Choice between Oustanding State school and Private school

[honey's mum]

You can appeal for a place at the state school - if you've just moved then that is a good idea.

I'd always go for an outstanding state school - assuming the Ofsted grading was since 2012. 'Outstanding' before that was not based on pupil progress and is so long ago that it might not be accurate [assuming it ever was].

ISIS inspections are not so rigorous as Ofsted and are conducted by Heads from other Private schools so are not totally 'independent' imho.

Hi,can you please share whats the process about appeal and how does it work? i didn't know that we can do it that way.we will be moving to the place in August or soon as the place is available at the school.many thanks

[Guest55]

Have you applied to the school for a place and been refused? That is the first step - then head over to the appeals section.

Appeals in KS1 are hard to win because of the legislation on class size but your child wil be moving into Year 3 soon.

[honey's mum]

Have you applied to the school for a place and been refused? That is the first step - then head over to the appeals section.

Appeals in KS1 are hard to win because of the legislation on class size but your child wil be moving into Year 3 soon.

Yeah, we applied for a place to the council(couple of weeks ago) and still waiting to hear back from them,not refused yet.they said my dd will be placed on the waiting list.

I have a small question here, We gave 3 schools in the priority list.first option is the outstanding school(which is in catchment) and other 2 are out of catchment and rating good schools. If we get a place elsewhere(not the outstanding one),can we reject the place and still wait for a place at our 1st priority school or can we appeal then?

[Guest55]

You can accept your second place and appeal for the first - the LA have to offer you a school place so will offer you something you might not want at all!

[honey's mum]

You can accept your second place and appeal for the first - the LA have to offer you a school place so will offer you something you might not want at all!

ok,we didn't want to accept a place if its in a very bad school. also,I'm looking at appeals section and i couldn't find any special rules for appeals if we have just moved to a new place? how can i find out that process please?

sorry to bother u with too many questions.

[Guest55]

The process is no difference - look for appeals against over-subscription.

One of your points will be a recent move and then you need to give reasons why the school is best for your child.

[honey's mum]

The process is no difference - look for appeals against over-subscription.

One of your points will be a recent move and then you need to give reasons why the school is best for your child.

ok cool,will check.thanks a lot for all your advice:)

[PettswoodFiona]

Bear in mind the waiting list for the state school may not be a date linear list. They will most likely move people up and down the list according to their oversubscription criteria. If distance is one of those criteria if you are moving within yards of the school you may jump to top of the list. If you are some distance away you may find you never get to the top of the list as others keep moving closer so in reality it is never going to be a choice. We have done things the other way round, moved from an excellent Independent to an outstanding State, she starts in September so still to find out how it goes but at the current point in time it feels like the best route for us. If the fees are easy for you then it is more about the choices you have and not the financial side which actually sometimes makes it a harder decision.

Thanks for your reply Fiona.I just realised how waiting lists works(after reading your post and purpleduck's post).Im starting to think its better to apply for private schools instead of waiting for state school place.we are not really very close the school(0.7miles frm my house).so we have less chances i guess even though we are in catchment.

Your situation is opposite to me, Can i ask you about how are u finding it in state school compared to private school?do you find much difference in teachers,students and the way they teach?

Sorry, I can't answer your question, as I said in my post DD is due to start in September so we don't yet know how it will work out but have every anticipation that it will be good but are also not expecting perfection. We had a generally good experience of private education but also some awful teaching too so I don't think any sector is immune. We are home educating for last term of Y6 to build up resilience and better skills for self-learning to help fill any gaps where teaching may not be the best, but she has built some of that up already due to a dire maths teacher at her previous independent school.

[hel_tcw]

A few thoughts to add to the mix

Have you looked at any of the other local schools, or only those 3?

I'm aware that Castleview is an outstanding school, yet where my dc go (St Ethelbert's Catholic Primary School), their year 6 sats results were just below that of Castleview but are a "good" school. What I am suggesting is look at the whole school and not just what Ofsted says *

Thinking about the year 2 and 6 sats, this year the exam has changed which means that the marks/levels/whatever we're gonna get, can't wholly be compared with last year's marks (am waiting for more info from school about the new marking scheme/what it will all mean, preferably before we get the results on the 15th July).

* I know the results were published in the Daily Telegraph at the end of last year. I shall try to find the link tomorrow