Pre-secondary education - your choices and when to make them

Cradling your newborn, it's hard to believe that your bundle of soft flesh will ever even vaguely resemble the hulking great schoolkids up the road. Sooner rather than later, however, you too will become an active participant in the Great British obsession of education, education, education.

For under-fives, nursery schooling takes over from general childcare from the age of around two and a half in the private sector, and three and a half in state pre-school units. So, scarcely is the babe out of nappies, before the agonising begins - where to send our precious little mites to start their way into the big, wide world?

The choices

Under-fives

• Keep the child in the home - you are under no obligation to send under-fives to nursery school
• Playgroups - or pre-school groups - run in the local community, for a few hours a day. You may be expected to help out once a week.
• Private nursery schools
• State nursery school or nursery unit of a primary school

You will only get a clear idea of what is right for you and your child by visiting a number of nursery establishments. A naturally boisterous child might well feel stifled in the precise and controlled atmosphere of, say, a Montessori school, whilst a more sedate little person may find a large, rough and tumble playgroup alarming. For under-fives, even more than at any other stage in schooling, the child's happiness must come first. Try to think about what will suit them rather than your own aspirations.

Different educational philosophies

Particularly in the private sector, a range of educational labels is attached even at the pre-school stage. Montessori schools, for example, aim to develop the child's whole personality. They attach particular importance to the child's appreciation of their surroundings, sometimes through creating an environment where everything is scaled down to fit a child's proportions. Steiner schools aim to foster imagination and creativity and do not introduce formal education before the age of six, concentrating on creative play rather than the "three Rs" from around four years old.

State pre-schools have six 'desirable outcomes' or 'early learning goals' for children to be achieved by the end of reception year (see below for an explanation of which year is when). These are:

• Personal development
• Language and literacy
• Mathematics
• Environmental knowledge
• Physical development
• Creative development

Free Places for 4 Year Olds

Bear in mind that every 4 year old is entitled to free part-time education either in the state or private sector. The government provides a flat-rate grant to cover this, direct to the pre-school provider. So long as your nursery - be it a pre-school unit, a playgroup, a day nursery or private school - meets government standards then if your child is registered and attending the funding will follow. The maximum entitlement is five two and a half hour sessions per week. Two sessions can be combined in one day and you can top up the fees to full time.

From the age of five parents are legally obliged to make sure that their child receives an appropriate level of full-time education. This may be received via:

• State (primary) school
• Private school
• Home education

The vast majority of kids are educated in state primaries - around 93%. Of the remainder most are privately educated.

In today's jargon, state primaries are arranged something like this:

• Nursery: 3 to 4 year olds
• Reception: 4 to 5
• Year 1: 5 to 6
• Year 2: 6 to 7
• Year 3: 7 to 8
• Year 4: 8 to 9
• Year 5: 9 to 10
• Year 6: 10 to 11

Independent primary schools are known as Pre-Prep and Prep Schools. Pre-Prep goes from 5 to 7 year olds, whilst Prep Schools generally take girls up to 11 and boys to 13 - the point at which the Common Entrance exam to independent secondary schools is sat.

There are five types of state school

• Community - common or garden state schools (formerly County schools).
• Foundation - mainly former grant-maintained schools. Governing body owns land, employs staff and is the admission authority with the LEA. Some LEA representation on governing body.
• Voluntary aided - owned by a voluntary body, usually religious, who appoint most of the governors. LEA-funded except building and repair costs, which are shared between governing body, LEA and government. Governing body is admission authority - with consultation again from LEA - and may prioritise practising members of the relevant religion.
• Voluntary controlled - like Voluntary Aided, but with mainly LEA appointed governors and the LEA as admission authority.
• Community special and Foundation special - for pupils with severe special educational needs.

Religious schools are in general over-subscribed and do well in the league tables. To get your child in, you may need, especially in urban areas, to 'prove' your religious affiliation and commitment, to the extent of getting a letter from the priest (or equivalent). There are many true stories and urban myths about the lengths to which people will go in order to get in - it is down to your conscience how far you are willing to adapt or bend the truth!

Armed with Ofsted reports and league tables, the discerning parent visits all the schools in the local area and makes a decision as to where their child will best thrive. Parent applies and child is offered a place.

Having made the key decision the parent finds out that in order to get into the appropriate school they will need to move to within a metre of the school gates, convert to Catholicism and come up with an elder sibling already at the said school.

Give up your career, move into a less expensive area, cancel all social engagements for the next twelve years and educate your children at home. But seriously (!) all   those considering the idea of home tuition - and there are currently around 150,000 children in England and Wales educated at home - may want to check out the following websites for more information.

For the official DfEE line: http://www.dfee.gov.uk/a-z/PARENTAL%5FHOME%5FEDUCATION.html
or a for a rather more entertaining and informative view:
http://www.home-education.org.uk/ and http://www.education-otherwise.org/

Or one last option.... upscale your career, move into a cheaper area and fork out for private education.

The tables show the type - Community, Foundation etc - of school, its age range and size. A quick calculation will tell you whether the Year 6 number of pupils is roughly equal to the total number of pupils divided by the number of years. If not, check out if it is either getting more or less popular over the years.

Next come a couple of columns which enable you to assess if any 'value' is added - there may be a listing for English as an additional language or for special needs pupils. These factors may help you to see what the school makes of the "raw materials" it starts with.

The crucial columns show the results at Key Stages - particularly at Stage 2 - currently around 68% of all Year 6 pupils achieve Level 4 or above (the Level expected of an average pupil), so use this figure as a rough benchmark.

As with the Ofsted reports below, be aware that the tables represent only a snapshot - things can change incredibly quickly with the arrival or departure of key teaching staff, especially in Primary education. Also be aware that, as much as anything, a 'good school' may mean a high level of motivated and interested parents, rather than anything intrinsic to that school.

Ofsted is unrelated to the league tables. It is the body that inspects and aims to improve schools with regard to:

• Quality of education
• Educational standards achieved
• Management of financial resources
• Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

It inspects on a six-yearly cycle. You can obtain Ofsted reports online via www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspect . However, in order to read them you need an Adobe Acrobat reader. This can be downloaded free, but it takes time and doesn't always work straight away. The reports are wordy and mind-numbingly dull, but worth a trawl through if a school interests you.

Private schools are currently being brought into line in terms of inspections, having previously been inspected by their own associations.

As many of you are aware, it's all change in terms of the assessment procedures for children at the end of the Foundation Stage.

Until last September children in reception underwent Baseline Assessment. They were tested within the first seven weeks of full-time schooling and then again at the end of their time in reception to measure the progress made.

But things have changed and Baseline Assessment is no longer statutory. However, some schools have opted to continue with it as they find it a useful way of assessing children entering reception, while others have adopted alternative assessment procedures. In its place is the Foundation Stage Profile, which is used to assess all children of statutory school age who are in receipt of government funding.

The Foundation Stage Profile sums up each child's progress at the end of the Foundation Stage. It assesses all six areas of learning on an on-going basis throughout the year and also outlines the next steps in terms of learning needs and personal and social development. The six areas of learning are Personal and Social Development, Communication, Language and Literacy, Mathematical Development, Knowledge and Understanding of the World, Creative Development and Physical Development.

Children are assessed against specific criteria by teachers and support staff. They observe each child within the normal classroom setting and record progress as it is made, so that by the end of the year they have an up to date record of achievement. The final observations are collated in June and forwarded to the LEA. Copies are also kept in school and form part of the child's school record.

As the profile is carried out on an on-going basis, observations and assessments are fed back to parents at relevant times throughout the school year, for example during parents' evening. The final levels of achievement also form the bulk of the school report.

If a particular area of concern comes to light at any other time the teacher should, as in any other class situation, make an appointment with the parent to discuss the matter further.

The profile is a record of achievement made in the reception year and, as such, all children reaching the end of the Foundation Stage need to have a completed Foundation Stage Profile. Details of any particular needs, strengths and weaknesses that a child may have are included on the profile.

If the previous school forwards up to date information on your child's achievements, then the profile is continued. Where there is no information, a new profile is started. Children are usually given time to settle into their new environment before the assessment procedure begins.

It would be very hard for you to target individual activities as the profile is carried out on an on-going basis. The best thing you can do is support your child throughout the year in terms of reading and other homework activities as these will have been specifically designed to support the Foundation Stage curriculum.

Above all, remember that school is only part of your child's life so make the most of the time out of school by exploring the local environment and having fun together.

At primary level the material covered in the state sector encompasses Key Stages 1 and 2:

• Core subjects English, maths, science
• Design and Technology, geography, history, art and design, music and physical education are non-core foundation subjects
• IT skills to be developed

Key Stage 1 covers ages five to seven and is tested at the end of Year 2 (age 7).

Key Stage 2 covers from seven to eleven and is tested at the end of Year 6 (age 11).

This material is not compulsory in the private education sector, although most do follow it and selective schools will often aim to go beyond it.

So much for the bare facts. The most important thing is to visit the schools in your area to get a feel for them. Call their office (within school hours) for a brochure and to make an appointment. Even the closest of friends can disagree fundamentally about the same school, so don't just rely on word of mouth - valuable though that is. Remember that league tables and Ofsteds provide a mere snapshot on a certain day - as does your visit! If you don't get a place or just don't hear - call. However strict the entry criteria in theory, gentle persuasion from a committed parent can be effective.

Oh and one last thing. Be aware that the fairly widespread practice of giving false addresses does constitute fraud. And authorities have been known to prosecute.