Secondary school dilemma help

[lotti37]

Hello

My second child will be going to secondary school in September and I have a couple of dilemmas . For first choice we were going to put a single sex school that is the best in the town amazing facilities and extra clubs etc , second choice the school that my eldest son attends ( mixed sex which is a great school) . 3rd choice I am not sure whether to put a local school which is improving , head very good only issue is the school is not in the nicest part of town or do we put another new school on the other side of town only small 4 classes per year but we are not in the catchment . This September gone they had 550 applicants state the school as a preference and they offered120 places . Is it a waste to put this new school as 3rd or should we go for the local school 15/20 mins .

My eldest wants no 2 to go to the same school , so hard to know what to do for the best .feel guilty that we are putting his school second .

[MrsOverTheRoad]

I'd put the local school down for the following reasons.

One: You can't beat local in terms of "handy". Your child can walk to and from school making extra curricular activities and socialising simple.

Two: The local school is improving.

The other way to look at it is this...if you DON'T put the local improving school down but rather put the one on the other side of town...then if you don't get any of your three choices, you will probably get offered the local improving school anyway. Is it your closest school?

[MalbecMummy]

Why are you putting his school second? Purely for logistical reasons I’d like them at the same school if at all possible.

[lotti37]

Thank you for responding

Mrsovertheroad- 3rd choice the local school is not the closest but still walking distance .
Malbecmummy - the single sex school if we decide to put as 1st choice he could walk or cycle to as not far local it's outstanding , 2nd choice is on the other side of town very good school but mixed feeling as on one hand nice to have them at the same school but will mean more years of traveling as 3rd child would go to the same school maybe .

[CamperVamp]

If he doesn’t get into your first choice how likely is he to get into his brother’s school? If it has a siblings criteria, you’ll get a place, won’t you?

[lotti37]

Campervamp there is a sibling link but further down the criteria . Sibling in the local area and people who live in the area feeder schools have priority over us . Hoping we should get it though.

[Allthebestnamesareused]

When you said second child I had assumed it was a child of the opposite sex to your first eg. DS at mixed and wanted DD to go to single sex.

Did you try to get DS1 in the single sex school too? If not, can I ask why not? I do appreciate that different schools suit different children and therefore there may be a reason why this school you feel is best for DS2 eg. he is more academic than DS1 etc.

Is that why DS1 wants DS2 at his school so he doesn't feel like second best?

If there is a genuine reason why you want DS2 to go there I would list your preferences exactly as you have above. In the end you will still be allocated the place based on criteria and where you are in the list.

[lotti37]

Althebest. Yes they are boys and we tried to get my eldest into the single sex school but they are so over subscribed . I like the idea of them at the same school but the single sex school is a better school

[Allthebestnamesareused]

In that case I'd list them in the order you put in your op

[MrGrumpy01]

You need to have a 'banker' in there, a school which you are very likely to get into if all else fails, if this is likely to be the number 2 school then take a punt with number 3, but if number 2 remains unlikely you need a banker as your 3rd.

Our 3rd choice was our catchment school that I really didn't like, but if all else failed it was better than being allocated a place after everyone else had which would have meant a school at least 2 bus rides away that is struggling.

[Uninspirednamewise]

Completely agree with Mr Grumpy's advice that it is really important that at least one of your choices is one at which your DS is pretty much certain to get a place. If the schools' admissions criteria result in your DS not being offered a place at any of the schools on your form, he may end up at a really poor school because that is the one with places available (even if he would have got into other better schools had you listed them on the form).

[lotti37]

Yes thank you will put the local school as third choice.

Do you think that same sex siblings should always go the same secondary school? Do any of you have boys at different secondary schools ?

[CamperVamp]

I don’t think a younger child’s choice of school should be determined by the preferences and fit of an older one.

The younger one should have the same flexibility of choice.

Unless you live very rurally and have no option but to drive your kids to school, I can’t see why it is an advantage to have all your secondary kids at the same school. The paperwork and events tend to be Year specific. I can only think of the concert that covers all years.