When to take my DS to open day or evening?

[SwanseaMan666]

My DS is going to be in Year 5 this September. Is it recommended in Wales (Swansea BTW) to go to open days/evenings at this stage?

My DS is in his final days of Year 4 BTW.

When should I take my DS to a secondary school with me (open day/evening)?

I think it depends on how many realistic choices you have.

If you are looking at 6 or 7 schools, then it probably isn't a bad idea to look at a couple at the start of Yr5.

Certainly when I was taking my dc (not Swansea) some years ago, it was quite an intense fortnight of trying to pack all the schools in, around the rest of your life. If you happened to not be well or something (or something unforeseen like the pandemic means they don't happen) then you'll be glad you've looked in Yr 5 and not put all eggs into one basket in Yr6.

However if it is pretty likely they will go to one particular school, or, if it is between 2 schools, then I'd just go at the start of Yr6

Don't applications start when my DS is in the start of Year 6?

Also, is Year 5 best for visiting Olchfa (nearest secondary school)?

I’m not in Wales, but our local secondaries hold their open evenings and invite years 5&6 to come. I took DS3 in year 5, which turned out to be a good thing as CV restrictions meant we couldn’t take him this year. No one is going to ask you on the evening. Most schools will have an open evening in the period that applications for secondary are open.

If Wales works the same as England, then applications close around end of October. So lots of people just do Open Days in the Sept/Oct of Y6, then decide. But as the PP said, if you've got lots of options (and particularly if you're deciding whether to enter for 11+), then going in Y5 can start to narrow things down. We did go to one in Y4, but only because it did its open day in the summer, and we were making 11+ decisions, and summer of Y5 felt like too long to wait.

I went to a few in Y4 just to narrow things down, then DH took DD to my shortlist in Y5. We were lucky we did it all so early, as covid meant noone saw any schools in Y6. In normal times though, I'd happily do the legwork in Y5, and then take DC round the ones we liked best in Y6.

I should add, we had 11 secondaries that we could have included on the state form (some much more likely than others), so it felt like a difficult choice (plus the independent that we eventually went for). Other people literally have a choice between two feasible schools, so it's simply a case of picking the preferred option to list first. It can be a very different process depending where you live.

For DD1 (England) I went to the 2 options in our town in y5 to get the lie of the land, and then we took DD1 along to see our preferred school (which happened to be our catchment) in y6.

Our DDs were not mature enough to make the decision themselves. If they had absolutely hated our preferred school we would have thought again, but otherwise by y6 we were on a 'sell and transition prep' mission not a 'choose' mission.

Good point. Some secondaries offer more specific 'Year 6 only' sessions in October which seem intended more for that purpose.

Does Olchfa do Year 5 open evenings or days or even a taster day in the summer?

@pocketcalculatoroperator

If Wales works the same as England, then applications close around end of October. So lots of people just do Open Days in the Sept/Oct of Y6, then decide. But as the PP said, if you've got lots of options (and particularly if you're deciding whether to enter for 11+), then going in Y5 can start to narrow things down. We did go to one in Y4, but only because it did its open day in the summer, and we were making 11+ decisions, and summer of Y5 felt like too long to wait.

So should I take my DS at the start of Year 5?

I would.

Mainly as it something happens that means you can’t make the Y6 ones at least you’ve had a look.

I’d probably go, have a reasonably quick look round and a chat rather than making it a massive deal. Just so you can start getting an idea.

We did year 5 as we were weighing up options between 2 schools one of which was a feeder school so a guaranteed entry. It gave us time to talk about it to Ds and for the non-feeder school ask lot of questions about transitions.

Gives you a feel for the place without the pressure of making a decision quite quickly especially if you are looking at several schools. It also meant we had made our decision early so when the admissions process opened up in August we got it done.

We went in year 5 as the open evenings were at the beginning October and the application was due in end of Oct (yr6) and felt that having to make a decision in a couple of weeks was a bit much.

By the way, does Olchfa School encourage Year 5 open days/evenings and does it even do them?

It's not them, it's it. I mean by the Year 5 ones.

When do Wales usually do open days for secondary school? That's the main question.
Could it be Year 6? Year 5?

By and large it’s up to each school as to how they organise their open evenings (I.e. just for Year 6, or for anyone who wants to turn up).

Just googling the school you mentioned has brought up information from last year about a virtual open evening for Year 6 - that May be different, because COVID. You’ll need to check each school.

I’ve never heard of taster days for Year 5 (or Year 6, other than transition ones), but again you’ll need to check with each school.

Ultimately it’s up to you if you want to take your kid in Y5.

www.olchfa.org.uk/admissions

Olcfa did a Virtual Open Evening last year. Who knows what they will be able to do this year?

They do also say visits are encouraged, but again that will depend on Covid regulations easing up of course.

I think it depends a lot how much genuine choice you have.
Although the schools round here wouldn't turn you away if you turned up with a Year 5 child, the whole open day set up is geared around Year 6 students.
But we're in an area where pretty much everyone goes to their catchment school and it's pretty hard to get in anywhere else except for the couple of unpopular schools.

Olchfa does transition days for the year five and six and then open evening for the year six. he’s only just going into year five i would just forget about it and relax and wait until the time comes

the primary school will handle it

I went in y5 to narrow down area to move to. Took Ds in y6.

They are very busy with people so the less people that can go the better.

@TomNookk What do you mean by Olchfa Transition Day for Year 5?

@TomNookk Also, is it Year 6 only or can Year 5 students come (although not mentioned on the website)?
I think you are a student in Olchfa.