Dadsnet - Ofsted edition

Actually, maybe the ones in your backwater just haven’t been inspected?
https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/100408
loads of reports on the bottom of that page.

check you’re actually looking at the right provider, sometimes they rename/reregister and you can accidentally be looking at the wrong one. there’s a button to check all providers at the same postcode.

I suggest you join the local squash club.

Nope they are all there. 3x good, 1x outstanding.

##Right that is the first bit dealt with.

next

any non obvious tips of what you should be looking for on school tours?

Just go in and see how low the sinks are in the toilets, for a laugh you know…

^this. Take a tape measure in.

Knock on the walls too, to see if they’re solid.

Yes

Look at how the teachers interact with the children, ask about behaviour policies, reading and homework. Outdoor learned by should be a massive part of reception so ask about their provision for that, ie. They should go outside every day even if it is wet/cold etc.
See if the work in the walls has been there a long time. Look at the kids, are they bored, happy, learning it mucking around? Do they say good morning when you enter the room… for me this was important it shows manners, respect for themselves and others etc.
If they have recently become an academy ask about what impact they think that will have…will their primary focus still be the children or the businesses that sponsor/stake holders etc.

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Thank you! That’s what I was looking for.

I’d also ask about anti-bullying measures, and after school activities.

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thought I’d maybe use this thread rather than the main one.

We’re viewing some primary schools this week and over the next few weeks. Didn’t really know the process so emailed the local schools and got some informal tours lined up, along with meeting the headteacher. See a few suggestions on what to look for/questions to ask, but anything else that should be on our radar?

I think we have a reasonable idea about which schools will be 1 and 2 (not sure on priority). But third choice looks like it could be (on paper) either a good school (outstanding) in a bad area, or an average school in an average area. Any gut feels about that, what to ask etc?

This is a brilliant point - we’ve looked at two secondary schools that have academy status recently for my daughter. One of them felt almost corporate in its outlook - the Principal (ugh, hate that fucking word) had an hour long Powerpoint that was full of ‘visions’ and ‘buzzwords’. The other felt really homely and welcoming by comparison, the whole vibe felt a lot more child orientated and a lot less artificial.

EDIT - just seen I’m very late to this…

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Point remains so doesn’t matter!!

We are also in secondary application fun…terrifying really.

It is… Terrifying is right! We aren’t applying until next year but are looking around as she will have to take entrance exams for all but one of the local schools (don’t get me started on this).

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Exams plural? Do the schools no longer talk to each other and just do one exam between the lot of them?

One Maths and one Verbal Reasoning. Results are shared and schools make offers on that basis, and depending on whether a child has applied.

Sadly, the Bushey Academy (Corporate haven) is the one school where entrance exams aren’t required.

Yeah I worked at one of those. I got told off for not wearing a suit because apparently no kids would respect me if I didn’t. In a workshop full of dyes and glues and paints. When I said that I was mostly wearing overalls and handling messy stuff so wearing a suit didn’t really seem appropriate, I was told I shouldn’t be getting messy “to set a good example”. How the hell they expected me to teach DT I don’t know.

This was the same place I was told off for teaching kids “too much” about screen printing. Apparently they don’t actually need to know how to do it, just be able to spout some answer about screen-printing if an exam question about it came up.

Sounds pretty wretched, to say the least! Definitely came away with the feeling of style over substance, and results at any cost, which sounds a lot like the school you were in.

Have since heard a real shocker of a story from a parent at the school about a number of things concerning the treatment of their child as well.

Suppose that’s one way to deal with their previous reputation.

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Nearly all the schools in London are like that now sadly. And the ones that aren’t, and are more human are under a great deal of pressure to become academies because predatory chains are eyeing them/their valuable land up.

I honestly think the academy thing is going to become a massive financial scandal in future. So much dodgy practice/just handing over schools to any old company.