Chelmsford Primary Schools

[tracymort]

I am about to move to Chelmsford and am looking for honest opinions from parents on schools. I don't rate ofsted and sats results as much as what real people say.
For example where I live on paper one school looks lovely, but the reality is most people try to avoid it because it isn't really.
Can anyone here tell me what the primary schools are really like or direct to me a site that has this info?

[spudqueen]

I had this problem when I moved from Lancashire down to Devon. What I did was to avoid the very top rated schools as I personally think that they concentrate too much on the Sats results, often to the detriment of other subjects and/or children who are not quite 'up to the mark'. I then found schools that were around the same rating as the school my children were already at, or higher, and found out what I could about them on the internet. The next stage was visiting these schools. I made appointments and went round each one. I think you get a good 'feel' for the school when you visit it. Another thing you could do is to hang around the school gates at home time and have a look at the parents. This might give you an idea of whether you would fit in with these people, and thereby your children with your children.
Good luck.

[spudqueen]

Sorry, meant to say your children with their children!