We're looking at a move for class 9 next year, and open days feel like a sales pitch. Everyone smiling, labs spotless, the student guides handpicked. What I really want is for my daughter to sit through two or three regular periods somewhere and tell me how it felt. Do schools here allow that, or is it a strange thing to ask? I'm on call most weeks, so I'd rather get the question right the first time 🙂
Even if they agree, a sit-in shows you the class on its best behaviour, because the teacher knows a visitor is there. When we chose a school for our elder girl, a set of corrected notebooks told me more than anything I saw in a classroom. Ask to see those.
Corrected notebooks chosen by whom, though? The school decides which ones you see. I would rather stand at the gate at dismissal and talk to two parents who did not know I was coming.
Nowhere near this age here, but a friend's daughter did a trial day for class 6 and came home with two new friends and a decision. Lovely, except the decision was made in about four hours. Maybe plan a second look once the excitement wears off.
Worth asking. The tradeoff, as I see it, is that a visit tells you about the children and the pace of the class, but very little about how teachers respond to a weak test or a struggling child, which matters more in class 9 and 10. Neither a sit-in nor an open day really gives you that, so I would use both and still talk to current parents.
Molu did a half day at two places before 11th, here in Bengaluru. One said yes on the phone itself, the other said only after their entrance test. Nothing to lose by asking, worst case they say no.
Good to know one said yes straight away. I'll start calling once this on-call week is over. Did she go in on her own, or did you wait somewhere on campus?
Sit in on what, though? A double maths period and a library period are two different schools. If they say yes, ask for that day's timetable first.
Purely an outside view, since ours is in class 1. One thing I would weigh: some children enjoy being the visitor for a day, and some find thirty strangers staring at them excruciating. It might be worth asking her before asking the school.
get her to write down three things she'll look for before she goes. otherwise the verdict will be about the canteen and whose shoes are cooler.
Keep going
More from the parents who were here.