New school being started

[Upwardtrajectory]

Hello,

There is a new school opening in our area in September.
My DC is currently Year 6 so if they go there they will be in the first intake for the new school. The plan is to start with year 7 only and fill the school year by year with each new year 7 intake, possibly opening opening a sixth form provision sooner though.

Does any one have any experience if this please?

Yes. My ds was first cohort in a new school. Very positive experience for us. He's now in sixth form and the school is very oversubscribed.

Positives: Lots of attention from senior staff who will be the bulk of the staff in the early days - they will need to recruit a Head, a deputy, and heads of departments first and in any other school those very experienced staff probably wouldn't be teaching year 7. They will be super keen and excited about setting up a new school, so full of energy, bending over backwards to make it a positive experience. You will probably get to meet them in the summer term before starting so should get a sense of that. Our school attracted a lot of educated parents, including a lot who were teachers themselves, who quizzed the staff closely and liked what they heard, so it set the school off on a good path. All the equipment will be new and shiny and the staff will get to know your child well.

Downsides: Our school had to open in temporary accommodation and it took a long time to get the permanent building ready, so it was compromised on space at first and was forced to stay very small, which was good in many ways, but meant they didn't have as many GCSE options as other schools (because funding is proportional to pupil numbers).

catgotmatung thank you so much for answering, that’s really helpful.
I had thought that they’ll get a lot of attention and will be very keen for the school to do well whilst all eyes are on them, but hadn’t considered about senior staff doing the teaching- that’s a definite positive.
Did you find there was a lack of the secondary school experience - eg in the form of extra-curricular clubs?

No, why would there be? All the senior leaders will be coming from other schools and bringing the best ideas with them. I think eyes are always on all schools, but with new schools they do have more to prove. The key thing is getting the leadership team right - everything else stems from there. Our Head previously worked at a very large school as a deputy and several very good staff followed him from that school because they enjoyed working with him and thought he'd make a great Head. If you meet the Head and think they're inspiring then its reasonably likely that they will also inspire good teachers to work for them.

Thank you catgotmatung
I was just wondering about clubs because of the potential lack of numbers to make them viable, that’s all.
The head seems very strong so it’s definitely looking positive, but it still feels like a bit of a gamble!

Oh, I see. But if the clubs are run by the staff then they don't need to be financially viable, do they? I guess our school may have had fewer clubs than some very large schools at first, but my DS still managed to find clubs he liked. They built up and changed as the school grew - they had a couple of paid ones from external providers but mostly they were staff-led. They tried to run things the kids were interested in. I think for most secondaries, club attendance is high in year 7 then gradually tails off as kids become more independent and find other things to do outside of school. Often secondary school clubs are year-group specific, so greater numbers of clubs at bigger schools might be an illusion, or else if they're not then they can be dominated by the older kids hogging the limelight - at least you won't have that problem. I think year 7 sometimes get squashed by older kids at big schools, but the first cohort in a new school is always top of the school, which is a special place to be.

Thank you catgotmatung You’ve been really helpful :)

Several new schools have opened in our city and near by. I know quite a few who have gone to them. Upsides are small community feel & very invested staff and parents.
Downside they don't see so much is the massive upside I've seen with my own DC joining a big high with great community feel.
Sports / teams often mix age groups.
Clubs for all ages before school, lunch times & afterschool.
Mixed age drama, choirs, bands, orchestra, backstage group, arts.
Yr7 looking up to older years.
Older kids being mentors & sports leaders to Yr7
Not having all those experiences and developing those interactions would put me off. I see it as life skills for college & beyond

unknownstory a few of us did wonder about that effect at the start, but it hasn't been a noticeable negative. The 'top of the school' have had closer relationship with senior staff and have probably looked to them as role models more - and because the staff didn't view them so much as 'the little ones' they were stretched appropriately and given some responsibilities a little earlier - for example lead roles in school plays, or prefecting duties.

unknownstory that was my biggest concern to be honest. I assume they’ll provide some sort of year 7 clubs, but surely there won’t be an orchestra / choir /school football team etc as the numbers won’t be there for that. Not the end of the world as these things are available elsewhere but still a down-side.
I’m still heartened by catgotmatung’s experience though, so I think we will definitely apply.

Ours had a (small) orchestra, band, choir and football teams (girls and boys), plus many other sports teams in year 7. We didn't win a lot, but enough to hold our heads high. Participation levels in sport were good because they encouraged kids to take part who might not have been selected in other schools.

If the alternatives are dire, take it. If the other schools are decent and well established, don’t.

A new school I know has a new education factory building of low quality. Areas surrounding it are still weed infested. The sports playing areas are minimal and after 6 years it still has no decent outside pitches. A rugby pitch is shared with the town and the new pitches will be across a main A road opposite the school.

A family member has been to concerts there and reported they were not great! Definitely missed older pupils in the early years of opening. If felt like a middle school not a secondary school. No pupil leadership and I think you go without an established ethos when a school is new and it’s a disadvantage. No cheering on the first team or seeing great music performances. It seems hollow. But if the alternatives are awful, it could be better!

Most sports teams are year-specific, so there shouldn't be a difference there. In fact, there might be more to start with, as instead of running a year 7, 8 and 9 football club, the same PE teacher might be running year 7 football, rugby and hockey clubs. You'd probably get enough for a choir from one year group - instrumental ensembles might be a bit more pot luck - but again, the music teacher might have more flexibility to run whatever suits the players they do have.

Yes but there are no senior players to look up to. It’s very year specific. In my view music and drama really suffer. There might be enough for a junior orchestra after 3 years but it’s virtually impossible with one year group. Drama needs older pupils to flourish. No A level or even gcse art displays either so you definitely suffer from a lack of stimulation from seeing older DCs work or influence. Also there’s nothing to aspire to. Nothing is visible.

the same PE teacher might be running year 7 football, rugby and hockey club

Yep, exactly.
In its first year our school had one (male) Head of PE and another (female) teacher who was head of department in her main subject, but also taught PE as a second subject (its very common for teachers to have more than one subject). Some of the other subject teachers ran things like dance, table tennis etc. They were a multi-talented bunch!

TizerorFizz that's not our experience. Music and drama have been very good from the outset at our school. The orchestra probably only had about 8 kids in it in the opening year but they still pulled off fantastic Christmas and Summer concerts and there was a band too. Some of the teachers also played instruments, so they joined in.

@catgotmatung
I think you and I have different standards and expectations. 8 DC isn’t an orchestra. It’s an ensemble. If will almost certainly not have the depth of talent a whole school can muster so it’s a diminished opportunity. But it depends what you are comparing to and what you want. None of what a new school offers from your description would appeal to me unless the alternative was awful.

We had this opportunity and dismissed it BUT there was an established good school locally too

No established clubs with older children
Limited trips
No building until yr 9
no older pupils to pave the way / inspire
No sports facilities
Teachers teaching 3 subjects (not all their specialisms)
Limited funding

It will almost certainly not have the depth of talent a whole school can muster so it’s a diminished opportunity

It's not a diminished opportunity for the individual participants. Some parents may turn their noses up at the output, but most are proud of the achievement. I think students who participate have more opportunity to develop their skills and shine, not fewer.

New schools are only set up in areas where more places are needed so it stands to reason that many families won't have the luxury of being able to choose between several schools.

This school has a brand new virtually finished building, including sports facilities so I’m not concerned about that, and it’s linked to an existing, close-by school so teachers with a good track record.
It is the lack of older pupils that bothered me. Some other local schools are good, some are terrible, no saying which one we’ll get, which isn’t helping my decision making!

But the shining is limited to a very narrow spectrum. They don’t see anything of a higher calibre. I’m sure some parents are cheerleaders for their DC but school should be broader then that. However each to their own but I prefer a rounded experience and I don’t really expect DC to shine. It’s rather false and more like primary school.

I feel like the first intakes of the one nearest us have both been some how not exposed to the full experience. I know kids in three new schools & a teacher in one 4 years old. The kids in the oldest year defo have a bubble existence which isn't a bad thing for some. It's all lovely and small & friendly etc but fights and bullying can still happen too. The teacher said he felt like the oldest year were all over confident and had no idea about the real world as they'd always been the oldest. He said they were even over confident about their ability to pass GCSEs etc Was fascinating

@Upwardtrajectory
The lack of older pupils is a big one. See my comment above! Of course you can shine (if that’s a measure of success?) but your child never sees anything where older DC really shine! My DDs were inspired by great acting by senior DC, they aspired to be Head of House, to gaining privileges they saw older pupils getting, to be part of senior choirs that performed, to having art displayed at exam time etc. They looked forward to joining senior clubs like debating and MUN. There’s an ethos that goes with senior pupils being present that cannot be replaced. There’s also something to be said for DC waiting their turn for privileges and leadership but knowing what it looks like is worth knowing.

Thank you TizerorFizz It’s good to get an alternative view. Aspirations are important so I can see why lack of older kids could be a factor in that. This has been an interesting discussion. I guess, like all schools, it will suit some kids really well and others not at all. With most somewhere in the middle.

I find it hard to understand why some of you are undermining schools you have no direct experience of. Your reasons for not choosing new schools in your area may be perfectly justifiable to your circumstances, but they are suppositions rather than direct experiences and you seem over-invested in persuading the op to think the same way.

Another factor near us was that at one school a lot of parents opted for it as they were worried about a 'big school' for their first borns who were shy / nervous / struggled at school / had SEN. Whilst it might have helped them short term, I'm not sure it helps long term. And the school had very high SEN % the first 2 years & wasn't really resourced for it. But that was prob a one off.