Below average secondary school - what lengths would you go to in order to do better for your kids?

[Curlewwoohoo]

What would you do if the local state secondary was below average? And there are no other local choices as its the only secondary school in our market town. By below average I mean, the school has a poor reputation with local parents, Ofsted requires improvement, now being taken over by a big academy, lots of teachers leaving, fairly big school with some bullying reported.

Would you think below average is OK for average kids who will (I hope) work hard and have supportive parents?

Would you hope it picks up?

Would you move house? How far would you go to make that happen, eg significantly impact finances? Work more hours? Move away from friends and family?

Would you try to get child into grammar, even if that would mean tutors etc? And might not be likely.

Would you go private (not really an option for us financially)?

Would you try to go out of 'catchment'? Involving long bus ride or drive?

Would you accept the school and put effort into activities and support outside of school?

Eldest is 9 and in yr4 so got a year to think about this, potentially dyslexic, very hard working at school and good attitude there but won't do much at home. Youngest is 6, several years ahead in reading but slightly behind on writing and maths. If that info would influence your decision!

On the plus side, when a school is in that situation, it gets lots of resources thrown at it and there is only one direction of travel (i.e. it can only improve). If your child is in Year 4 there is time for a definite improvement.
I would look at all options, and do a pros and cons list etc. Travel needs to be carefully considered, as I think the longer length of day is a big negative to me (and frankly it ain't cool for your parent to bring you to secondary school!).
If there were no option but this school, I would look at doing what I personally call "state plus" - paying for outside of school enhancements, possibly a tutor, or other learning opportunities.

We would most probably try all the options you mention, but exclude any that 'significantly impact finances'

I would probably go for what seems to be the easiest option (for me) to hardest - so will have tutor(s) for DC, grammar school if possible.

If grammar opton does not work out, will try to go out of catchment as long as the bus/car ride is within 45 mins or so.

If none of the above works, will pay for extras outside school - additional tutoring etc.

I would do everything I could to get my dc the best possible education, and to learn in a disciplined way environment. Which includes looking at private schools, moving to a better catchment and tutoring for 11+. But I know I’m a pushy parent. I’m not sorry for this - the fact my dc have GCSE certificates full of 9s means they have more choices in life.

Getting a Requires Improvement and having a big academy take over can be the best thing that happens to a school. We didn't send DS1 to our local school because it was requires improvement, 3 years later DS2 had to go there as we had no other options and the school has just gone straight from Requires Improvement to Good and honestlybhas been 100% better than the Good school we sent DS1 to.

Depends on the child. If your child is good at adapting to change and can learn despite distractions then they will be fine. If not, I would use any means possible to get a school more suitable for the child.

We moved for a secondary school but my eldest was year 3 and I kept them in their old primary which was outstanding. But I was a sahm so able to drive them every day to primary and able to collect them if they were ill.

In your case the academy take over might be the making of it. I would think the important part for your child is the SEN support. I would work on attitude to doing homework and just widening interest in anything and everything. Youtube is incredible for information on all sorts, history, science, geography.

I would go down the personal tutor route for tailored tuition. If you are looking at grammar would they be able to keep up in the grammar school? What options are open realistically for moving into the catchment of a good school? I wouldn't rule it out but I would at least look.

Having had 2 children go through GCSE I think parental support and input is important, resources are available at your fingertips but you need a foundation from school to build on.

I wouldn’t put my eggs in the grammar school basket but probably see how commutable 5 other school options are.

I would not push for grammer option if my dc was not naturally academic. I would not want them to struggle. Could you give them extra support at home?

There are two other secondaries that could be commutable by bus. One is 11 miles. Very small c750 pupils. No sixth form. Great rep for pastoral care and friendly, took children from this town. The other has a good academic eputation but has not accepted any children from our town this year. Both would put dc out in terms of distance to friends etc.

I'd go local. Massive benefit for teens. Just be all over their homework & marks & ensure they know you are not letting up pushing them to do their best. Sounds like it'll be improving v soon

My eldest has gone to a ' good ' secondary school, its not great tbh. Not 1 piece of homework marked so no results back. No results from any tests.

We had similar with the 'local' option (40 mins commute) and so targeted music places in Y6 and DD has done a 90 minute commute each way for an outstanding secondary that specialises in music.

If we hadn't had that option then we would have looked at independent, other schools around an hour commute that were okay and if no choice then taken that school and done a huge amount of tutoring outside school.

The idea that these schools get resources thrown at them is a myth these days- especially as the school is RI, not in special measures. Every school is stretched financially.

There isn't only one direction of travel- this school sounds like it could definitely have the capacity to get worse, particularly if a lot of staff are leaving.

How long are the commutes? I would definitely at least visit them.

I wouldn't be put off by no sixth form in a small school- there are lots of different options at that stage, and you can have another look around then.

Distance to friends is tricky, but if you are willing to give some lifts, and help DC keep up with local hobbies etc, then there are options.

The thing that concerns me from your post is that lots of teachers are leaving your local school. My experience as a teacher is that in that scenario things will get worse before they get better (if they get better at all).

I would visit all possible schools and think about what is genuinely the best fit for your DC.

It can depend on their peers. If you're mocked or looked down on for working hard, then that's going to demotivate you.
If you're in a school where it's cool to be clever, then that will push you.
We have both experiences in our extended family and in the first scenario, dn changed schools.

Even in a good state school, it's worth considering tutors and extra support. There are lots of free websites and YouTube resources to help.

@Postapocalypticcowgirl i believe 37 teachers left in the summer. I assume because they didn't like the terms of the new academy.

Just go for whatever is the best imparting in knowledge, usually that is the best grammar or private available to you. Either take the foot of the pedestal and let education cruise, if you want to do something about it, then better take full control and go the full throttle.

I'd probably go for decent tutors and extra curricular activities to top up the school provision.

I thought we could mitigate a poor secondary with extra curriculars and support at home, but I underestimated the influence of peers. We are moving before youngest dd gets into secondary and applying for the nearby single sex grammar. I won't make that mistake again.

It's that 11 miles in a dedicated school bus? Or 11 miles on public transport?
Our catchment school was 6 miles. So about half a dozen busses went daily from our end of town to school in the next town. It was a pain for after school clubs tho - I had to collect, which meant DS waiting for me. We have moved walking distance now DS2 is also at secondary.

How much would it cost to move to walking distance to one of the other schools? I wouldn't rule out a 750 school - it actually sounds quite good from what you've said.

If 37 teachers left in one year that's half the staff of a 1000 kid school. Commute or move house I think! Does your child have a good shot at grammar? If they are greater depth in at least one subject in yr4 is worth a gamble but 37 is a lot. High single figures is a lot!

Move schools/house. It isn't just as simple as state + extras, this only works if the peer group consists of DC who are motivated to learn and engaged, supportive parents. If peers aren't achieving/learning then all the extra goes to waste.
A good education is the priority for us so I would do anything to ensure my DC had the best education I could afford, whether that means tutoring for grammar/private school/moving house to catchment for best state schools.

school has a poor reputation with local parents - current parents or historically/ in the junior school playground?

I would obvs take current parents seriously, but wouldn’t worry so much about the other two.

Ofsted requires improvement, now being taken over by a big academy

As per pp, this may be a very good thing. I’m a teacher and in all honesty, as long as I liked what I saw at open day, this could be a big plus. Which academy group is it? You can look at the academy group performance on the gov.uk website. Def take a look at that. Also some general research into the academy group in the news, look at the performance of their other schools nearby.

lots of teachers leaving

This is happening everywhere. A RI ofsted and academisation will be a factor too.

fairly big school

There are advantages to large schools; resources, SEN and specialist provision, wider range of subjects available. The key things are how the school manages the community and pastoral. Is it much larger is it than average? We have a very successful large school near us that has s great house system. If there is new leadership, they won’t have a perfect structure in place yet, but it’d be worth knowing what their plans are. And looking at how other large schools in the MAT are organised.

with some bullying reported.

All schools have bullying. The key thing is how bullying is dealt with. Unfortunately, you only find that out when it happens to your child. My dd goes to a currently under-performing, historically unpopular school and their response up recent bullying had been incredible.

I teach at an RI school - was good until last year. Highly able children continue to do well. Well-motivated middle-ability children do well, especially if they have involved parents. Children with SEND are very well-catered for in our school. We aren't that good at making up the difference for those children who are 'middling', for want of a better word, and whose parents aren't that bothered.

My child goes to a "good" school. Lots of box ticking, nice facilities, oversubscribed etc. The only thing they kept quiet about was that there would be a split timetable. This means that for most subjects there are 2 teachers that alternate every other week. It's confusing and learning is disjointed, a nightmare if a lesson is missed or there is a substitute. This will continue until my child starts GCSEs where she will have one teacher per subject as she will then be a "priority". Maybe this is a common thing nowadays but I'd never heard of it before. My child is just about having the basics covered, no chance to progress further and I have to watch like a hawk so that things are not missed, no other options in this area. So If I was you I would investigate all the schools, good and bad as things can change either way and some things are not what they appear to be.