Primary schools: things to consider when choosing a school

Key points

• You can look at how different schools might suit children’s personalities, strengths, needs, and interests.
• Your choice might also be shaped by personal values, practical considerations, school-specific factors, and more.

Things to consider when choosing primary schools

It helps to think about what’s important to you and your child, to do this you can look at what schools might best suit your child’s personality, strengths, needs and interests. You can also consider how different schools:

• match your personal values and preferences
• meet your family’s practical needs
• compare factors like size, classes, facilities, results, and so on
• communicate and build relationships with families.

The questions below can help.

Personal values and preferences

This is about looking at the fit between your family’s values and the school’s culture:

• Do you want your child to attend the same school that you attended or have a different experience?
• Are you interested in a particular teaching philosophy – for example, Steiner or Montessori?

Practical considerations

Most families need to consider practical things like how children will get to and from school:

• Do you live in the same area as the school you’re interested in?
• How do things like school location, cost, or difficulty of driving to and from the school affect you?
• If you have other children, is it important that all your children go to the same school?
• Where are your child’s friends going to school?
• Where do most of the children from your child’s preschool go to school?

School factors: size, classes, facilities, results

It can help to compare different schools’ sizes, class arrangements, facilities, extracurricular activities, results, and so on:

• Is the school small or large? What size is likely to suit your child best?
• What are the class arrangements? For example, do teachers teach in a team?
• What facilities does the school have to support your child’s learning and development – for example, a library, outdoor play areas, music programs, clubs, and sporting teams?
• Has the school improved its academic results over the past few years? What about its results in other areas like the arts, sport, or community engagement?
• What approach does the school take to behavior management?
• How well does the school support children with additional needs, if your child has a disability, developmental delay, autism, chronic health condition or other need?
• What do other parents you know think about the different schools in your area? What are their experiences?

School communication and connections

Good parent-school relationships can help your child get the most out of their education:

• What opportunities are there for parent and family involvement with the school?
• How is communication between home and school managed?