How many open days?

[BeccaBean]

We live in London where there are many secondary schools within a decent commute time of where we live but for various reasons, there are hardly any where we are almost certain to get a place but quite a few where there is a chance based on latest published info (recognising this changes each year).

We are also not ruling out private school applications at this stage (Y4).

I'd like to go and see as many schools as possible with a view to coming up with a short list to visit with DC for both state and private. Is it odd for me and DH to go visiting schools without DD? I want to visit 8 state secondaries and 5/6 private so a lot! All the state schools on my list of 8 are oversubscribed but some more so than others so, in particular, would like to eliminate some where we may have the same likelihood of getting a place before we visit with DD.

Do most parents try and visit as many as possible and short list for their child to visit? Do some parents end up applying to schools they've never visited?

Thanks!

I think that sounds sensible.
Visit some schools a year early to draw up a short list.
Then hopefully you are only showing 'acceptable' schools to your DC a year later.
Gives you more pondering time.

My son usually helps show people around his secondary school on the open evenings which are usually in September and October. He says it's a mix, some just parents and some with their kids so you won't be the only one.

I wouldn't take mine. It's a good idea to go a year early. I did which was lucky as a few months later Covid closed down everything.
Then you can take DC to the pre-approved list of schools. Last thing you want is to risk DC falling in love with the sports/drama department of a school you think is a bad fit.

We are also in London. I went to a lot of Open Days in the September/October of Y5 and then narrowed it down to the ones I liked/we had a chance of getting into and went to those in Y6 with DS

Thanks All. Really helpful to know my approach seems reasonable and I won't look weird at an open evening without a child with me!

I would not take dc to many. I think a couple are good so they get an idea of what is out there and it might motivate them for studying if they do 11+ But better to take them when they have offers and have to decide which ones they want to go to.

I did around 20 in total - mix of state and private, day and boarding. Was lots of fun.

Did most initial visits on my own bar the boarding schools as they were quite a long way away. Started in Y5 and narrowed down. Took DD to about 6 in total and DH came to 3.

We all agreed on the same shortlist and everyone's top choice was the state school she ended up at.

Loads of parents on tours without children.

For non-London parents reading this and feeling panicked, I think it's worth saying that I think this is a London (and possibly other big city) specific issue.

For most children, there isn't any sort of state school choice at all (maybe one school and outside chance of another) nor is there such a range of private schools on offer (or they are sure they want to go state or private and don't visit both sectors). Going to a couple of Open Days in Year 6 (or Year 5 if private is in the mix) is more usual.

@redskydarknight

Yes, I agree this scenario may be more common in London.

Strangely (in our area of London at least), despite having many schools almost on the doorstep, the state schools seem to use a wide range of oversubscription criteria (beyond distance, eg faith, feeder schools, ballots) so although there is still choice, there is still a possibility that you don't get any of the schools on your preference list!

I visited alone and went back with DH and DC if seriously interested.

I only went to 2 opening evenings and I’m in London. Was pretty sure all along which school we would go for so really only went to the 2nd one to confirm my judgement and happily rule it out. Both evenings had a mix of parents with and without kids.

I’d advise this.
i did similar though where we are it’s a rather more straightforward setup as most (far from all) kids go to their catchment high schools

Oh and we also did the private entrance test as a plan b.

Also London, we looked at schools in the September/October of Y5. DD came to 3 evening ones, I and DP went to another 4. The plan was to revisit the 6 for the list in Y6 but Covid put a stop to that!
The evening visits were mostly parents with kids, daytime varied a lot. Definitely worth doing the legwork in Y5 so you can narrow it down.