How to shop for an excellent school for your kid

Many parents are set to take their children to school for the first time and are looking for good schools. The important thing is to choose a facility that is most able to meet your child’s needs. The only way to find out is to visit the school yourself. This may be time-consuming, but it is time well spent-after all.

Phone each school well in advance in the term before your child’s starting date to make an appointment with the headmaster. The phone response will give you an initial idea of the way the school reacts to visitors.

Polite teachers

During this visit, have in mind what to look for. It could be the general atmosphere, reading scheme or extra curricular activities.

The following are some of the aspects you should probably consider:

• Class teacher. Meet your child’s class teacher and talk to her about the work she does, the equipment she uses, and the range of non-academic activities she provides for pupils.

Assess her attitude towards children, and decide whether or not your feel comfortable with the ideas she presents to you.

•Staffing. Ask the number of teachers there are vis a vis number of pupils. Does the school have specialist teachers for areas such as additional support for pupils with learning difficulties, music, drama or science?

•Buildings. A clean, solid school building does not necessary mean that teaching standards are high. But children learn better in fresh, appealing classrooms not shabby buildings with paint peeling off the walls and water coming in through the roof.

Have a good look round your child’s prospective classroom — it should have a stimulating appearance.

•Educational standards. The early stage of schooling is more to do with settling in, learning to cope with a routine, being part of a group and being able to follow class rules, than it is with learning in the academic sense.

But your children make great educational strides in these first few years, so ask about the school’s approach to the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics — it should be systematic and well planned.

•Breadth of curriculum. Many subjects traditionally associated with secondary schooling are now also taught in primary schools, such as science, environment studies, history, geography and modern languages.

The headmaster will tell you which of these are covered. Also inquire about drama, art and music.

•Computing technology. Your child will need to be familiar with computers by the time she leaves school.

Every good primary school has computers available to pupils, but not all of them use them in an effective, structured way.

Ask the teachers about this, how they use computing technology as part of the curriculum, and the amount of time available for individual children to have hands — on experience.

Having covered all these points during your visit, you’re now well placed to make an informed choice. But if you are still uncertain, think about the issues that are troubling you, and perhaps make a second visit before reaching a decision.