There is so much happening in state education at the moment

Decisions are being made that will affect not only our children’s school days

But their futures too

Academies

The return of grammar schools

The SATs debacle

The ever growing mass of assessments

Clouding the skies of schools

It can be a minefield for parents

Making decisions about their children’s schooling

Or not, in our case

State education is not the only way

There is home education

Private schooling

There is not a straight choice

Between comprehensive, secondary modern and grammar

Here are some thoughts about making school decisions

For your little ones

Every parent wants to give their child the best start in life and for many this means ensuring that they are educated to a high standard. However, there are so many factors that can affect your child and prevent them from doing well in school, ranging from how they behave at home, how motivated they are to succeed and how good the school they are attending is. So, how do you ensure your child gets the best education?

When it comes to choosing a school for your child, you are obviously going to begin by examining school league tables and listening to other parents’ experiences of local schools, but these can only tell you so much.

You should take a look at the curriculum, which schools such as Kingsdale Foundation School, usually post online. This will show you subjects that particular school covers, from core subjects like English and Maths to more specialist subjects like humanities and performing arts, so you can see if they tally with your expectations for your child.

You may also want to look into the school’s policies surrounding uniform requirements, whether they make provision for special needs and whether their disciplinary ethics match your own. You should also attend open days and take your child along, so both of you can have a look around various schools and your child can see where they feel comfortable.

Although parents send children to school to be educated by trained professionals, it would be unreasonable to put all the responsibility on teachers and not acknowledge that a substantial part of parenting is teaching. You should work on the premise that it is never too early to start teaching your child, and begin to teach them the alphabet and how to count as soon as they can talk.

However, there has been something of a backlash of late against parents who push their children too hard, too early, causing them to become stressed if they do not perform as well as their parents expect, so it is important to balance education at home with recreation.

You should do your bit to ensure the most is being made of your child’s time at school. You can do this simply by asking your child how their day at school was; be alert to any attempts to avoid answering this question, as it could indicate a problem. If they have homework, encourage them to organise where and when they do it and, if necessary, build your early evening routine around their needs. Lastly, review your child’s school work with them, praising them where due, and encouraging them to do better if you and their teacher feel that they are not doing as well as they could be.

Your responsibility for your child’s education does not end the moment they start school; it is an ongoing and shared responsibility, and you should seek to supplement what your child does at school with both support and discipline.

This is a collaborative post