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Research A School
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This section is aimed at helping you find information about schools. Only when
you are armed with all the information can you make informed decisions about
your child's future. This process isn't difficult. You may be moving house or
your child may be starting school.
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So where do you start? Here is all the information you need to research schools
in the UK, plus other useful websites and search tips.
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League Tables
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Whatever Educationalists think about School League tables you need this
information. Remember this is just one measure, albeit important, of the
effectiveness of a school.
To find out the latest rankings of Britain's schools based on their exam
results (S.A.T., GCSE and A level) visit the BBC News Education Website. Here
you can search for schools by name, postcode and area. Once you have found a
school you can then compare the schools exam results against the Local
Education Authority (LEA) and the National average. These results include the
new 'Value Added' measure. Attendance/truancy rates are also shown.
Note: Northern Ireland and Wales have abolished the production of League
tables. Instead schools will publish their own results in their prospectuses
and governors' annual reports, which parents will be able to compare with
average figures for schools in the area and nationally.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/league_tables/default.stm
The Interactive Guide section from the Guardian also provides information on
GCSE results and their grade breakdown. The University section provides details
on recent University inspections broken down by subject.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/guides/
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Inspection Reports
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For those looking for more detail information on a school go to the Ofsted
website. Here you can read the most recent Ofsted Inspection reports. It
details when the report was written, maps of the local area and the Inspection
report itself. Inspection Reports can be long winded. The opening sections are
key to the whole report. Take notice of 'The Main Findings' and the 'Key Issues
for Action'. It is the job for the Inspectors to find 'Key Issues for Actions',
so don't be dismayed if you find a lot, they may be minor in nature. Look at
other school's 'Key Issues for Action' and see if they compare favourably.
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/
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School Websites
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The ethos of a school can be shown very effectively through a school website.
Not all schools have websites and the quality of the websites vary enormously.
Use Google to search for a school website. If unsuccessful use variations of
the school name and join words together i.e. put them in inverted commas e.g.
"Cannon Arthur" school.
http://www.google.co.uk/
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School Address
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Search for a school address using the school name, post code or the school
town.
Address Search
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Local Education Authorities
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You may want to research a Local Education Authority (LEA) or visit the LEA
website. All contact details can be found at the Department for Education and
Skills website using a simple search.
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/leas/
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Dicections
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You will need to take a tour of the school. This will tell you more about the
ethos of the school than any brochure or website. To get a map of the
school/local area try Multimap. Type in the schools postcode and you can zoom
in and out of any area in the UK. Maps can be printed from the site.
http://www.multimap.com
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Local Knowledge
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When visiting the school ask local shop keepers and residents about the school.
To find out other local information, such as house prices, council information
etc. try UpMyStreet. There is a host of information here that should build up a
profile on the locality.
http://www.upmystreet.com/
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Feedback
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If you have any suggestions as to websites you have found useful when
researching a school not mentioned here, e-mail them to us at
info@10ticks.co.uk
mark the subject box 'Research a School'. If you find a broken link e-mail
webmaster@10ticks.co.uk
with the details.
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