?

What I want from a secondary school is exactly what I wanted before. Schools aren't place where social distancing is possible- they are large communities. I have children in state-maintained and independent schools, and work in an academy myself; distancing and proper hygiene are impossible in all those schools. I dispair at how often noro goes around my DD's school each year, but the school was built for far fewer pupils, and the loos are the originals. Having a separate bank of handwash basins would make a vast improvement, but there's no room for anything!

I have a DD in year 5 too, and we had recently decided to not go for 11+ even though she's done the work, partly because the longer journey would mean her being home so late compared to her siblings. Interestingly, that decision now seems all the more important. The catchment comprehensive is cycling distance or a v quick drive to give her a lift and that feels like a really good thing if considering part time attendence and wanting to avoid coaches or public transport.

I'm not keen on online learning but I love our primary school's approach of good contact and lots of interaction via email etc and I'm glad the local comp is similar. I'm actually really hoping schools don't become too tech focussed as a result of this as I really don't want mine glued to a screen.

I'm not keen on independent schools anyway, but I really really wouldn't want to pay now. The only thing that has tempted me in the past is the superior sports facilities and trips for eg and none of that applies now!

It's made me glad dd is choosing to stay on for sixth form at her school rather than travelling to a sixth form college an hour and 2 trains away. There were train cancellations making kids late even before Covid and i can't imagine that getting any better now. Plus the idea of a packed train doesn't appeal

We chose our secondary partly because of its reputation for pastoral care.
The last few weeks have really shown to me how right I was wrt my DD.

It's made me glad our DS goes to a state school (no fees to pay when the economy is tanking) and a local school that - thank the Lord - he can walk to.

We were always keen to get a local school as we're in London and I didn't want him spending hours a day on tubes or buses. But now I'm particularly glad he's at such a local school. When he goes back, he'll be walking there and back.

I'm also glad he doesn't board as we'd have been paying tens of thousands for a year or near enough of online schooling at home. I know there are many for whom this is not an issue but if we'd gone private it would have been hard for us, and to be wasting that money would have killed me.

access to more space / smaller classes sizes / better IT departments / online learning capability is really a case by case scenario not a state/independent one. OP I think you have to look at it as individual schools.

The ‘local’ independent to us has access to more space outside than an average state school. It has slightly smaller class sizes. I have little idea on its IT department or current online activities. It’s in a gorgeous old building with narrow corridors and small classrooms which negates the large sports fields. It has a very wide catchment area with many medics from two major hospitals as parents. Most pupils have to journey on buses/ trains to get there.
The children will have more exposure to many more people from different areas per pupil. I know some parents will be struggling to pay fees. Will that have an effect? It has a fairly small staff compared to an average comprehensive so if staff are off sick/ isolating there will be less wiggle room.

No school will be able to stop germs from spreading. Whether this will be less of a problem for the next 7 years is anyone’s guess. It seems at the moment it’s more a problem for staff than pupils.

I don’t envy you. I would be thinking in terms of how viable/future-proof the school is (state is going to win as a sector here), where her friends are going (friendships from primary school maybe important in a stop-start Year 7) and are you able to afford independent easily (not knowing where economy may go in next few years).
We went local to a large airy comp which would look like a good bet at the moment. It has a large staff and IT department. But more pupils=more exposure when they are in school. And pastoral care isn’t as personalised.

For me, I'd be looking at how well the school has handled the disruption. I'm not very imprrssed with what our state primary has done (children in y6 and y4) and more worryingly they haven't communicated at all, asked for feedback or evolved their offer at all over the last 6 weeks.
Secondary school where DS goes next year started teaching lessons over zoom almost immediately, had feedback that back to back virtual lessons was too exhausting, so took the Easter plan to adapt their course of action. They've been sending emails every week, even when there has been no real updates, just to keep channels of communication open.
I'd be looking for a school that could adapt and learn like that. Class size and IT department less important

DD’s grammar has been a place where it has been easier for all to get on with lessons as the vast majority are self motivated so it hasn’t felt like a school of two halves with some without and some with. Those without equipment have been helped and parents with spare devices made them available to those without.

Quality of teaching: The teachers have been dedicated and good at giving and setting lessons and providing feedback.

Distance to school: Also with a large catchment the girls are used to staying in touch digitally so that hasn’t been such the disadvantage I thought it might.

Travelling in future: Some of her friends who love far away might struggle with concerned parents worried about public transport issues. At a push DD can walk but most of her friends cannot walk to school.

So mostly having chosen a great school it has continued to be great under these exceptional circumstances - in hindsight I wouldn’t have kept DD in Independent or chosen another school.

Yes. My decision to stay local and walking distance in own community more and more important.

We are also in year 5 and it’s made me discount the schools that are more than half an hour away which for me is ‘local’. I have also been asking schools what they are doing for remote learning, how they are supporting struggling children and even what tech they are using. As soon as we decided to narrow our search to within half an hours commute , our choices became much clearer and actually gave us more of a focused choice

Thanking our lucky stars here that we chose our local school for my Yr6 child for September. It is a ten minute walk. We have friends who chose schools further away now worried about the journey on public transport taking double the time they thought due to reduced capacity on trains and buses.

Thanks guys, I think a lot of what you are saying is echoing my thoughts. Staying local feels very much a priority. (Although private school coach may work.)

Just to clarify, it wasn’t supposed to be a state v indie thread as my part of SW London sounds very similar to Zanda’s Most of the indies have a class size of at least 24 and some of them are on more compact sites than the state schools/grammars. (I’m thinking PHS/WHS v Graveney or Burntwood) I think indies in general have better IT funding but it does seem very varied. Our local academy has done an outstanding job of getting up to speed quickly.

Pastoral care and toilet condition are excellent points I hadn’t thought about - thank you! And also pandemic management/communications are useful considerations.

I’m probably overthinking this whole thing and would love things to be back to normal by Sept 2021, but the cynic / worrier in me fears this virus could be with us a while. I guess I count my blessings we have so much choice in the first place?

"I’m probably overthinking this whole thing and would love things to be back to normal by Sept 2021"

I think you are ...15 months is a long time to get back to a more normal routine, with a mass decline in COVID or/and successful treatment/vaccine.

Fingers crossed fabric!