Questions to ask Secondary Schools

[eek]

So its finally reached the time when I need to decide on secondary schools for the eek Juniors?

Anyone got any questions I should be asking / investigating? I've the obvious ones of exam results / truancy levels / bullying covered.

[DodgyAgent]

So its finally reached the time when I need to decide on secondary schools for the eek Juniors?

Anyone got any questions I should be asking / investigating? I've the obvious ones of exam results / truancy levels / bullying covered.

Send them here they will go far


Eton College

[doodab]

Do they take vouchers?

[lukemg]

I think the stats they churn will be about half the story at best. The school will be a product of it's location and catchment.
I figured my lad would do ok ish at the local school academically as he would be streamed etc and he would probably get a broader idea of how society is made up/works. BUT the catchment includes a number of areas that have high unemployment and hence low expectations and I was concerned about the prevailing attitude of the pupils reflecting this.
Especially at the time when parents have less influence and peers have more.
Huge sigh of relief when he passed the exams to get into Bluecoats school, this was the sole criteria for getting in, location was irrelevant.

[Moscow Mule]

The school will be a product of it's location and catchment.

This. Socio-economic mix is the most important factor in a state school's performance. Good way to judge this is %age on free school meals.

If you want to get geeky about it, ask them about their "value add" stats across the whole spectrum.

Contextual value added - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[d000hg]

Why would you ask about bullying? You think any school will say "yeah we've a bit of a problem there"?

Are you involving the kids in the decision process? I can't remember if I was given a choice, but there was only one decent school nearby and since my parents were committed to a decent education, I think I was told to go there (not that I minded).

[northernladuk]

Most parents look at the league tables when trying to pick a school but they are not a true reflection of the quality of a school. If they have good schools feeding it all they are doing is maintaning the record. The good kids do ok, the not so good kids continue doing not so well.

The more important statistic is the value add. I can't remember what the exact term is but it tracks the improvement from when they start to their final results. If your children are not A*/gifted and telented material from primary then it is this value add that is most important to you, not the fact the school can maintain the level of the A* pupils they get from exceptional primary schools.

If your kids are ok but not exceptional it is actually better to send them to a school that doesn't top the tables but has a fantastic improvement record. They are much more likely to get better than expected results due to the focus of the school on improvement, not maintaining stats. (within reason of course)

[Old Hack]

Visit lots too. Sometimes the feel you have for a school outweighs their supposed performance. We looked at 3 schools, and chose the 'apparent' worst performing one, as the best ones just felt like factories. Sometimes you cannot beat how a school feels. Take the kids too, as they will get a feel for the place.

We did the above for Primary and middle schools, but now have the eldest feeding into a grammar.

Sometimes, as we all know, stats can lie; see how you feel about the place too.

[speling bee]

What is 19 + 14?

What is their aspiration for your child?

That should cover everything.

[d000hg]

Good comments from NLUK.

Also get hold of the OFSTED reports.