Choosing A New School When You Move Home

Whether you've already got somewhere in mind, or you are just starting your search for a new home, if you're a parent, making sure any new location has a suitable school for your little ones will often be one of your biggest priorities. 

Whilst there might be plenty of information about schools online, finding the right one can seem like a daunting task - especially if you are new to the area. To make it easier, we have put together our five top tips to consider when choosing a school.

Glowing Report

An easy starting point for checking the performance of your nearest schools is the inspection website, Ofsted. Of course, everyone would like to send their children to an Outstanding-rated school but don't discount those rated 'Good' too.

Make sure you take time to look at the reports themselves too - alongside achievement, some schools perform well in other areas, such as pupil wellbeing and safeguarding. 

You can also see how each school rates for exam performance by looking at the school performance league tables. In addition, it's also worth checking to see if any parents have left glowing reviews of a particular school as this will give you a well-rounded view of what real people really think about the school.

Close To Home?

There are lots of advantages to having a good school within the proximity to your new home.  Being able to walk to lessons for example, will help your children keep active and it's a greener options if you can leave the car behind. 

Once you have a chosen location for your new home in mind, identify the school that are within 10 or 20-minute walking distance and start your research from there. As your children get older, they will make friends in your new community and can organise walking to and from school together each day, making your morning a little easier.

Take A Tour

A school's open day is a great opportunity to see everything a school has to offer, so find out when the next day is, or arrange a tour by calling the school reception. As well as finding out about teaching styles and class sizes, it's also worth looking at the quality of the facilities and equipment, for example, the sports and music departments. 

When you meet with the teaching staff, make sure to ask as many questions as possible, such as what a typical school week looks like. 

Explore Extra Curricular Opportunities

Extra curricular activities offers a great opportunity for your child's talents and individuality to flourish. Take a look at the local paper and the schools social media accounts to see what activities are available. Ideally, a school will have a choice of sports teams, as well as creative activities such as art and music. It may even offer homework clubs to help your child brush up on their academic skills.

Specialist Schools

If your little one is a budding Isaac Newton or Mozart, its worth exploring schools that specialise in certain subjects. Some schools may pride themselves on an award-winning ICT suite and offer advanced classes in business or digital design, whereas others place more importance on performing arts and have dedicated dance studios and a larger range of musical instruments. 

If you have any advice for what to look out for when choosing a school, feel free to share with us on our Twitter and Facebook pages.