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which school?

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beast5680:
anyone else going through the "finding the right school" visits? how the hell do you decide which is the right school for your kids :?  secondary schools near me all have their bad points and good points and all seem about even in everything but its a nightmare trying to choose :roll:  my daughter is no help she changes her mind like the wind on where she wants to go as well

auf_wiedersehen_pet:

--- Quote from: "beast5680" ---anyone else going through the "finding the right school" visits? how the hell do you decide which is the right school for your kids :?  secondary schools near me all have their bad points and good points and all seem about even in everything but its a nightmare trying to choose :roll:  my daughter is no help she changes her mind like the wind on where she wants to go as well
--- End quote ---


What are the good bad points?

Try....

Ofsted report,
All the usual data - A*-C%, A*-G%, Value Added, etc.
Tackling the Head at open evenings and put him/her on spot.
Tour of the school - during a normal working day not a "show day".
Talking to pupils.
Talking to parents.
Compare number on role to max capacity. Oversubscribed?
GCSEs offered - depth and breadth of curriculum.
Bullying policy.
Extra curricular activities.
Staff turnover.
Pastoral system.
Learning Support system.
Issues/interests which are directly connected to your daughter.

The list is endless. Probably the best is the gut reaction from being in a school during a typical working day and taking to staff and pupils. Don't fall for flashy prospectus/website - they mean nothing at all.

Niel:
I'd add asking around the local area about drugs and alcohol, one former Grammar (sp?) school around here has a wonderful reputation, until you dig a little deeper, their 'value add' is carp, they have a significant bullying problem and drug dealing too, just talking to parents who want the best for their kids they soon realise (in about year 9) that they've made a dreadful mistake, but the picture of high A*-C's (no-one sits any exam they might not get a good result in) and the school being a status symbol seduces them....
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=50.849754&lon=-1.159315&z=16&l=0&m=a&v=2&show=/1432039/



--- Quote from: "auf_wiedersehen_pet" ---

What are the good bad points?

Try....

Ofsted report,
All the usual data - A*-C%, A*-G%, Value Added, etc.
Tackling the Head at open evenings and put him/her on spot.
Tour of the school - during a normal working day not a "show day".
Talking to pupils.
Talking to parents.
Compare number on role to max capacity. Oversubscribed?
GCSEs offered - depth and breadth of curriculum.
Bullying policy.
Extra curricular activities.
Staff turnover.
Pastoral system.
Learning Support system.
Issues/interests which are directly connected to your daughter.

The list is endless. Probably the best is the gut reaction from being in a school during a typical working day and taking to staff and pupils. Don't fal for flashy prospectus/website - they mean nothing at all.
--- End quote ---

welshlaner:

--- Quote from: "Niel" ---I'd add asking around the local area about drugs and alcohol, one former Grammar (sp?) school around here has a wonderful reputation, until you dig a little deeper, their 'value add' is carp, they have a significant bullying problem and drug dealing too, just talking to parents who want the best for their kids they soon realise (in about year 9) that they've made a dreadful mistake, but the picture of high A*-C's (no-one sits any exam they might not get a good result in) and the school being a status symbol seduces them....
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=50.849754&lon=-1.159315&z=16&l=0&m=a&v=2&show=/1432039/



--- End quote ---


excellent point same in my area the local so called "good school" expells or refuses to enter pupils in order to get good results.

Depends on the child, if by 11 not actual acadamic then a school which claims good results might not be the best, plus even within 5 years schools can change quite a lot

Try and find parents whose kids are at schools a bit older ask as many questions as possible try to compare they kids with yours.

Don't get taken in by spin

simdeb:
after the recent ofsted report at the school my son attends i will never put faith in any ofsted  report again!!!!

to be fair in my opion they are a load of rubbish the inspecters which came one had never taught children in any aspect be it a club or school my kids have all gone through it or still at it and when i was asked about the report by the local education department i told them RUBBISH
 - how can they judge a school on 10 - 20 mins worth of watching a lesson
- how can results from  year group 6 from lets say 2000 up to 2006  keep going up and up they are different children in each sat test when they are in year 6  it scares me they seem to be wanting  more and more pressure on children when will they stop??????

i could go on and on and on


but as been said before you know by gut instinct and if they have had a bad ofsted they get an awful amount of money in support and advice so the children do benefit  just puts an enormous amount of personal and work pressure on all the staff

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