E D U C AT I O N
A GUIDE TO
STATE SCHOOLS PHOTO Oliver Hale
THERE ARE SOME FANTASTIC STATE SCHOOLS IN THE CAPITAL, AND THERE CAN BE FINE MARGINS BETWEEN THE SCHOOLS NEAR YOUR HOME. MELANIE SANDERSON, MANAGING EDITOR AT THE GOOD SCHOOLS GUIDE, OFFERS SOME POINTERS TO CONSIDER BEFORE SENDING IN YOUR APPLICATION.
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tate schools exist not only in a variety of forms, but with nuances between those. Some areas continue to have a selective system at 11; others do not. Most secondary schools - and approaching half of all primary schools - are now academies. Plenty of these are part of large academy chains such as Harris Federation, City of London Schools Trust or Ark. Other schools are free schools - academies set up by local groups, often with a particular philosophy or faith. Although these are all state schools and funded by the government, academies and free schools, unlike community schools, are not overseen by local authorities and are permitted to employ unqualified teachers, deviate the national curriculum and set their own admission criteria. However, worry less about the type of school - there are good and bad within all - but look instead at the individual school and how well it will suit your child. Over the last 100 years, successive governments have struggled to improve education by reforming its structure, over and over again. What hasn’t changed is that in the UK all state schools are entirely free to parents as they are funded through taxation - though many now ask parents for voluntary contributions to help fill in shortfalls. School admissions and catchment areas can be tricky. We explain the former and have produced catchment maps showing where children who attend (or have attended) a school come from. See how far they travel and, importantly, find out which schools you may be in catchment for, via our Interactive Catchment Area Search and easy to use catchment area maps. Be aware, though, that catchments vary each year. 62 CITYKIDSMAGAZINE.CO.UK
CHOOSING A STATE SCHOOL - POINTS TO CONSIDER The environment
Results and value added
Is there an air of care? Are floors polished, bins emptied, displays fresh, thoughtful, inspiring? A school may not have the best of everything, but it should feel welcoming and looked after.
How well do children do? Don’t just look at the headline figures, delve beyond the headlines. In the unlikely event of a school under-performing, ask what measures have been put in place to improve results - and for whom.
What is the head like? What strengths do they have? What do other parents, staff and students think of the school? A head can singularly make or destroy a school. Look for good, strong leadership with clear guidelines and boundaries. Do the children have a healthy respect for the head? Do they know much about the head? This can be quite telling.
Additional needs What is the school’s attitude to those who need extra help and support, whether social, emotional or academic? Are there programmes to stretch the gifted, talented and able? What and when? What about those with special educational needs and disabilities? Are they helped, supported and included? How? How supportive is the school? Does the praise/discipline system flex to meet individual needs? Does it fit with your expectations?
Ofsted inspection reports Read the latest inspection report but take it with a pinch of salt if it’s more than a few years old. What are the headline grades? Outstanding, inadequate, or somewhere in between? What actions does the report suggest the school should take? Ask what they have done. Some schools share their school improvement plan with parents - you may even find it on their website. This is a good indication of where the focus will be in the coming year(s) and an indication of what they need to do better. But don’t judge a school entirely by its Ofsted report: it may have got its Outstanding rating by ticking the right boxes, or a ‘requires improvement’ rating because it didn’t tick a few boxes you don’t care about anyway. The Good Schools Guide reviews more than 300 state schools, giving our personal, independent views, written
