58
CHOOSE THE R IGHT SCHOOL
Open Season I T C A N B E A D A U N T I N G T I M E – B U T C H O O S I N G T H E R I G H T S C H O O L F O R Y O U R C H I L D N E E D N ’ T B E A M I N E F I E L D
W
hen it comes to sizing up a school, nothing beats visiting. However good a school looks online (and all,
invariably, radiate star quality) seeing the staff, facilities, headteacher and, of course, the pupils in all their 3D glory provides real time, real life insights that no online presence can really match. Go along to an event this academic year and schools will be ready and waiting, conscious of the need to cater for increasingly clued-up parents who are far clearer than previous generations about what it is they want their children to gain from the educational experience, and far less likely to accept what they’re told at face value. These highly evolved parents live different lives from their own parents and grandparents. For a start, many more of them work. According to government figures, the parents in seven out of ten two-parent families are in employment, with almost half of those working full time. Savvy and focussed, they bring the same professional perspective when it comes to looking for schools that they apply to other areas of their (often highly organised) lives, and will often have carried out a huge amount of research before turning up at their first school open day. They’ll want to ensure that it’s as natural for their daughters to opt for STEM subjects as
AUTUMN/WINTER 2019
Powered by FlippingBook