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Original poster

How did you know a school was right for you?

2 replies

fluffycloudx · 09/02/2025 11:54

So I’m looking around for September and a few jobs have come up I’m considering applying for
(wish me luck telling my head tomorrow!!)

one is a school literally a five minute walk from where I live. Difficult catchment- deprived area, lots of social need, high levels of SEND and the head was very honest when I visited that you WILL be dealing with challenging behsviour - a character in every class. It will be a challenge, but it’s local and I really enjoyed my tour. I don’t mind dealing with a challenge as long as you feel supported!

one is a school further out. 30min commute no traffic so I would anticipate 40-50 on school days. Lovely school amazing Ofsted comments, been on training there and seems so calm and peaceful. Thinking the commute is too far and will end up spending lots on petrol, but definitely seems like a lovely school.

i struggle with changes and making decisions so I’m having a bit of a mental crisis currently! How did you know a school was rigjt for you?

OP posts:
Elendel · 10/02/2025 05:14

IME having to deal with challenging behaviour and a "character in every class" is almost exclusively down to poor leadership around behaviour management. That could be lack of systems in place to deal with behaviour in the first place (kids know no one ever turns up for on call, kids know no one ever follows up consequences higher up the chain), bowing down to parental complaints, overcomplicated systems that frontline staff do not have the time to follow or an utterly unsympathetic SLT whose single response is "have you phoned parents" every time.

And where there is bad leadership in one place, there often is in others, too. I've worked in a few schools in deprived areas with high levels of SEND, but it's down to leadership how well behaviour works.

Go for the school which feels calm. I worked a similar commute and yes, petrol was £200 for the month, but I found I actually really enjoyed my me-time in the car and also the knowledge that I'd rarely ever bump into kids in my own time, meaning I didn't have to be on my best behaviour all the time.

Original poster
fluffycloudx · 10/02/2025 07:06

Elendel · 10/02/2025 05:14

IME having to deal with challenging behaviour and a "character in every class" is almost exclusively down to poor leadership around behaviour management. That could be lack of systems in place to deal with behaviour in the first place (kids know no one ever turns up for on call, kids know no one ever follows up consequences higher up the chain), bowing down to parental complaints, overcomplicated systems that frontline staff do not have the time to follow or an utterly unsympathetic SLT whose single response is "have you phoned parents" every time.

And where there is bad leadership in one place, there often is in others, too. I've worked in a few schools in deprived areas with high levels of SEND, but it's down to leadership how well behaviour works.

Go for the school which feels calm. I worked a similar commute and yes, petrol was £200 for the month, but I found I actually really enjoyed my me-time in the car and also the knowledge that I'd rarely ever bump into kids in my own time, meaning I didn't have to be on my best behaviour all the time.

See, even the first school on my tour seemed calm! The head was open and said it isn’t always like this, sometimes some of these children will be having a really tough day.

i had some ‘characters’ last year that managed to do REaLLY well. He said that they’ve done some work to improve behsviour and a lot of what there is now is due to SEND/trauma etc

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