Q: Will the school consider me a fussy parent if I ask to visit while the school is in session?

A: A good school will be very happy to welcome parents and will arrange for staff to show parents around and to answer queries. Telephone to make an appointment so that adequate time can be allocated by staff.

Q: How sensible is it to choose a secondary school for my child which means they'll be separated from primary school friends?

A: This is a very personal and individual matter for parents to decide with their child. There are no hard and fast rules, but children are usually quite adaptable, even though some settle more easily than others. Such decisions need to be taken with the full co-operation of your child.

Q: We live in the catchment area for our secondary school of choice. There have been rumours that the catchment area is going to change. Would parents be automatically notified of this and is there anything we can do about it?
Lois Williams, Newport

A: The catchment areas in the Newport area are reviewed on an annual basis so yes, it is possible that they could change. The review process is carried out in consultation with the headteacher and the school governing body. Parents are not consulted and there is in fact nothing that parents can do to influence the consultation process. Parents are not automatically notified of any change in the catchment area either.

Q: We have recently moved into the Blackwood area of Caerphilly Borough, and our son will shortly be starting a nursery in September. I realise that we are probably a bit premature in our research but we are trying to look into the different schools within the area, with an interest in sending him to a Welsh medium school. However we are not sure what schools are good or bad, and we are aware that there are good and bad schools in both sectors. Could you advise us on the best place to research the schools within our area? Should we request Ofsted reports from each school? We have tried to look at the league tables on the internet but have failed to find anything recent; we are just not sure where to start. Your suggestions and advice would be much appreciated.
Abigail, Blackwood.

A: Dear Abigail,
Thanks for your query. The body in charge of school inspections in Wales is called Estyn. If you look under the Inspection Reports section on the Estyn website - http://www.estyn.gov.uk/home.asp there is a section on schools in Caerphilly. This would be a useful starting point for your research. Caerphilly local education authority would also be a useful source of information. They have a school information website on http://www.caerphilly.org.uk/ There are contact details on the site for the authority who should be able to help you.