School selection for my Daughter. ARRGgghhh

[avilo]

I have had enough. I am tired of the forms, the stress, the ofsted reports, the school 'open' days, the trawling through of statistics. The whole process is doing me in.

I have been looking into this for months, though the actual allocated time is about 6-8 weeks, in which you are supposed to visit all your schools, work out which you want and then complete all the relevant forms and get them back before the closing date.

The stress and worry about what happens if we select a duff school, or worse we choose a grear school but it is over subscribed and we dont get a place and then get one in a duff school instead, is getting to me. Whenever I look at it all my stomach tightens and I can feel my stress levels rise considerably and my heart rate increases too.

I just wish it was all done and dusted and school selected and notification given that we have the one we want.

I can do without all this. I am 20wks pg and have enough to worry about anyway.

Phew. Rant over. Emotions expressed and now for a cup of tea to calm down.

[Purplecat]

i know what you mean, I found a really good school for DD, been and had a look around, it's really nice, the 11yr olds finished a 14yr old level. this has gone down as my first choice, then there's one a little bit further, seems ok, needs updating but very small class sizes.

The third school is 5 min away, so it's the closest BUT I really don't want her to go there, it's the New Swindon Academy, and to be honest it's nasty, DD screams wn we go inside and they're supposed to be rebuilding the whole thing in the next couple of years, so the kids will be disturbed, and to top it off, the teachers hate the new methods and the extra meetings every day.

[snowy1974]

I can sympathise with you on this. What age school are you looking at?

We've just had to do this for secondary schools. We did the visits and ofsted trawling (most of the reports are out of date now) but in the end left it down to dd to choose where she wanted to go. Both schools didn't have much differences so at the end of it all she'll only get as good a grade as the effort that she puts in.

Hope you come to a decision soon.

[avilo]

I can sympathise with you on this. What age school are you looking at?
We've just had to do this for secondary schools. We did the visits and ofsted trawling (most of the reports are out of date now) but in the end left it down to dd to choose where she wanted to go. Both schools didn't have much differences so at the end of it all she'll only get as good a grade as the effort that she puts in.

Hope you come to a decision soon.

This is for reception class, so 4 years old. It's a complete mare.

[Purplecat]

This is for reception class, so 4 years old. It's a complete mare.


mine for a 4 yr old.

ours had to be done by the 9th november last year to get in this september

[denise1981]

This is for reception class, so 4 years old. It's a complete mare.

I am dreading this already and dd is only 16 months old

[angelcake71]

the best advice I can offer is talk to your friends/neighbours find out what schools they send their kids too,there is also a website that has scores and details of schools in the area you live.....I cant remember the name though.....

visit the school too,so you get a feel for what its like.....the sooner you get it sorted the better,as places in good schools go fast!!

[Netty]

I agree - talk to neighbours, other parents at nursery/toddlers etc

Our LEA also has a websie that gives information on all schools.

[*debbie*]

I am pleased we dont have the choice here..we only have our primary school in the village and a secondary school in the next village. I wouldnt be going through all those stats either..i would be asking people just what the schools are like.
Good luck with it :kisshands: ""cutey""b

[smirnoff]

fwiw, as a teacher and as a parent i dont go by ofsted reports..
go in have a look around, go back as often as you want. you will know!

[rsbh]

We had to get the application for secondary school for DS1 in by October. I'm on the edge of my seat as the school I want him to go to is actually the closest but we're not in the catchment area. We've been to look around, spoken to the teachers etc and it seems a fantastic school. The one we're in catchment for I REALLY do not want to send him to - it's so rough you wouldn't believe! So I made the (potentially foolish) decision to only put the school I want on the form and not put any other choices. I'm desperately hoping he gets a place. When we went to see the school they said if he doesn't get a place then to send an appeal directly to them so that's what we'll do but I really don't want to be in that position.

Worst thing is we don't find out until flipping MARCH:ac39::ac39:

[smirnoff]

TBH we put ben in the "better" school round here for nursery, before the end of reception we had taken him out as he was so badly bullied and the school were cr(p at dealing with it. He ended up in the one school that i didnt want him to go to and both he and haz are SO happy there.. and thats what matters to me!

[rsbh]

TBH we put ben in the "better" school round here for nursery, before the end of reception we had taken him out as he was so badly bullied and the school were cr(p at dealing with it. He ended up in the one school that i didnt want him to go to and both he and haz are SO happy there.. and thats what matters to me!

I agree totally. When I say better I don't necessarily mean better in league table etc (although they are) I mean more the feel of the school and the way I think it will suit my son. They have a separate part of the school just for year 7 so they can start gently and the yr 7 teachers only teach yr 7 so they develop a really good relationship with the kids. We saw the classes being taught in several ability groups and they were all really involved in what they were doing, without being badly behaved or disorderly at all.

From the feel of the place place I think it will suit Matthew perfectly, but I'm bricking it in case he doesn't get a place.

[daisymay]

League tables are only one thing to look at. If you have a class with a very middle class intake then of course they are going to get good results regardless of how good the teachers are because if hte teachers aren't up to scratch, the middle class parents will hire a tutor or help the child themselves if they can. I always say go and stand outside the school at chucking out time. If there are mums smoking over buggies and effing and blinding at their children, then don't send your child there! To be able to teach effectively, teachers need to have well behaved children who want to learn and they need support from home too.

Classes in state schools are way too big for the teachers to get to everyone. The very bright do well anyway, the ones who are behind get extra help and the rest just muddle along sa best they can so the more that parents can do the better. This starts with sending a child to school who has basic manners and knows how to listen. If a teacher has to spend time getting even just one child to sit still, do as told etc, that is time thye cnanot spend teaching your child. If they have more than one child like that in a class, then your child will not learn as much as they should.