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Choosing a primary school
By Caroline Crozier
If your three-year-old child is attending a playgroup or nursery, you might be thinking about the next step - primary school. If you aren't, perhaps you need to be, especially if you live in an area where there are over-subscribed schools.
Gathering information
The first thing to do is contact your LEA and ask for its booklet about primary schools. This will list schools in your area and provide basic information about each one.
Having identified the schools you're interested in, find out more about them before deciding your preferences. You can get information from a variety of sources:
- OFSTED reports - read these online at www.ofsted.gov.uk or ask the school for a copy of its most recent report
- Government performance league tables - look at these online at www.dfes.gov.uk
- School prospectuses
Visit the schools
Written information is useful, but the best way to get a feel for a particular school, is to visit it. That way you can gauge the atmosphere and decide whether your child would thrive there.
Many schools hold open days or evenings for prospective parents, otherwise make an appointment to look round the school and meet the head teacher. Sara Ward, head of Wickham Brook Primary School in Suffolk, advises: 'Parents should ask to see the whole school, not just the early years section. They should look for well-ordered resources that are very accessible to the children. I like to spend up to an hour with prospective parents and, as I take them around the school, I speak to the children - it's good for parents to hear them responding in a positive way.'
When you visit a school, ask about the things that are of particular importance to you and your child, such as: the emphasis placed on art and music or the facilities for physical education, and how the school involves parents.
Check out the children's work while you are there and make a note of the general atmosphere. Does it seem to be a happy school with a positive attitude to learning?
It's also worth considering the journey to school and the effect it might have on your child - if it's long, it may be tiring and will also mean that the friends he makes may live some distance away from your home.
Applications and admissions
You can usually apply for a place at school once your child has reached two-and-a-half. However, putting his name down early doesn't necessarily give you a better chance of getting a place. Each school or LEA has a strict admissions policy that you should find out about before applying. Although there are some variations, most will apply some or all of the following criteria if they are oversubscribed:
- Whether your child has a sibling currently at the school
- Medical or social reasons why your child should attend the school
- The proximity of your home to the school
- Church attendance (for voluntary-aided church schools)
You should only apply to schools that you stand a realistic chance of getting into. If you are determined to get your child into a particular school, even though you don't meet all the admissions criteria, there are certain things you can do which might increase your chances of a place:
- Lobby the head teacher or governing body informally, stressing how keen you are for your child to get a place and the skills or experience you can offer the school as a committed parent.
- Go to appeal, if your child is not offered a place (see If you are not happy, below)
- Start going to church!
- Move house!
If your first choice is very popular, you should apply to more than one school. If you only make one application and it isn't successful, the LEA is obliged to offer you a place in one of its other schools and this may not be one you would have chosen. Similarly, if your child is attending a school nursery, don't assume he will automatically get a place in the reception class - you still have to fill in an application form, so it might be wise to apply to other schools, too.
Application forms are available from schools or your LEA.
If you are not happy with the place you are offered
The schools or your LEA will notify you of the results of your application, usually in the term before your child is due to start school. If your child is rejected by your first choice, you have the right to appeal to an independent panel. The panel must look at the admissions authority's decision and you will be given the chance to put your case at an appeal hearing. If the panel finds that, under the terms of the admission's policy your child should have been offered a place, or that the authority did not stick to the rules of the policy, it will overturn the decision and your child will be offered a place.
"The difficulty with reception class appeals is that they are very unlikely to be upheld because of the limit on infant class numbers," warns Harriet Young, deputy head of admissions and exclusions at Hackney Local Education Authority. The appeals procedure can be very stressful and you should be absolutely sure that you have a good case before you decide to go ahead. Seek advice from your LEA if you need help or reassurance about your potential appeal.
If you decide not to appeal and accept a place at your second or third choice school, you may find that your child settles there very happily. If she doesn't, remember that it is often easier to get into a popular school outside of the initial reception-class intake, so - although it is not always desirable because of the disruption it can cause - you can always move her later. So keep your child's name on the school's waiting list.
Caroline Crozier combines freelance writing, with looking after her children. She lives in North London with her husband and two daughters, aged six and three
Also see
How to prepare for primary school
For more information
Read
A Parents' A-Z of Education by Hilary Mason, Tony Ramsay (Chambers Paperback), £6.99
Parents' Guide to Primary Schools and the National Curriculum by Jim Sweetman, (Letts Educational), £2.95
Parents' Guide to Key Stage 1: Age 5-7 by Shirley Clarke, Barry Silsby (Hodder Childrens Books), £2.99
Visit
www.ofsted.gov.uk
www.dfes.gov.uk
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