Poll: What was your top priority in choosing your child's school?

[Chicken Run]

My 3 Children all live in Patcham so they went to all three there didn't get a choice, only two of them are now at school (Patcham High) and it seems to have improved since my eldest was there a few years back, my middle son will be doing his GCSE's in the coming month!

 

[Tooting Gull]

No one of those - combination of all of them weighed up.

Might have been worth adding 'fee-paying or state' as that is a consideration for some (not us).

 

[McTavish]

I completely ignored my child's preference when she moved to secondary school. She wanted to go to the same school as her friends (not the most local school) whereas we wanted her to go to a school which we felt would be better for her on all the other criteria (except location where they were about equal).

Cue months of tears, tantrums, silent treatment (that was OK TBH) etc, etc. Two years on she is happy and thriving.

 

[KZNSeagull]

What about Special Needs provision? That was the main criteria for us before we came here - ie there was very little if any and WSCC were dithering about issuing a Statement of Special Needs for my son (he has an Autistic Spectrum Disorder). A friend of mine has had exactly the same issues with his son, so things do not appear to have moved on much.

 

[beorhthelm]

all about location for primary school. mrs beorhthelm looked around a few others and they were all good, all had good and bad points, but we both feel strongly that primary school kids should go to their nearest. it seems at primary level its much more level standard, kids generally enjoy learning, and being able to walk them to school and play with their neighbours must be worth more than a few Ofsted points. for secondary we'd probably look at the ratings more closly, however slightly skeptical how valid they are, as one thing we learnt was they are in part based on extra facilities, a bit like hotel stars. you could have the best teachers in the country but no pre/after-school clubs or some other teaching aids and you'll never get top marks.

 

[happypig]

The one with the lowest kerb by the yellow zig-zags so I could park my Range Rover there.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Forgive my ignorance but don't kids just go to their local school? I'm sure that's what happened when I was at school. Have things changed?

 

[Triggaaar]

Which age bracket? That makes a difference.

Exactly. It's going to be quite different if your child is 4 or 11.

 

[Drebin]

I worked for two years at the school my eldest is starting at in the autumn. I know the staff, know that they're good at their job and that there's a friendly, safe and productive learning environment there. So we moved specifically to this area when we had children.

 

[Return of the Rev]

What was the main decisive factor that made you choose a school.

Nearest schools tbh

 

[maffew]

Other
Ours was a mix. The ratio of white people vs other skin colours/ethnics, cost, affluence (what cars the parents have etc) and academic results

 

[Bold Seagull]

Interesting poll then. My impression was more people placed greater emphasis on the Ofsted grading, but not looking the case at all so far...

 

[Guinness Boy]

Didn't get our first choice and our reason for choosing isn't in the poll list. At the time we chose Portslade had loads of Infant places but not enough Junior. We didn't want our son to not have a Junior place so went for an all-through Primary that was further away. Since everyone else did as well we ended up with the local Infants only that we put down second. It was OFSTED outstanding at the time.

Since then it was made an all-through Primary anyway by the local council to cope with the places shortage. It is too small for that purpose, has poor PE provision and has been downgraded to OFSTED 3 - in other words nothing like what it was like when we saw it. However we've no intention of moving them. Instead we do mostly physical extra curricular stuff with them (cubs, swimming, football team and karate). We've kept them in because they are happy, their year teachers are excellent and their friends and friends' parents are lovely.

Secondary choice coming up in a year for eldest. By the looks of the boundary changes we will only have one choice so that will either be a "move house" or "location". That choice will be PACA. Even two years ago I'd have moved. The new head, boundary changes and proposed cricket academy mean we'll almost certainly stay put unless he or we hate it on the walk round and meet and greet.

 

[mothy]

I had a choice between outstanding local authority maintained primary. & outstanding voluntary aided faith school. Very little in it apart from faith school having larger play grounds.

I chose local authority school as couldn't support the teachings of the other - however had the local school not been at least good, I could have suddenly found god to accommodate my child education - although I believe that is subjecting them to a form of abuse.

Most important things for me were ofsted, reports from other parents (old style pushy school v nice school) & feel I got when I went round it

 

[Gwylan]

Those choices are too narrow

Primary - location (although we moved to the area partly because of the school's Ofsted rating)
Secondary (daughter) because the pastoral care was suitable for her requirements
(son) because it's the one he wanted to go to

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

This is a key factor Ofsted seems to fail to deal with. A school in an affluent location will no doubt have better grades than one that isn't - but that doesn't make it a better learning establishment. It means it's intake will have far more parental involvement in pushing for success.

............ and quite possibly the wherewithal and the will to pay for private tuition.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

With both children and at both levels, it was atmosphere during visit.

This was mainly about choosing somewhere that they would be happy and cared for, not the other local school which has the better "reputation" and was at the time far more of an exam factory.

And both girls did alright, thank you very much.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Atmosphere during our visit ( both evening and during the school day in some cases ) closely followed by what the school's specialisations were - didn't even bother to look at any OFSTED reports.

 

[Gazwag]

There is no choice in Bexhill, unless you are catholic or cherry picked

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Interesting poll then. My impression was more people placed greater emphasis on the Ofsted grading, but not looking the case at all so far...

I think most sensible parents can see beyond or through OFSTED ratings. Apart from anything else, they are in danger of being out of date as soon as the inspection is finished, let alone a year later.