Choosing a good school for their offspring is one of the most important
duties that parents will have to fulfil. Should they wish to do this on a private
basis, their ultimate choice will be governed to an extent by the area in which
they live, availability of places and the prevailing financial constraints on
the family budget.
Most independent schools have charitable status, that is to
say they are not funded by the state, most of their financial input coming from
investments and fees paid by parents. Some will be day schools that will often
make special transport arrangements for the pupils, some will be all-boarding
or weekly-boarding (where the pupils go home at weekends) and yet others will
offer a mixture of both, ie catering for mainly day pupils with boarding provided
for a limited number of others.
In the state sector the picture varies depending
on which part of the United Kingdom you live in. The types of school and how
they are administered is summarised here:
England and Wales
- Community schools - here the Local Education Authority employs the staff,
owns the land and buildings and is the admissions authority
- Foundation schools – the land and buildings are owned either by the
governing body or by a charitable foundation
- Voluntary aided – similar to a Foundation school but where the governing
body contributes towards the capital costs of running the school
- Voluntary controlled – here the LEA is both the employer and the admissions
authority
- Special schools – whereas the majority of children with special needs
are now mainstream educated, some specialised establishments do exist
Scotland
North of the border, children’s education falls
within the jurisdiction of each local authority. School boards, with elected
parent and teacher members, play an important part in the running of individual
schools, which may be purely in the state sector, grant-aided (including special
schools) and self-governing establishments which approximate to English grant-maintained
schools.
Northern Ireland
In the Province, education from primary to
higher level is administered both centrally by the Department of Education and
in the local sphere by Education and Library Boards. All schools are open to
pupils of any religion, though a trend for Protestant and Catholic children to
attend schools run within their own traditions persists to an extent. Schools
fall into three main categories:
- Controlled schools – which come under the particular ELB for that area
and are mainly Protestant
- Voluntary maintained schools – which are mainly under Roman Catholic
management
- Voluntary grammar schools – these are grant-maintained non-denominational
establishments
Provision of nursery education is similar throughout the UK. Parents of children
under five can choose from a range of state nursery schools, nursery classes
attached to primary schools, play groups and privately-run nurseries.
Choosing the right school
When looking for a school it’s
a good idea in the first instance to get hold of a prospectus giving a broad
outline of what the school provides and what its aims are. Most schools have
open days for prospective parents, but there’s
nothing to stop you requesting a visit to the school on a normal working day.
Here you can gauge the atmosphere for yourself and get some idea of the style
and pace of the teaching. You can also examine the curriculum in more detail,
make enquiries about class sizes (an important consideration) and anything else
which springs to mind and you believe is relevant to your child’s education.
OFSTED
The maintenance of standards throughout the United
Kingdom is the responsibility of the Office for Standards in Education. OFSTED
carries this out by a system of regular independent inspections, public reporting
and informed advice. An annual OFSTED report will give, in comprehensive detail,
information on a school’s
quality of education, standards achieved by its pupils (with comments on their
spiritual, moral, social and cultural development), and how financial resources
are managed.