Choosing a primary school (no visits allowed)

[Rabel]

Completely not Disney related, but I was hoping to pick some brains here.

We have to pick a primary school (or decide to go into the private system) this year. Unfortunately I don't have any friends who have gone through this recently and am struggling on the selection. It isn't made any easier by not being able to visit the schools in person!

What was key in your choice of primary school (or private school)? What questions should I be asking?

Thanks to everyone!

[novocastrian]

walking distance from our house was the primary (no pun) factor

we visited two & chose the one that 'felt' the best, didnt look at ofsted etc etc

now my daughter is in Y11 most of the top sets are from this primary & not the one we didnt choose widely regarded as 'better' back then

private wasnt an option for us no cant comment

[Rabel]

Originally Posted by novocastrian

walking distance from our house was the primary (no pun) factor

we visited two & chose the one that 'felt' the best, didnt look at ofsted etc etc

now my daughter is in Y11 most of the top sets are from this primary & not the one we didnt choose widely regarded as 'better' back then

private wasnt an option for us no cant comment

See more...

Thank you. This is how I would like to choose, but the only visiting option is a virtual tour at the moment.

I'm not sure that private is an option for us either due to work situations, but not ruling anything out at the moment!

[globedust]

It’s so tricky isn’t it?! We have no primary in our tiny village and knew we would be responsible for transport so distance was not a factor as it would be car journeys either way. My daughter is summer born and not the most confident so I was most concerned about somewhere that was nurturing without too much focus on ‘excellence’ and all the other buzz words that shouldn’t apply at such a young age IMO. We had the choice between 2 and went for one which wouldn’t involve another move age 7 to create more of a sense of belonging for her, plus which felt as if it had more of a pastoral, caring feel (which was portrayed in the literature and blogs the teachers put up, not just for ‘show’ when you look round). It also had plenty of outdoor space (not just a small playground) including an outdoor classroom for each class up to year 2 which was important to me as she went to a forest nursery. I think all I am saying is look at your child and what is important to you and decide on that. My friend is a teacher in a private primary and she said the general rule they talk about is ‘state until 8’ in any event as the socialising etc is just as important as academic stuff in the early years. Good luck!

[LLamb]

My son is now in Y3 but I looked at practically every primary school in our area. I lot can be gained form walking around and unfortunately as you won’t be able to do that I do feel for you. We narrowed it down to two schools.

I put our first choice down as the closest and smallest school to us. I really liked the headteacher and felt he would do well there.

My husband preferred a school that had just moved to a brand new building, amazing facilities. Further away and large, 3 classes per year.

Anyway we didn’t get into our first choice, however it was the best thing that happened.
The head teacher left the other school and it’s gone a bit down hill under the new head.

My son loves his school (the large new one) has lovely friends and they have really brought him on. My daughter started in September and she loves it too.

Sorry for the long post but my best advice is if you can look on the school website at their current policies. How they deal with bullying, what after school (under “normal” circumstances) would they offer. What breakfast/after school clubs are available should you require this.
See if there is pta Facebook group, what are the parents moaning/saying is good.

Can you meet the headteacher or get a phone call with them. I know our head is doing this.

Can’t help with the private, only to say they if you were going down that route I’d probably leave it until Secondary.

Good luck

[Lisa123wm]

The best way is to visit schools. If you can’t do that, then your local Facebook group would be a good place to ask other parents for their opinions.
Also, ofsted reports will tell you how the schools are performing.

[Bozza]

I always describe it as like looking for a new home, you just "feel" it's the right school you'd want to send your child to.

That's really difficult when you can't visit the schools in question to help with that. We're kinda in the same boat for secondary school selection for next year. It's tough.

[jndt]

Are any doing virtual open days?

My son is in year 6 and we can't go and look at high schools and have to name one on his EHCP in 3 weeks time! Luckily one of the Autism units is Facetiming us so both my son and myself can see the school in action and get a feel for it.

[Button17]

Private wasn't an option for us but speaking to friends who have gone that route, they say they'd prioritise private for secondary if money was an issue.

Unfortunately it comes down to feeling a, which is so hard at the moment.

We looked round one that had no students die to a burst pipe that very morning, and we just couldn't 'feel' it with no student in it.

You'll have to try and get a feel from the virtual tours but also asking views on local FB pages. People moving into our area do this a lot and get helpful answers. Our two local schools (which we did use as not good when we started the process 9 yrs ago) are both very good schools but have different benefits so depends what appeals to the individual families.

Good luck and just go with your heart.

P.S. Don't think too much about OFSTED reports. At the time one of our locals was outstanding but we hated the feel for it so ruled it out after a visit.

[Jakey Neverland]

Have you spoke to school? Ones around here are letting people look after school with booked appointments.