Choosing a secondary school - advice needed!

[NiceCupOfTea]

Need to think about choosing a Big School for DS, so we're off to all the local secondarys' open evenings. All have a good rep and not much difference between them results-wise. Still, feeling a bit daunted and not sure what I should be looking for / smart questions I should ask in order to make the right decision. Sooooo, any ideas or wise advice ?????

[BellaLasagne]

Discipline - is there any, what's it like
Setting for key subjects - do they do it, and if so for what subjects?
Extra-curricular activities
What's the Head like?
Are the staff interested/motivated - what's staff turnover like?
Transport options to and from school
Exam results (if you're bothered)
Where current friends go/will go
Gut feel - is it the right sort of school for your child, will they be happy, thrive, make friends, have good opportunities, do well?

It's a difficult one - you just have to gather as much information as possible.


Local knowledge is very useful and a school's reputation will last for years.

HTH

[NiceCupOfTea]

bella - great list, thanks. There's something about teachers that makes me feel about 5 years old, so the more questions I go armed with, the more confident I'll feel!

[BellaLasagne]

I'm in the same boat as you it seems - 1st born in Yr 6 so doing the rounds now too.

We've lived in this area for 3 years so I have been to some of them before to whitt;e the list down. I'm taking DS this time to see what he thinks, although we've pretty much made our minds up I think.

It boils down to 'what's right for my child' which means you have to t ake other people's opinions with a pinch of salt.

Good luck, and post back how you're getting on.

[portonovo]

If all seem good, your chances of getting into all are equal, and everything else seems equal, I would go on gut feeling - you have to choose one after all!

I could almost have closed my eyes and chosen one like that, but in the end our decision largely came down to the fact that my sister in law was due to leave one school only months before our eldest started it, so through her and my in-laws we had a good 'insider' view of what the school was like from both the child's and parents' viewpoint.

I wouldn't actually base my decision on where my child's friends might go. In my experience (and 2 of my children have started secondary school in the last 2 years), many of these ties loosen very quickly. I'll admit it is nice for the children to have some friendly faces around in the initial days, but really they do make new friends very quickly.

My son has now had a grand total of 3 weeks at his new school, and already mixes equally with his new friends and those from his primary school.

His older sister was the same - within literally weeks she had almost nothing to do with the children she'd known previously, and had established herself in various different groups.

[clerkKent]

Research the schools via schoolsfinder - look at Ofsted reports etc. Visit the schools with your DS. Look at the classrooms, talk to the children there. Are they motivated, interested, enthusiastic about their school? If sport is important to DS, see how keen the school is on that sport e.g. noticeboards with football results. You will need to visit several schools to get a feeling for them - start with one you are less interested in.

[mumblechum]

We liked the first one we looked at, which is a grammar in Bucks, so much we wanted to go there ourselves - 16th century cloisters etc!! The second, also a grammar was more modern and all-boys, couldn't be bothered with the whole tour and didn't bother looking at the comps either. We must be the laziest parents in the area. Luckily our ds scraped thru' the 11 plus and is going to the first/only choice. It was very much a matter of instinct with us, it felt right - pupils on open evening extremely well mannered & mature, golden retriever in rose garden, fab facilities. If you and your child feel comfortable and excited looking at the school, chances are its the right one. Ofsted reports don't tell the whole story by any means.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Hi - thanks for the replies. My gut reaction at the mo is to go for the school with the best art/design department. DS draws all the time and has a great eye for detail and proportion - despite his school's woeful art provision. Not sure if that means I'm pigeonholing him into going down the arty route, but it's what he genuinely loves. Am I being too narrow-minded, too early????????????

[mumblechum]

I don't think you're being narrow minded ata all - whichever school he goes to will follow the National Curriculum, so he'll get an all round education, with the added benefit of extra art input, whether he turns out to be v.arty or not.

[RTKangaMummy]

My DS has just started senior school

He went to one where he didn't know any of the other boys and has made loads of friends

we met up with 2 families from primary and the boy said that he had gone to grammar with 2 friends from primary -- 1 of the friends has completely cut himself off from all those he knew from primary

So imho go with your gut feeling

DS is very happy with the choice

1 girls schools perpously does NOT allow primary friends to be together in class

[RTKangaMummy]

we met up with 2 families LAST WEEKEND from primary and the boy said that he had gone to grammar with 2 friends from primary -- 1 of the friends has completely cut himself off from all those he knew from primary

[KTeepee]

I went to an open evening last night and tbh felt a bit overwhelmed - even though it is a relatively small school (5 form intake). It was just so different from when I went to school - we just had classrooms with desks and chairs and a blackboard and one science lab and the odd other room whereas this school had far more facilities than even my Uni had (ok that was a long time ago too!)

Probably didn't help that it is very oversubscribed so hundreds of people were there for the open evening. Don't know if they are all going to be like that... I'm just glad I've started to look this year and not left it until dd is in yr 6, at least I'll have more time to think about it all.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Am now compiling a list of questions (mostly from BellaLasagne!) to arm myself with next week at the open evening at our first-choice school.

KTeePee - any thoughts since your visit?

Any more helpful hints for what to look out for (haven't been in a secondary since I left mine way back in the 80s)...

[BellaLasagne]

Hi, how's it going?

We've now done open evenings for numbers 2 and 3 on the list (of 3), number one is next week.

Both so far have been pretty impressive and luckily DS is now a bit more tuned in to the idea that he's actually moving on soon and is taking an interest. He prefers #2 to #3, which is good and i've just got my fingers crossed that he likes #1.

The only really intelligent questions I've been able to ask so far (it's rather overwhelming isn't it...?) are the arrangements for setting. Some do Maths and English sometimes Science for Yr 7, some set in no subjects (alarm bells - I've heard of bad experiences where this is the case), and then they then seem to vary in when they start to set in other subjects as they get older. It seems to me at the moment to depend on the size of the school, which is obvious I suppose.

The only other thing I've noticed is the staff's attitude to discipline and I'm taking careful note of the children's behaviour and how smartly, or not, they wear their uniform. Nit picking, I know, but I think it gives a good impression of how the school runs when it's not on show for open day. (P.S. One of our local schools with 'a very comprehensive' mix give all children the afternoon off for open evening and only invited back the 'best' ones to show parents round!!)