Ah, schools. Yes.

Even if you find a school you like now, one change of headteacher (even a couple of the classroom teachers), and it could all be very different.

Better to stay local and stay included in your community, and save the time spent travelling – and it’s not just to and from school, it will be to assemblies, out-of-school activities etc etc – and money on fuel to spend doing the interesting things you do out of school (do the sums on time and costs before you move her). Unless you’ve won the lottery recently, don’t even think about private – you can double the baseline fees with add-ons, and most people don’t realise that until they’re trapped into a system they can’t really afford.

Plus, life ain’t all a bowl of cherries – children need to learn to cope with the dull as well as the interesting. Otherwise you’re not setting them up for adult life.

Sad to say, but (in my professional experience) ORT is still (25+ years after it was first published) the best of a bad bunch of reading schemes. You’ll be reading other books with her at home. And not ‘reading scheme’ ones… any good children’s librarian will point you in the correct direction if you’re unsure/run out of books.

All teachers are different and all schools are different, but, at the end of the day, they’re not all *that* different. Trust me, I’ve worked in hundreds and hundreds (state and independent) in my time. School is but 6 hours of the day. The other 18 are yours. Don’t get it out of proportion.

And, as a parent (even if you go in and help out occasionally) you don’t actually see what goes on in the classroom all the time. It’s easy to make harsh judgements on what’s being delivered to children without really knowing all the facts, and/or all the background reasoning.

Oxford reading tree doesn’t suit all but there are cheap alternatives that you can buy second hand and use at home to boost interest. Starting to read fairy stories, learn to read Noggin the Nog etc. Round here the families who send their children to schools outwith the local community seem to vanish. Unless we/they make a spectacular effort it’s as though they have moved – and that is sad for their children who are suddenly less part of the local community.

I disagree with Ema. If she gets a good teacher then 9 – 3 won’t always be boring – and there’s a lot to be said for state education in my opinion. My children have always had some interesting things to do at school and have had some excellent teachers as well as some adequate and a couple of inadequate ones. Most have been good.

And me? Immersed in education from a governor’s point of view, but still passionate after 25 years. But it’s such bloody hard work.