Choosing a school

[andrea_h]

Hi,

My son is due to start 'proper' nursery in September but I need to decide which one. There are 2 really good schools in my area who have both accepted him for admission - they both have fantastic Ofsted reports, only 1 point between them in league tables - one is Catholic (we're not) and one is non-denominational. I've arranged a visit to both of them next week, but he's our first child, so I could really do with some help....

What do we look for?........What questions should we ask?.....Does the child go too or just parents?.....etc,etc,etc

My son currently goes to playgroup 3x per week and has cried every time for about 8 months......how can I start to prepare him for 'big school'?

He's 3yrs 4mths - 3yrs 9mths when he'll start.

Thanks in advance

A xXx

[curiosity]

This is so young isn't it (My daughter goes into Y2 in September and she's not 6 until June) Anyway, my view is that if both schools are sound, then choose whichever you feel lives and breathes what they claim to do on the pastoral level, e.g when you have a look around get a feel for if the kids are confident and happy and busy, or quiet and overwhelmed and controlled. All my kids go to a Catholic school, but that's because I'm a Catholic, there Dad isn't but he was happy to let them go as it was the better school and was happy with them taking the sacrements if they wanted to, he realised it isn't as pushy as it used to be. What you need to consider if you choose the Catholic School is that, even though they are not as "full on" as they used to be, and teach a lovely manner to kids, Catholic schools still have big events like Holy Communion etc, which your child would feel out of, unless they took part, in which case they would need to convert to Catholosism. Also Catholic schools are only partially funded by the LEA, the rest by the Church, and there are lots of charity events in school to raise money, I always thought my Dad was whinging when he used to say he never had his hand out of his pocket. But seriously, you donate the raffle prizes e.g �10 bottle of Whisky, then you have to buy �2 worth of tickets, oh and if you win, it's nice to donate it back to the school to raffle again! I have three kids at Catholic school and I'm ready to put myself on the "Hamper" list this Christmas! I personally am very happy with their Education and would recommend a Catholic school to anyone, but equally they have lots of lovely friends from the local comp.

[curiosity]

An add on... Catholic schools usually have smaller numbers in Comprehensive education, The numbers are about the same I think in Primary Catholic & non denomination. But if you think your Son might be a lovely sensitive guy, based on his current personality traits (who the women will all love when he's 18) He might benefit from a smaller Comprehensive, Catholic Comps are usually half the size. I know it's early early days, but if the best Comp is Catholic, he won't get in automatically unless he goes to the feeder Catholic school. Just for the record, I couldn't get my daughter to go to playgroup, even after going to a nursery from age 6 months, yet she loved school nursery, it's more professional and structured, and he'll be fine.

[Machecoul]

Check that getting him into the nursery will give him automatic admittance to the Infant Department (Reception Class) - this might not be the case and you might have to move him. Check the admission number (how many children they can take) for the school and what their recent intakes have been.

[Hellion]

Visit both and see which one 'feels' right, you know your child by now, you'll know which one will suit him best. Can you take him when you visit? See which one he prefers.

[andrea_h]

Thanks for the answers - I've arranged a visit to both of them for next week.

A xXx

[deemartin]

We had a choice of two for our son, our local village school and one in the next village which in fact had better Ofsted report. We elected for the former as we were able to walk to it which mean't as he got older (at juniors) he was able to walk by himself. I'm sure this early stab at independence did his confidence a world of good. The exercise is good for all and you've time to see the seasons change and learn about the world.