Choosing a primary school
Deciding which primary school to send your child to is not an easy task, people often say that the primary school years are the most important years in a childs school life as thats where learn the skills that you will build upon in subsequent years, but figuring out exactly what kind of school you want your child to go to is far from easy decision.So how do you decide which qualities are most important when choosing a school?
First get a pen and paper and write down the answers to the following questions:-
-
How far can my child travel to school?
-
Do I need transportation provided, or can I get my child to school another way?
- Do I need before- or after-school care for my child?
- Does my child have any physical, emotional, linguistic or learning needs that require special attention?
- Are modern school facilities important to me?
- Would my child be better suited to a small school environment, or would a large school be better for him?
- How important are music and art programs?
- Are sports important? Which ones?
- Do I want a school where parents are expected to be very involved with activities and decisions?
- How does the school communicate with parents?
- Are foreign language classes important? Which languages?
- Where are the school ofsted results like, compared to other schools in the area?
Next number the questions above in the order the that they are most important to you. You are never likely to find a school that meets the criteria of all you want in a school but if you look at the top three priorities on your list at least it will help narrow things down,and make you focus on whats really important to you.
The next step is to find the schools that are available to you in your area, so go on the Direct.gov.uk websiteand find your local schools with their search facilty. As well as bearing in mind your top priorities for a school, you can also take a look at the Ofsted results and league tables, but remember that these do not always give a true reflection of a school, the best way to really find out about a school is:-
1.visit the school - some schools have open evenings/days and if they don't, headteachers are also happy for you to arrange a visit to look around.
2. Visit our forum and ask real parents thier views and advice on the schools you are considering, find out how hard those schools are to get a place at and how do you know if you are in the catchment area.
It can all seem quite daunting when you first start looking, but just keep in mind whats most important to you and your child and be realistic with your choices, by all means if you desperately want your child to go to a school out of your catchment area which is already oversubscribed, put it on your list but also put a more realistic local school as a back up or you might end up being allocated a local school that nobody else wants.
