In the third of her series on choosing and applying to primary school, Sarah Ebner, author of the Starting School Survival Guide who also writes for The Times' school gate blog shows us how to really get under the skin of potential primary schools...
Make sure you visit
You should really visit local schools and see what’s on offer. Something which looks terrific on paper may not actually feel right to you in reality. What others call the ‘best’ school may be too authoritarian for you (or your child), too big or too small. You can’t find that out without going to the school itself.
One way to do this is via a school open day. Either look on the school’s website or ring up to find out when the next one is taking place. Whilst you’re there, try to speak to the pupils themselves and also chat to the teachers. Get a feel for the place. Ask any questions you really want to know - don't be shy.
Speak to parents
If you can, you should also speak to other parents whose children attend the schools you are interested in (and maybe their kids too). Contact the Parent Teacher Association if you don't know anyone personally (you can do this by ringing the school and asking for details).You could also ask around at places like your local toddler group, library or even doctor. People love to talk about education, but don’t take everything that you hear as gospel.
Ofsted reports
If you’re looking for information on local schools, you may want to look up recent Ofsted reports. Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, carries out regular inspections of schools and puts all its reports online. You can search for local schools under the inspections page.
However, although Ofsted reports are helpful (and depressing if there is no chance of you getting into the nearest ‘outstanding’ school), do check the dates carefully. If the last inspection was more than a couple of years ago, it may be horribly out of date. This applies to schools which received either a poor report or a great report (for example, a headteacher may have left, and the school may have gone down dramatically since).
Note: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have Ofsted equivalents. You can find out more at www.estyn.gov.uk (Wales), www.hmie.gov.uk (Scotland) and www.etini.gov.uk (Northern Ireland).
League tables
You can check league tables via the government’s own website. These tables show how well children do in their National Curriculum tests (commonly known as SATs) aged seven and 11.
If you are particularly concerned about how your child will be pushed or extended at school, check how many children, aged 11, achieve a level 5 in their tests.This at least shows that the more able children are being pushed, and that it’s not just about getting the children through with a level 4 (the level the government thinks they should reach by age 11).
But league tables are not the be-all and end-all. They have a number of flaws (counting absent children as having failed, for example) and to be honest, I would take more notice of the Ofsted reports and word of mouth. League tables very often reflect the school’s intake, and many schools prepare their children for SATS by cramming in the final year...
--Sarah Ebner, author of Starting School Survival Guide
If you find that you’re not happy with the local state schools, you may find the final post in Sarah’s series very helpful as she will tackle private school admissions.
Read Sarah’s first post in this series.
Read Sarah’s second post in this series.
