Choosing a secondary school for your child

The statements which you are about to complete (in the quizzes below) cover four stages in the process of finding a school, sentences are grouped 2-4, 5-13, 14-20 and 21-25. Can you first decide which groups of half-sentences below belong with the headings D B A C?

D Finding out information on the grapevine.
B Checking out what you have heard.
A Read up on the school.
C Trust your own instinct.

1 Choosing a school can be

2 Rule number one: do not be rushed into a decision before
3 Statistically, one of the most important factors in choosing a school is
4 By no means infallible, the dinner party circuit can offer

5 It goes with saying that anecdotal evidence
6 Make it your business to find out if any implied criticism of the school
7 Ask about
8 Ask how the average child is catered for, and what an ordinary day
9 What is the headteacher’s stance
10 A healthy school should have plenty
11 What about the uptake
12 It is useful to talk informally to pupils about how
13 This will help you gauge the extent

14 When reading the prospectus
15 Ask yourself
16 Establishing this from the beginning will help
17 Look beyond the glossy marketing image and ask if the text actually reflects
18 Looking at websites and reading newsletters all have a part to play in
19 You may want to
20 Inspectors’ comments should give you a clearer picture of the school’s performance

21 Discuss your impressions with
22 What are their
23 As you make your final choice
24 Ignore the dinner party popular choices
25 Be confident in your knowledge gleaned at first hand from the schools

Check you identified each section correctly.

Now try the quiz to create the complete article.

The quiz is in two parts, the first much longer than the second.

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