Choices, choices, choices...

It is getting near to the time when a big choice has to be made. It is getting near to that time when the right secondary school needs to be chosen.

Tonight I made a visit to a local school to check out its suitability.


Looking at schools is a strange thing to do, especially on one of their open evenings. You can get a bit of an idea about the place but it really is difficult to get a proper idea about what a typical school day is like.

 

 

http://images.publicradio.org/content/2010/08/25/20100825_red-lake-high-school_33.JPG


The problem with school open evenings is that there is no teaching and learning taking place. Surely this is what schools are about? This is what schools do. Yet most people go and look around a school when none of this is happening. It would be like looking at a hospital ward when there are no patients or going to watch a football match when there are no players.


Of course the school looks impressive, it's been cleaned, all the best kit is out. The languages department are serving French pain and fromage; in science methane bubbles are burning making the chemistry lab look impressive and the best musicians are performing. But this is not the real school. You don't see any OfSTED inspectors making judgements on a school by visiting their open evenings.

However, if the open evening is impressive it can really help, first impressions are important. More important is visiting on a normal day to see the school full of children because that's what it does.

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