The Ideal School
Choosing a school is one of the most important decisions you will make for your child. To have the best chance of getting your child into the primary or secondary school of your choice, you must apply well in advance.
Planning and preparing
The process of choosing a school for your child can seem daunting, but starting your preparation and planning early can help you to make a well informed choice.
Remember that all parents need to make an application – even if your child’s current primary or nursery school is linked to the school you want them to go to next, you won’t be considered for a place unless you apply.
Making an early start will mean that you’ll be less likely to miss key deadlines.
Options
Initially you will need to work out which schools are available to you, create a list then sort through them. Getting lists and lists of schools from the local education authorities can be time consuming, expensive and daunting to go through. The Good Schools Guide has concise reviews of over 1200 schools, there’s no need to ring around, chasing after people, all the information all in one handy place!
Find out more
Once you know which schools are near you, get as much information as you can about them. This will give you a better idea of which schools might suit your child most. For example, you might like to:
* visit the schools
* read the schools’ most recent Ofsted reports
* read the local authority’s and schools’ prospectuses
This can be time consuming, especially if you have a lot of options. Getting hold of the reports will take time, visiting countless schools will test your patience and the prospectuses are really just sales material that won’t tell you the whole picture. The Good Schools Guide provides honest, reviewed information detailing everything you’d want to know about the schools, it’s a treasure trove of wealth and knowledge that has taken a lot of time and effort to put together, time and effort most working families really can’t afford to spend!
