A Few Thoughts About School Selection

Choosing schools for your young people is one of the delightful rites of passage that any parent, new or otherwise gets to experience, during the younger years of our children. It’s a marvellous thing to behold – the changing stages and phases of our children’s lives, while they strive and thrive in a wonderful educational setting, learning, developing, and growing.

We also know that for our kids to have the best chance at absorbing education later on in life, an early start in the best possible environment is fairly critical. (That’s not to say that parents should be afraid of changing a school or facility if it’s not working).

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So, as we move along this exciting path, it is easy to let the nerves take hold, after all the decisions we make on behalf of our young people will have massive ramifications later on. But, don’t get caught in too much of the detail – remember that life is going to happen along the way regardless, and kids have a marvellous way of organising their world around them.

Nevertheless, there are some solid thoughts to explore along this journey.

Understanding the level that your children are at. 

This is easily done through an independent assessment that you can obtain from a variety of sources – speak with your local council if you need to. Assessments take on many forms but ultimately, what you want to know is if your child has any special needs, are they more advanced than the average in their group or do they exhibit special talents that you may want to be fostered in a specific manner? Do you think they’ll want to go to theatre school or are they particularly gifted in mathematics or science? While a couple of those decisions you could probably leave for a little later on in their school career, it’s well worth thinking about anyway.

Government schools versus public schools?

Often referred to as the ‘post code’ lottery, in the United Kingdom while we enjoy a decent education system overall, standards can differ greatly between counties and even suburbs, and all too often this is unfortunately determined by the catchment area you live in. The availability and accessibility of schools within certain areas may not always be what parents want for the children and this leads to many parents considering a public school education. This is a very important consideration because the financial implications could be massive.

Remember that only 11+ courses will get your child into a grammar school, so when you’re considering extra tuition, additional requirements and other admissions criteria, keep that at the top of your list.

It might seem strange, but you should also involve your kids in these considerations too. If your local school offers an open day, take them along with you to see how they interact with the school and the other children and also the teachers. Our kids have an amazing instinct to ‘feel’ their way around new spaces.

All in all, remember that there is a lot of advice around, so speak to your local council and also speak to your friends or family to get their opinions too.