With school applications now open, now is the time to start looking at primary schools. It has been a few years since we last went through this process for Primary schools. However we have not long gone through it all for secondary school. I thought it would be useful to share my guide to applying for primary school place.
Guide to applying for primary school
When to start looking for primary schools
Children start school the term of their 5th Birthday. For example if your child is expected to start school in September 2021 then you would need to apply by January 2021 and looking around schools around October/November 2020.
However, children do not legally need to be receiving and education until the term after they turn 5. This can be enrolling your children into a school or keeping them at home and home schooling. Either way, it is your parental choice which option to choose.
Summer born/ deferring places
Summer born are children born between April-August. You may be able to defer them for a year however this isn’t as easy for some. Looking at the Department of Education is the best place for advice.
There are also groups on facebook which you can join to speak with other families, some who have already been through the process and those thinking about or going through it.
Catchment schools
Every school has a catchment area, this is defined by the Local Education Authority (LEA). Just because a school is within catchment it doesn’t mean you need to apply for that school. It is your choice where you would like your child to be taught. However, school admission policies tend to place children within the catchment area before allocating other places.
Different types of schools
It isn’t until you start looking at schools do you realise just how many there are!
Foundation – These are mainly former grant-maintained schools.
Religious – Schools which are owned by a voluntary body. They can prioritise children over religion.
Academies – Publically funded independent schools. They don’t have to follow the national curriculum but they have to observe the same rules on admissions, exclusions and SEN provisions as other state schools.
Questions to ask when looking around
Primary schools will offer viewings so you are able to have a tour around the school and have the opportunities to ask questions. With Covid, a lot of the schools will choose to go virtual, what this means in practice, I don’t know. However there will be opportunities to ask questions via email. If the virtual tours are live, you will probably have the opportunities to ask then too.
Here are a few questions you can ask the headteacher when you have a tour of the school.
- What are the class sizes?
- What are teacher to pupil ratio?
- Is there additional help such as Teaching Assistants? If so, how long long are they in the classroom?
- What is your bullying policy?
- What are the incentives/rewards and discipline polices in place?
- How can I support my child when starting school?
- What extra curriculum activities, if any, do you offer? Are they free? Or what sort of costs do they entail?
- How involved as a parent, can I be? Is there a PTA?
- What is the transition from Reception to Year 1 like? When they go from free play to a more formal learning structure.
- How do you support your under and over achievers?
- What is your pastoral care like?
- How can I best support you?
We don’t know how long Covid is going to stay around for. So here are a couple of Covid specific questions.
- How do your bubbles work? Is it class sizes or year?
- Do each bubble still have access to outdoor provision.
- What, in terms of resources, are restricted?
- Can I supply my own hand santisers?
- How are you preventing the spread of Coronavirus?
- What is in place if a child/teacher was to test positive?
- What is the day to day routine?
- Do children need to social distance?
Primary league tables/Ofsted reports – What does this mean?
Primary League Tables rank each school academically. You can visit The Compare School Performance Service website to find all the information you need. However, with Covid, the tables for the previous academic year are not being published. If you have any concerns/worries it is best to speak with the school and see what they have in place to help improve their ranking.
Ofsted
Ofsted is the office for standards in Education, Child services and Skills. They inspect services that provide education and skills for learners of all ages. They also inspect and regulate services that care for children and young people.
Schools are inspected roughly every 4 years with their reports being published online. Anyone can read them however it is worth noting that Ofsted Inspections are just a snapshot of a school and how they are performing. They are great to read, however I wouldn’t choose a school purely based on a report, speak with the schools and ask questions, read their polices and procedures.
If you want to read an Ofsted Report have a look here.
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